Talk:Japan black

Name

Etymology is missing. 84.73.139.119 (talk) 19:40, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Per Merriam-Webster (at various headwords in various M-W dictionaries) and per AHD4, it was named after Japan in the late 1600s, because it was considered to be of Japanese origin. (I suspect that it could have been independently developed in any country, but clearly it got its English name from the idea of coming from Japan.) The verbification had already happened by 1703. — ¾-10 16:35, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

There has never been any real notion of "Japan Black" coming from Japan, rather that it was recognised as a local product used to recreate the otherwise unattainable appearance of Asian lacquered furniture. The technique was known as "Japanning" in reference to the supposed origin of these pieces, but it was always recognised that it was a mere simulation of the original, using different materials. (refs. Stalker & Parker, one of the few surviving 17th century trade handbooks)

In the 18th century, the trade in japanned ironware develops (particularly in South Wales, see Pontypool japan). This is a different coating, developed to be hard-wearing, rustproof and to adhere to iron. However it's also a shiny black, so gets labelled with the same term of "japanning". This is despite it being obviously less shiny and far less smooth (asphaltum-japanned ironwork wouldn't fool anyone that it was urushiol lacquer). Also it's applied to iron plate, a material not imported from Asia, and isn't used on the wooden cabinetry that might bear some realtion to the imported products.

In late Victorian and Edwardian times, the chemical industry develops resins that allow paint to be made and sold as we'd recognise it today. Rather than paints being made up by painters on demand, they could now be stored in machine-made tins with well-sealed lids and made by factories well in advance of their retail sale and eventual use. The better resins also become know as "enamels", in a similar fashion to japans they bear no relation to their original inspiration, other than being comparably harder, brighter and shinier than previous materials available (read Mr Pooter's "Diary of a Nobody" for an infamous use of patent enamels). This is the period in which we first see products marketed as "japans", rather than finished wares being sold as "japanned". Andy Dingley (talk) 21:35, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

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