Major Burney on the Lacquered-Ware of Ava. 44.3 
ministers, and some among this party prided themselves upon having made 
betel boxes for her majesty the Queen. 
A trame of bamboo basket-work “) of the size and description required, 
was first made over a wooden form or poun; the finer the basket-work, 
the lighter and finer will the lacquered-ware appear when finished. There 
are two kinds of bamboo used—one called myen-wa, for the coarser kind of 
basket-work, and the other ¢en-wa; and there are three kinds of weaving or 
“‘ ayet” of the basket-work required for lacquering. The first and finest, 
and that of which all the smaller nyoung-oo boxes, and almost all Shan 
boxes are made, is called kyoung-lein yet!) The second, used chiefly for 
cups, except the rims, which are of the first pattern, is called hatein-gya- 
yet. The third is used for the large round boxes, and for any coarse 
work, and this is called powet kyoung-yet. 4°) The frame work of the large 
lacquered boxes, with high conical tops, is almost always of separate pieces 
of wood joined together. 
Upon the outside only of this basket-work, @) with the wooden form 
inserted, a thin coat of ¢heet-tsee was applied with a brush made of the fibres 
of the cocoa-nut husk. This was allowed three days to dry—not in the sun, 
but in a cool sheltered part of the house, within an old wine chest, which 
had a layer of earth at the bottom and its inner sides covered with mud. 
The box was shut up also, so as to prevent any dust from falling upon the 
article—yet the workmen complained that the varnish did not dry so hard 
or quickly as it would have done in a subterraneous vault. Every house in 
Ava where this ware is manufactured, has a deep cellar or vault, in which 
the ware is lodged during the time the varnish is drying. In some Shan 
boxes, parts of the basket-work are left plain, and are not covered with theet- 
tsee, and of these the basket-work is very fine and delicate. 
At the end of three days a kind of paste was made and put over the 
basket work.@) There are several kinds of this paste, which is called tha- 
yo, probably from tha-yowot, mortar. One kind is made of bones calcined 
and pounded, sifted through a piece of cloth very finely, and then mixed 
with the ¢heet-tsee into the consistence of paste. This is called ngowa-yo- 
bya-tha-yo, “ cow’s-bone ashes ¢ha-yo,” or simply ame, or ayo-bya-tha-yo, 
«bone ashes ¢ha-yo.”? Another kind, and which is most commonly used, is 
made of bran or the husks of paddy burnt, and the ashes sifted and mixed 
with the theet-tsee; this is called phwe-bya tha-yo, “bran ashes tha-yo.” 
A third kind is made of the saw-dust of teak-wood mixed, without being 
Vor. III. 3M 
