Sri Lanka · Lacquerware / Wood Turning
රබන් (Raban)
Raban (රබන්) is Sri Lanka's lac-on-lathe tradition — closely related to the Newar pole-lathe (CRAFT-0553) in applying stick lac to friction-warm spinning wood, but using a foot-pedal driven lathe rather than a bamboo-spring pole-lathe. The foot-pedal lathe spins continuously (not reciprocating like the pole-lathe) — the wood always spins in the same direction, allowing the lac application technique to differ: the stick lac can be applied at a precise point on the spinning surface and the rotation draws the lac into a clean band without the pause-and-restart of the pole-lathe upstroke. The defining Sri Lanka-specific knowledge is the color layering sequence: raban lacquerware traditionally uses three to seven color layers, each applied while the previous is still warm — not cooled — so that the colors partially fuse at their boundaries, creating a characteristic soft edge rather than the hard color band of cooled-then-relacquered work.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Sri Lanka national ICH list
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