Let’s talk about filigree inlay. After all, Chen Wenzhe now uses this technique instead of gold lacquer inlay!
Filigree inlay is referred to as filigree inlay, also known as fine gold craftsmanship. This is a traditional handicraft that has been passed down for a long time.
Mainly used in the production of royal jewelry, it is a combination of two production techniques: "filigree" and "inlay".
The filaments are made of gold, silver, and copper as raw materials, and traditional techniques such as pinching, filling, saving, welding, weaving, and stacking are used.
Compared with gold lacquer inlay, this craft is much more delicate, so it is a fine gold craft.
What matters is the detail, and the inlay technique is different from that of gold lacquer inlay.
Filigree inlays use techniques such as filing, hammering, hammering, squeezing, beating, collapsing, squeezing, and setting to make metal sheets into brackets and melon-seed-shaped grooves, and then set them with pearls and gemstones.
The filigree inlay process originated from the gold and silver interlacing process during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and reached a superb artistic level in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
He is especially good at weaving and stacking techniques.
In addition, the dot jade technique is often used to achieve a magnificent effect.
The extensive use of gemstones and the improvement of gem inlay technology were the filigree inlaid jewelry of the Ming Dynasty and the most important contribution to traditional Chinese jewelry.
It has changed the traditional jewelry of the Chinese nation, which emphasizes patterns over gemstones.
Especially in the Qing Dynasty, as gem resources gradually dried up, jadeite and burnt blue were used to replace gemstones.
Today, filigree inlay craftsmanship only remains in Shendu and Xidu.
In particular, Shendu’s filigree inlay technology is the most complete.
Shendu filigree inlay is a concentrated representation of the characteristics of our country's palace filigree inlay craftsmanship.
In June 2008, filigree inlay production techniques were included in the national intangible cultural heritage list.
In fact, simply speaking of filigree inlay, many people don’t know what kind of craft it is.
But when it comes to a top-notch national treasure, anyone who has seen it should understand the difficulty of filigree craftsmanship.
This treasure is the golden silk winged crown of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty. Many people have heard of this exquisite filigree inlay craft.
This is the hat worn by the emperor. It uses a combination of multiple techniques, and the production process is very complicated.
I won’t tell you how much work and money it costs. If you want to make such a gold-wire winged crown, you must first make it into a tire shape and apply filigree, chisel, and other techniques.
It is then welded and made into a semi-finished product.
Then it is pickled, blued (coated with glaze), gold or silver plated, pressed, and inlaid with gems.
Filigree inlay includes two techniques. Filigree is made of gold and silver, which are drawn into filaments and braided into shapes;
Inlay is to beat thin sheets of gold and silver into shape, and embed pearls and gems into them to make decorations.
The whole process is very complicated. First, the tire must be made for shaping;
Then use pile, base, weave and weave methods to shape the filaments and weld them;
It is then acid-washed (pickled), blued or plated with gold and silver, and then brightened.
This is a semi-finished product, and the semi-finished product is then "embellished with treasures", usually pearls and gemstones.
It is often necessary to "point green", which is not to embellish jade, but to stick the green and shimmering blue feathers of the kingfisher on the blank spots of the filigree.
The emerald blue on the old jewelry sold in the cultural relics market often falls off when you touch it with your hands, which is the feathers of a kingfisher.
The representative work of Diancui craftsmanship is the phoenix crown of Empress Xiaoduan of the Ming Dynasty.
Since ancient times, kingfisher feathers have been used as decoration on clothing accessories, phoenix crowns, etc. of emperors and empresses.
After a long time, it is still as shiny and bright as new.
The kingfisher feathers used in Diancui have ten feathers on each side of the left and right wings, which are called "big strips" in the jargon.
There are eight feathers on the tail, which are called "tail strips" in jargon.
Therefore, a kingfisher usually only uses about 28 feathers.
Chen Zi'ang, a writer in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote about this: "It's too hard to believe in many materials, so I sigh at this rare bird."
In 1933, my country's last Diancui factory finally closed down because kingfisher feathers were no longer available.
Later, due to the protection of birds and the cruelty of the production process, it was replaced by blue-burning in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.
The filigree inlay technology has its prototype as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. The gold and silver inlays in the Warring States Period and the gold and silver flat ones in the Tang Dynasty are its predecessors.
The Tang Dynasty "Bronze Mirror with Feathers, Flying Phoenixes, Flowers and Birds Patterns, Gold and Silver Flat Peeled Paint Back" now in the collection of the Chinese History Museum is a typical example.
During the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the largest filigree production center in the country was formed in Shendu.
The Ming Dynasty reached a high level of art, and the Qing Dynasty experienced greater development. Famous works continued to emerge, many of which became court tributes.
Filigree inlay is a traditional palace art, and its craftsmanship is complex and tedious.
The basic techniques of filigree craft can be summarized in eight words: pinch, fill, pile, base, weave, braid, save, and weld.
These eight techniques can be matched in order according to the actual situation during the specific operation process.
Inlay technology mainly relies on filigree technology, or in other words, filigree technology also highlights inlay technology.
Judging from the filigree inlay technology in Shendu during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the inlay techniques are mainly divided into filing, curing, collapse, extrusion, and inlay.
It has exquisite craftsmanship, beautiful shape, many varieties, obvious Chinese characteristics and national style, and embodies the wisdom and artistic creativity of the Chinese nation.
Because the palace set up handicraft workshops and factories, skilled craftsmen from all over the country were gathered together, allowing the exchange of filigree inlay production techniques between the north and the south.
Eventually, the strengths of ethnic arts and crafts were integrated and became an important part of palace art.
There are many representative works of filigree inlays. In addition to the two hats mentioned before, there are also the golden crown of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, the Jin Ou permanent cup of the Qing Dynasty, the golden peach tree bonsai in a silver hexagonal pot, the gold inlaid jewelry crown, and modern jewelry.
Temple of Heaven, Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Chinese Century Dragon, etc.
Filigree inlays are most refined in Shendu, which is the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial capital of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and where metalworking craftsmen from home and abroad are concentrated.
The women in the emperor's harem needed a lot of decorations and were extremely luxurious.
Therefore, in Dashilan, the flower market and the Dongsisisi Archway in the old city, there are more than a hundred gold shops and silver shops that produce this kind of filigree inlay.
Filigree inlay has two uses. One is practical.
This kind of work is called "piece work": there are hand mirrors, flower arrangements and various boxes, bottles, jars, etc., which are small and exquisite in shape;
The same variety has different shapes, and can be made into flowers, goldfish, mandarin ducks, swans, etc.
The main body becomes the container, and the shape is decorated or deformed.
For example, the swan's head and wings are made of filigree, and the crown, eyes, etc. are inlaid with jewelry.
The second is furnishings, also known as "ornaments".
Filigree inlaid ornaments are roughly divided into four traditional categories.
It's the smoke, animals, buildings and people.
For example, in the pagoda category of buildings, the entire body is made of filigree, the top of the tower is made of gemstones for tiles, the plaque is made of ivory, the bell is made of gold-plated copper, and the base is made of filigree-covered ink jade bricks.
This kind of craft shows the exquisite craftsmanship of filigree craftsmen in every aspect.
In the 21st century, there have been greater innovations in filigree inlay.
For example, the combination of gold, k gold, silver and jade makes it more brilliant and gorgeous, and also shows the ingenuity of the idea.