Designers agree: This age-old technique delivers undisputed wow factor.
Last month, an intriguing, black lacquer bed with a swooping silhouette, part of a sale at Christie’s, was all over my Instagram feed. It was Jean Dunand's 1932 bed Aux Nenuphars (With Waterlilies), realized for his distinguished clients, Ambassador Philippe Bertholet, then director of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his wife. Shimmering with mother of pearl lilies and lacquered goldfish swimming in the deep black-lacquered void, the piece was given a place of honor in Madame Bertholet's Jean Michel Frank–designed boudoir on the first floor of their Paris house.
The eye-catching design—one of three, all slightly different, which sold for $194,500—was the latest manifestation of a trend I’d been clocking for some time: Lacquer, in all its glistening glory, is having a serious comeback.
