Figure of Buddha Shakyamuni subduing Mara

There is evidence that lacquer was used in the Bagan period (11th to late 13th c.) to preserve and decorate wooden structures, Buddha imagens and to coat vessels made of bamboo basketry. Although lacquer continued to be used to preserve wood, local production of lacquerware ceased and instead these objects were imported.

With the Burmese invasions of Thailand in the 16th and 18th centuries, skilled lacquer masters were brought in, some of whom were also specialists in mother-of-pearl inlay, gilding and painting with gold. By the 17th c., skilled lacquer masters were already available and working in Myanmar. From the late 18th c. onwards, lacquerware became an indicator of rank and status and lacquerware was in use at the court, official receptions and exchanged with foreign delegations.

In Myanmar there are four main lacquerware decorative techniques. The most famous is yun where the previously lacquered surface of the object is incised with a stylus. A 2nd relief-moulded technique involves use of a plastic paste substance called thayo, a mix of boiled lacquer sap and sifted powdered bone, cow dung or paddy ash. In the third, thayo is often combined with mirror or coloured glass inlay. Finally the fourth technique, shwei-zawa, is similar to the Thai method lai rot nam (literally splash-water pattern) which gives the lacquer surface the appearance of a lavish gilded painting.