Lacquer

The art of lacquer ornamentation has been practiced for millennia.
It is said to have originated in China around the second half of the second
millennium BC, when it was first used for writing on bamboo slips.

Lacquer was applied to various utensils and even architecture. By the
15th century lacquerware, enriched with silver and gold inlays, had
assumed a royal status in the Chinese Imperial household. The people
followed suit. Lacquerwork became a fashion.