Rare Crafts

In the Vietnamese city of Thủ Dầu Một, the lacquer artisans of Tuong Binh Hiep Lacquer Village have spent decades honing their craft. It is here, in what is considered to be the cradle of the local lacquer industry, that many pieces from Singapore-based furniture brand AKAR de NISSIM are produced.

To ensure the quality and integrity of the techniques used, AKAR de NISSIM collaborates with a French master craftsman whose own master was a student of Jean Dunand, the greatest lacquer artist of the Art Deco period who worked with the likes of Eileen Gray and Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. These techniques entail laborious processes: each of up to 12 coats goes through coating, curing, quality checks, wet sanding, drying and cleaning before the next is added. Should even a speck of dust or hairline defect be found, the layer is removed and the process restarts. It ’s not surprising that each piece takes up to four weeks to complete.

This high standard ensures that AKAR de NISSIM pieces last for generations. It’s an ethos established by Richard Le Sand and Marianne Fabre, who in 2011 founded the brand based on fine craftsmanship, exquisite materiality and an aesthetic Le Sand describes as merging ‘sophisticated designs of both Western and Eastern heritages of the past and making it more relevant to the present’. This juxtaposition draws on references as far back as ancient China, as eclectic as Art Deco, and as contemporary as the modernist masters. These inspirations segue into elegant and compelling but uncomplicated centrepieces. Le Sand’s fascination with rare materials and ancient processes is refreshing. He has worked with obsidian to make candleholders, has embedded pearlescent Tahitian shells into tabletops, and has used buffalo horn to create abstract sceneries on the surfaces of coffee tables.

The latter’s varying tones of fiery orange, lustrous ivory and earthy russet make it captivating from every angle and in any lighting. Again, the process is an arduous one. ‘We soak the horn in water to make it soft and smooth, and then we cut and flatten it. After dividing it into equally sized cubes, the artisan applies each piece one by one, trying to find the right combination to create the most beautiful gradient and pattern,’ explains Le Sand. Three coats of lacquer cap the personalised operation that ensures each piece is unique.

Le Sand has also experimented with the rekindled art of straw marquetry, which may have been brought to Europe from Asia. The technique involves first splitting and soaking wheat or oat straw at a specific temperature. Each strip — 500 were used for the Iris coffee table — is ironed and precisely tapered to meet in the centre and create a striking radial pattern that glistens like gold. It’s a job that requires diligent focus, and in this case hearingimpaired artisans from Siem Reap do it to perfection. The weather-dependent process takes longer in Vietnam’s humid climate — even more so during the rainy season.

But as with any craft well done, the effort is palpable. It’s what imbues AKAR de NISSIM furniture with the refined elegance for which it’s known, and an opulence borne of authenticity and subtlety.