Chroma Cathay朱華Chroma Cathay朱華Hundreds of coats of cinnabar lacquer, each dried and laid over the last, then carved back through to relief. Tihong is colour built as material — a deep, slow red the atlas keeps under its named shades, from朱湛 to漆黑.
RED BUILT IN HUNDREDS OF LAYERS, THEN CUT BACK TO RELIEF.
Where black lacquer is carved through to the red ground, the two deepest names meet: zhu-zhan, the saturated cinnabar; qi-hei, lacquer-black. The Chinese Color Atlas records each shade alongside its material — pigment, ground, and the wood core beneath.
ONE RED, SLOWED BY TIME UNTIL IT READS AS DEPTH.
Across the dragon dish and the grape tray, the cinnabar shifts from zhu-ying to the warm檀色 of aged lacquer, lit at the edges by ji-jin gold. A palette is a relationship in material — the atlas keeps the names so a craft of months can be cited, not just admired.
