Chapter 1,269: Filigree is used as bone, inlaid as decoration
Traditional Shendu filigree-inlaid utensils cover many types.
In the general direction, it includes boxes, plates, bowls, cups, ornaments, tea sets, wine vessels, Ruyi, jewelry, etc. that are used daily in the palace.
Each general direction contains many specific objects.
For example, jewelry includes hats, headdresses, hairpins, bracelets, rings, nail covers, etc.
The theme is influenced by the palace culture, and the dragon, phoenix, wishful thinking, longevity peach and other shapes that represent auspiciousness and nobility are mainly selected.
Different from folk gold and silver products, dragon and phoenix are shapes that cannot be used by ancient folk.
These palace gold products are sparkling and do not care about the materials and shapes, so that Shendu filigree inlays can be inlaid with no regard for cost and no concept of size, just to meet the needs of the royal family.
For example, the "Wealthy Peony" jade brooch at that time was one of the representative works.
The gold and silver utensils produced at that time were mainly chiseled. First, a hammer was used to beat the gold and silver pieces into the shape of the utensil, and then a chisel was used to carve out the convex and concave patterns.
The top is surrounded by filigree to form a stone bowl, inlaid with various gems and jade, or several kinds of gems and jade are connected with gold and silver wire to make a vessel.
Such a thing, even if it doesn't use gems, is still a complete luxury item.
What's more, it is inlaid with various gemstones. Unfortunately, there are not many craftsmen who know these crafts now.
Otherwise, if these develop well, what will happen to those foreign luxury jewelry companies?
Those companies rely on advertising to gain fame, and then start to trick people.
Getting some copper rings is a luxury item, getting some glass pieces is also a luxury item, both of which are extremely expensive. This is really an IQ tax.
However, the technical requirements for these traditional crafts in my country are too high, and it is not easy to develop large-scale production and expand the market.
Such craftsmanship reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty.
At that time, in the capital city of the Ming Dynasty, filigree pickaxe inlay reached its peak, and all techniques including stacking, stacking, weaving, braiding, pinching, filling, inlaying, and chiseling were all available.
In particular, he is very proficient in the application of more difficult techniques such as weaving and stacking.
By the Qing Dynasty, with the increase in social demand, the industry moved towards specialized production.
There are more than ten small industries such as practical work, mosaic work, chiseling work, indigo work, jade work, and gold-plating work.
After the Revolution of 1911, court art was scattered among the people.
At this time, gold shops and silver shops were opened one after another, and according to statistics, there were more than 100, and the filigree inlay industry was extremely prosperous.
Beijing's filigree inlays are generally classified into utensils, architectural shapes, animal shapes, character shapes, and various jewelry.
Such as the turret of the Forbidden City, the Nine Dragon Wall, bottles, incense, lions, dragons, "Magu's Birthday", ear pliers, lapel pins, cuff links, rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc.
Filigree inlay is also called "fine gold craft" because it is entirely made of gold and silver wire.
This is the process of starting from filaments one by one to becoming a complete filigree inlaid work.
The eight major processes of stacking, base, weaving, weaving, pinching, filling, saving and welding are relied on in the middle.
And when each process is subdivided, it is ever-changing.
In terms of the complexity of the process alone, filigree inlay ranks among the top eight masterpieces of Yanjing.
Precisely because of its rare materials and complicated craftsmanship, it has always been only used by the royal family in history.
If the essence of filigree inlay lies in the filigree, then the later inlay can play a wonderful role in making the finishing touch.
The most common inlay method is bezel inlay, also called bezel inlay.
For example, the making of stone bowls, known as "circle stone bowls" in jargon, is the highlight.
First, the copper sheet must be pressed into a suitable thickness.
This degree is entirely controlled by the masters based on their experience.
Cut the pressed copper sheets into strips and use them to form the rim of the bowl.
The shape of each stone is different, so the shape of the corresponding stone bowl is also different.
The rim and bottom of the bowl are welded together, and then welded to the work.
Inlaying stones is not difficult, just put the stones into the stone bowl, and then press the edge of the stone bowl towards the middle to fix the stones.
The jargon is called "buttoning the edge". At this time, we can see the importance of the stone bowl. If it is too big, it will not fit in, and if it is small, it will not fit firmly.
The stone bowl made by experienced workers will cover the stone just right.
Bezel setting is usually used for ordinary stones, such as diamonds, rubies and other small and precious stones. If put into a stone bowl, the original charm will be lost.
At this time, traditional spade nail setting is needed. Shovel nail setting is to embed the stone directly on the work, so holes need to be drilled.
First, select a drill bit based on the size of the gemstone.
However, after all, there is no drill bit that is exactly the same size as the stone.
Therefore, after drilling, a milling cutter must be used for final repairs.
The filaments are made of bone and are inlaid for decoration.
It can be said that filigree and inlay complement each other, and they jointly interpret the subtleties of the "Eight Wonders of Yanjing".
To achieve all of this, there is a foundation, and the foundation of filigree inlay is filigree.
Before filament drawing, the silver bars must be placed on the rolling mill and pressed repeatedly.
Only when it becomes a square strip of suitable thickness can the formal drawing begin.
Hand drawing is a tradition that has been continued for hundreds of years, also called wire drawing.
The drawing board is a special drawing tool with forty or fifty eye holes of different diameters arranged from thick to thin.
The eye holes are usually made of alloy and diamonds, and the smallest ones are as thin as a hair.
In the process of thinning the thick yarn, it must pass through each eye hole in order from large to small and cannot be skipped.
Sometimes it takes more than a dozen drawings to get the required filaments.
The surface of the initially drawn silver wire is rough and requires a lot of effort. It gradually becomes smooth after several drawings.
Drawing is also the preliminary preparation for filigree inlay.
Different types of filaments are drawn one by one from the drawing board by the master.
The eyelets of brushed plates are usually made of alloy and diamond.
The smallest eye hole is thinner than a hair.
The largest diameter is 4 mm, and the smallest diameter is only 02 mm.
The single wire pulled out from the drawing board is called "plain wire" in the industry.
It requires two or more strands of silk to be twisted into various patterned silk before it can be used.
This is where the name "Filigree" comes from.
The most common filament is made of two or three plain filaments.
This is the simplest, most basic style.
There are nearly 20 kinds of more complex filaments, including arch thread, slub thread, screw, code thread, wheat ear silk, phoenix eye silk, twist silk, braided silk, etc.
Filigree craftsmanship is purely handmade, using tweezers or pliers to pinch the filigree into various patterns and then weld it to the utensils.
Filigree technology is the basic skill in filigree inlay technology, and it is also the most difficult technology to master.
In the whole filigree craft, it is just a silk craft.
And as long as you understand it clearly, you can make countless exquisite jewelry.
Therefore, this wire is not simple. The manufacturing process includes drawing, filigree, filling, welding, stacking, stacking and weaving.