When it comes to the development history of Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware, people always associate it with Shen Shaoan's name. Up to now, Shen Shaoan is the authentic representative of bodiless lacquerware in Fuzhou arts and crafts circles. The founder of bodiless lacquerware in Fuzhou was Shen Shaoan (1767-1835), a painter in Houguan County (now Fuzhou) in Qing Dynasty.
Shen Shaoan's old shop is located near Shuangqiao Bridge in Yangqiao Road, Fuzhou. It is engaged in paint processing and sells small commodities such as painted chopsticks, painted bowls and god's wooden signs. At that time, Fuzhou was the capital of Bamin, and its handicraft industry was relatively developed. Lacquer industry is second to none in all kinds of handicrafts, but the competition is fierce and business is not good. Besides, Fuzhou began to have lacquerware in the Southern Song Dynasty, and it also experienced hundreds of years of history in the early Qing Dynasty. Outdated technology has affected the further development of lacquer industry. Because the business in the store is light, Shen Shaoan will go to the official building or temple to work as a painter from time to time. Once, when he was working in an ancient temple, he found that the plaque at the entrance of the temple was rotten, but the bottom blank of the lacquer gray summer cloth frame was intact. Careful Shen Shaoan was inspired by this. After returning to China, he made a model for the old plaque. First, he molded the model with clay, then covered it with grass cloth and painted it with blue pigment. After the pigment dried, he took off the soil model, then painted it with pigment and colored it. After repeated experiments and improvements, the earliest bodiless lacquerware was finally made.
Shen Shaoan created a new look of Chinese lacquer culture, which had a great influence at that time. Shen Shaoan's petal-shaped vermicelli bowl of bodiless chrysanthemum presented to the imperial court is 10 cm in height and 10.8 cm in diameter. The wall is as thin as paper and the thickness is less than one millimeter. Emperor Qianlong was very happy to see this. He personally wrote an official script poem in the lid and bowl: making chrysanthemums, the handle is lighter than chrysanthemums. Sipping tea and pottery shows its beauty. The poems of Emperor Qianlong vividly describe the characteristics of Shen Shaoan's bodiless lacquerware, which shows the great influence of Shen Shaoan's bodiless lacquerware at that time. This lacquer is now in the Palace Museum.
Because Shen Shao 'an pioneered bodiless lacquerware, and its skills have been passed down from generation to generation, it is also called Shen Shi bodiless lacquerware in Fuzhou. 1920, Shen He, the fifth descendant of Shen Shao 'an, turned clay gold and clay silver into lacquer materials, and on the basis of the original painting techniques such as red, black, vermilion and purple, newly developed colors such as gold and silver, sky blue, apple green and bronze were exhibited, which completely changed the expression and means of lacquerware. From 65438 to 0898, Shen and Yao selected bodiless lacquerware works to participate in the Paris International Fair and won the gold medal. Since then, Fuzhou bodiless lacquerware has emerged in the international arts and crafts circles. Then, Shen Shi bodiless lacquerware products such as Shen, Yao, Shen and Shen Youlan were selected for exhibitions in Italy, the United States, Berlin, London and other places, and won various medals, which greatly improved their popularity.
1905, the Qing court awarded Shen Shao' an the fourth-class business honor and the fifth-class hat of the fifth generation Sun Shen Shao' an. On 19 10, Shen He was promoted to the first-class business honor and the fourth-class top hat. After 1949, Shen Shi Lanji Lacquerware Store was transformed into bodiless Lacquerware Company. Li Zhiqing and Gao Xiuquan, famous lacquer artists, made new breakthroughs in design and painting art, and their works won the first prize of national lacquer modeling design, and were used as the main decorations of Fujian Hall and Taiwan Province Provincial Office of the Great Hall of the People.