The Craft
No shortcuts. No synthetics. Only time, mastery, and materials drawn from the living world. Every technique in this workshop has been refined over decades — some over millennia.
Natural Lacquer
Deep. Timeless. Alive.
Our lacquer is tree resin — harvested by hand from Toxicodendron trees in Cambodian forests. Not paint. Not synthetic. The trees grow for fifteen years before the first cut. We work with six families who maintain traditional harvesting methods, and we cultivate our own lacquer tree plantation to ensure the craft outlives us.
Each coat is applied by brush — tools unchanged for centuries. Every layer must cure three to seven days under controlled humidity before the next round of sanding. Standard pieces receive 20+ layers. Prestige pieces, 30 to 50.
The translucency builds over time, creating a surface that shifts with the light — warm, deep, almost liquid. This is what separates real lacquer from everything else.
Stocker Studio is the only workshop in Cambodia using real natural vegetal lacquer.
Gold Leaf & Water Gilding
Sacred. Luminous.
Traditional water gilding with 24-karat gold leaf, applied sheet by sheet, by hand. The same technique used in French cathedrals and Khmer temples for over a thousand years. No adhesives — only water, breath, and patience.
The gold catches light in ways no paint can replicate. It glows from within, shifting as you move around the piece. We also use white gold leaf for contrast and fine detail work.
Eggshell Mosaic
Delicate. Infinite.
Fragments as small as a grain of sand, placed one at a time with tweezers into wet lacquer. Each piece requires thousands of individual fragments, creating organic patterns like cracked earth or living skin.
After the eggshell is set, we apply five to fifteen more coats of lacquer over the inlay. Then comes twenty to thirty hours of polishing — finishing with bare hands and oil — until the surface is glass-smooth and the eggshell glows beneath.
Rye Straw Marquetry
Warm. Geometric. Hypnotic.
An ancient French decorative art — split rye straw, arranged in precise geometric patterns. Each strand is hand-placed to catch light from different angles. The natural golden hue shifts between warm amber and bright gold depending on the viewer's position. No two views of the same piece are identical.
This is one of the rarest decorative techniques still practiced anywhere in the world.
Les Matieres — Rare Textures
Beyond our four core techniques, we work with extraordinary natural materials. Each adds a character that cannot be imitated.
Stingray Skin (Galuchat) — Prized for centuries in French decorative arts. Pearlescent, granular, incredibly durable.
Carp Skin — Delicate fish scales preserved under lacquer. Organic, almost reptilian, with an iridescent shimmer.
Salmon Skin — Fine-grained fish leather with a subtle scale pattern beneath the lacquer surface.
Horse Hair on Bamboo — Woven horse hair stretched over bamboo forms, then lacquered. Remarkable lightness with visible fiber texture.
River Sand — Fine Cambodian river sand embedded in lacquer layers. Mineral, earthy, tactile.
Cinnabar — Natural mineral pigment ground to powder and mixed into lacquer. The source of the legendary vermillion red of Asian lacquerware for three thousand years.
Beetle Wing Elytra — Iridescent jewel beetle wings, a decorative material with a 3,000-year history from ancient Egypt. Shimmers green-gold under light.
Paua Abalone — New Zealand paua shell, cut and inlaid. Vivid blue-green iridescence that rivals precious gemstones.
Botanical Oxidation — Copper leaf with real plant imprints, oxidized naturally over time. Each piece develops unique patina patterns — nature as co-creator.
From Tree to Art — The Process
Every piece follows the same patient journey. There are no shortcuts.
1. Wood Turning
The form is turned or carved from hevea wood — a sustainable hardwood ideal for lacquer adhesion. 1–3 days.
2. Foundation Coats
Five to ten layers of natural lacquer, each curing 3–7 days under controlled humidity. This builds the deep, protective base. 2–5 weeks.
3. Sanding
Meticulous hand-sanding between every coat with progressively finer materials. The surface must be flawless before decoration begins.
4. Decoration
Gold leaf. Eggshell. Straw marquetry. Rare textures. The most skilled and time-intensive stage — days to weeks of concentrated work.
5. Protective Layers
Ten to twenty additional coats of lacquer over the decoration. Each layer adds depth and protection. 3–8 weeks.
6. Polishing
Twenty to thirty hours by hand, finishing with bare skin and oil. The surface becomes mirror-smooth, warm to the touch.
7. Eric's Eye
Every piece is personally inspected by Eric Stocker before it leaves the workshop. Nothing ships until it meets his standard.
Total time: 2 to 6 months per piece. Twenty to fifty layers. Dozens of hands. Zero shortcuts.
Want to see the process in motion?
Watch the documentary: Lacquer — The Living Art