Lac is a kind of resin. It is used most profusely widely for turning out attractive ornaments which are coveted also for their alleged power as a kind of charm to be worn.Lathe turners or kharadis are the traditional wood workers. They enjoy a respectable position in the community. The lacquer ware industry of Varanasi is about 400 years old. It is reported that the artisans of this craft had migrated from Udaipur in Rajasthan. They prospered in Varanasi under the patronage of the Maharaja of Kashi and millions of pilgrims who visited Varanasi as a holy city.

Fine Art
Plain Lac ornamentation of wood creating the striped patterns in resplendent blending of colours is peculiar to lacquer toys. The designs are zig zag or dana work, atishi (thin coating of tin foil) or fire, abri or cloud, nakashi etc.

Procedure
Shellac, the purified Lac, is melted on a slow heat till it turns to plastic form. Colours and wax are slowly added with simultaneous hammering and kneading, till it achieves consistency of rubber. This paste is rolled into battis (sticks of equal length). The shellac coloured sticks are ready for use. The wood is cut into pieces of required size with the help of a hand saw depending on the size of the object to be made. It is chiselled to get a round shape. The round wood is fitted into a lathe and turned to required shape. The cracks and cavities if any in the wooden piece are filled with a fine powder of crushed pottery. The surface is smoothened by rubbing with bark of the kewra leaves. Next the coloured stick is pressed against the revolving wood. With the heat generated due to friction, the Lac melts and coats the wood irregularly. For the uniform coating and diffusion of colours, the surface is rubbed with a kewra leaf again in the revolving motion. Finally a cloth moistened with oil is rubbed against the revolving object and is polished. For metallic effects, powdered mica, tin foil mixed with glue is applied.

Artifacts
Jhunjuna and chusni for babies, tops, bats, balls, models of aeroplanes, rail engines, telephone sets, jumping sets, tea sets, caravans of camels and elephants, sets of musicians and sadhus of India, models of carts and animal figures, Furniture items; bed posts, cradles. Utility articles- sindoor boxes, flower vases, powder boxes.

Lacquer Ware
Lacquer craft is the application of lacquer on wood in pleasing shades to create a distinctive appeal. This craft produced a large variety of decorative as well as utility items. Lacquering is done on a lathe, hand or machine operated. For turning slender and delicate items, the hand-lathe is preferred. Lac is applied in a dry state.The lac stick is pressed against the woodenware to be lacquered. As the latter keeps revolving the heat from friction softens the lac, enabling the colour to stick. Designs are painted with a brush on figures, objects and toys. Among the most popular lacquerware are the lac bangles. Hitherto studded with gold and precious stones, today they are also available with beads, glass, stones, mirrors and more.

Man, in his, exuberance, seems to have devised further method of ornamenting wood by lacquering in which countless designs and colours can be executed. Coloured lacquer ware is made in Sheopur, Rewa Budhi, Bhopal, Gwalior, Ratlam and Sabalgarh. Etikoppaka in Andhra Pradesh is one of the most important centres of this craft. The lacquerware of Savantvadi, once a princely state, is a traditional craft. The traditional craftsmen are known as Chittorees, picture makers. At one time this was a big craft centre for a variety of articles especially the round lacquered highly pictorial playing cards. The production now is mainly centred on lacquered imitation fruits and vegetables. It is their faithful resemblance to the original objects, which attracts customers. The origin of these imitation items is traced to a local custom of the father-in-law of new bride sending her gifts during the auspicious shravan month, which includes toys and other imitation objects. Chennapatna in Karnataka state holds an honoured place in the lacquerware world.

For its application lac is heated to get a plastic condition then it is kneaded and colours are added, then drawn to be made into sticks. The craft produces a large variety of decorative as well as utility items including small models of kitchenware, toys, chairs, tables lamps and so on.

Navrangpur in Orissa has a distinct type of lacquering with its own designs and colour schemes. Their speciality is a box made generally of bamboo, sometimes of papier mache, brightly lacquered and highly decorated with folk motifs, animals, flowers, birds traditionally used for exchanging gifts.

Geometric and floral patterns are commonly used in the designs. These designs are painted in several combination according to the artist fancy. Formerly chennapatna used to make mostly geometrical designs, now other designs are in use like country side scenes, landscapes, dance ensembles etc made mostly on wall plaques or plates.

Procedure
At first, the wooden article is smoothened by rubbing with fine pottery powder. It is then put on a lathe and rotated, while the lac stick is pressed against it. The friction softens the lac which is then smeared all over. If more than one colour is to be applied, spots are left blank where more rounds are taken to cover up each with a different tint. A small and sharp chisel is used to spin the design in various colours. A marble polish is given by first rubbing with a bamboo edge and then with an oil rag.

The designs drawn with lacquerware were tin foil ornamentation. A fragment of coloured lac is placed on a sheet of tin foil and melted to fully cover the desired spot. This is used as an adjunct to ornamental lac turney, so areas that cannot be treated on the lathe, as in the case of boxes, are thus ornamented by tin foil clippings, plain or coloured, in various shapes and forms.

Hale is the main wood used for its fairly soft body and close grain. The painted zig zag and dana techniques are practised. Parallel lines are scraped on a lac-coated surface then an eccentric movement is made while a piece of hard wood is pressed firmly against the lac-coating and the straight lines get turned into zig zag.

Lac Bangles
Making lac bangles is another popular craft in Mithila and is one of the important folk-art. The bangle have numerous types such as lahathi simple bangles, tisiphula bangles of marriage, chagotava vsukhapuri thin, mathapa, motiya, bijulichata, phulavari, sahana etc. Beautiful designs are made on each of these types of bangles. Each area specialises in different designs. The designs of bangles of sursand in Muzaffarpur district of Darbhanga division retain the traditional colouring and pattern.

Procedure
The natural lac sticks are mixed with colours to prepare coloured lac sticks. The sticks are slowly heated on charcoal fire simultaneously beating with wooden spatula and routed after forming the required length of coil. It is cut from the main stick and all the ends are joined together to give it round shape. Further, it is put on a circular wooden bean and slipped through various heights for different sizes. In the final stage, it is decorated with glass pieces, beads etc.

Lac Jewellery
Jewellery making in India is most distinctive highly artistic and elaborate craft. The simple motifs are brought from the immediate environment and developed into artistic and stylish patterns. Apart from metal, lac is extensively used for making attractive ornaments. Lac is a resinous substance produced by a female Lac insect and found abundantly in the plain forests in India

Fine Art
Lac jewellery largely bangles are worn on all auspicious occasions as a sign of good omen. Some bangles are plain, other are studded with glass pieces, bright stones, beads, etc. The designs on the plain bangle are the traditional lahariya (wavy) or zigzag. But in the ornamental ones there are many varieties, like patta and phooldar (floral). They are also set with salma, patri etc.

However the designs of lac jewellery are different from state to state.The lac combs of Orissa, jewellery of Bihar and Rajasthan lac jewellery are famous for their intricate designs.

Lac combs of orissa
Lac combs are used by tribals as hair ornamentation. The comb itself is made of a soft local wood and the decorative motifs on it are done with jungle-lac. Nowrangapur of Koraput district is the most well- known centre for jungle-lac craft.

Lac Jewellery of Bihar
The main industry for lac is in Bihar. In northern Bihar about one hundred tons of refuse lac which remains in the sack after squeezing, is used for bangle cores and the better quality lac is used for decoration. Lac bangles are worn by married women of the aboriginal tribal people of Bihar including Bhumij, Mo, Munda, Oraon and Santal tribes.

Lac Jewellery of Rajasthan
Lac jewellery, especially bangles, are worn on all auspicious occasions in Rajasthan as they are considered a sign of good omen. The bangles are either plain or studded with glass pieces, bright stones --- sometimes precious ones --- and beads. They are extremely beautiful. The plain bangles have lahariya (wavy) or zig-zag designs. The ornamental ones are in several varieties, like patla and phooldar (floral). They are also set with salma and patri. Lac jewellery set with glass chatons is also a popular item in Rajasthan. Jaipur city is the big centre