vbl. sb. [f. JAPAN v. + -ING1.] The action of japanning or varnishing with japan; the material used in japanning, japan. Also attrib.
1688. [see JAPAN v. 1].
1714. Gay, Trivia, II. 166. And aids with soot the new japanning art.
1745. Eliza Heywood, Fem. Spectator (1748), IV. 47. We have them copied in painting, in japanning, and in embroidery.
1757. Mrs. Delany, Lett., to Mrs. Dewes, 462. On the water is a Chinese vessel … as … gay as carving, gilding, and japanning can make it.
c. 1817. Hogg, Tales & Sk., VI. 93. Covered with pitch or black japanning.
1839. Penny Cycl., XIII. 94/2. Japanning is the art of producing a highly varnished surface on wood, metal, or other hard substance, sometimes of one colour only, but more commonly figured and ornamented.
