In addition to good craftsmanship and skillful carving, Qianlong's workmanship is also reflected in the quality of materials.
Qianlong required that the materials used to make jade must be of good quality.
In the 25th year of Qianlong's reign, Xinjiang Province began to pay tribute to jade, and the annual tribute in spring and autumn amounted to 2,000 kilograms.
In case of special circumstances, special missionaries will be dispatched to collect jade.
In the forty-first year of Qianlong's reign alone, six pieces of large jade were transported from XJ, totaling more than 20,000 kilograms.
It can be seen how great the demand for Hetian jade was during the Qianlong period.
Just like the white jade sheep placed aside, Chen Wenzhe previously discovered a jade sheep from the Yuan Dynasty.
But that was a topaz jade sheep, and this one is a white jade sleeping sheep.
This white jade lying sheep is not only of good quality, but also very well polished after it is made.
This is a typical Qianlong workmanship, and this kind of polishing is also very particular.
From coarse sand to fine sand, and then using a cloth bag filled with wheat bran to knead the jade piece by hand, it is a waste of manpower.
But it cannot be denied that such slow and meticulous work can bring out the inner brightness of jade, thus showing the smoothness of jade.
In addition to the jade sheep, there is also a white jade withered piece that brings good fortune and longevity to all generations. This one is not only made of good materials, but also extremely well polished.
Of course, in addition to these external good craftsmanship, Qianlonggong's jade also has good connotations, which means it has good meaning.
As for the large pile of jades in front of Chen Wenzhe, except for the jades from Kangxi, the rest were almost all from Qianlong.
In addition to good materials, good workmanship, and good polishing, antique wares carved from large pieces of high-quality jade also have another aspect that is often overlooked by us: good intentions.
Symbols of good luck and good omens are meticulously expressed on jade carvings, which is extremely common on jade wares from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.
The patterns on jade can be said to be meaningful and auspicious.
Whether they are emperors, generals or ordinary people, they all pray for health and longevity, happiness and good fortune.
Therefore, in our country's traditional culture and art, especially in the jade ware produced by the Qianlong Emperor, craftsmen use different craftsmanship to express their wishes for peace and joy, and for the prosperity of the country and the people.
There are many representative works among them, such as the white jade "Imperial Inscribed Picture of Visiting Friends with Qin" Shanzi, which is a large ornament based on the painting "Picture of Visiting Friends with Qin".
The palace jade of the Qianlong Dynasty was superior to Yushanzi, and showed better craftsmanship, such as thin tire and silk inlay.
It is also very successful in categories such as the combination of antique jade and gold jade.
Other modeling techniques such as figures, animals, cards, tobacco bottles, jewelry, etc. have all reached the highest level in history.
The jade articles produced were only those that Qianlong appreciated, and they were either inscribed or composed with poems.
Therefore, this batch of jade wares made during the Qianlong reign are also among the best.
Chen Wenzhe fiddled with each piece, mainly because he wanted to see if these jade articles were all exquisite.
Of course, high-quality products are high-quality products, but among high-quality products, they can also be divided into three, six or nine grades based on different craftsmanship and different types of utensils.
Let’s talk about the type of utensil first, that is, how much material is consumed.
Needless to say, this kind of jade is very valuable.
Such as the white jade four-flowered peony button covered stove, the white jade dragon-patterned double-eared stove, the imperial poem imitating the dragon tail cup of the Han Dynasty, the white jade phoenix head with water drops, the white jade cloud dragon button with the seal "Self-improvement", and the white jade intersecting dragon button with "Eight Wanderers" "Treasure of Thought", these are fine white jade works.
Especially the furnace cover and two jade seals among them. Although they are not national seals, these ordinary seals belong to Qianlong and are already very precious.
Seeing these two pieces of jade seal made Chen Wenzhe a little suspicious. Didn't he accidentally get a piece of the wreckage of the Yuanmingyuan treasure ship?
After all, if there is no special time, who can bring something like a jade seal out of the palace?
These are just conjectures, he will confirm them later.
At this time, Chen Wenzhe was naturally delighted when he saw so many jade carvings with exquisite craftsmanship.
Therefore, he carefully played with these jade articles one by one and made an appraisal on them.
In addition to the most precious batch of jades, there are many other white jade works.
For example, a white jade kettle with three friends in the cold season, a white jade pen holder with lotus leaves, a white jade screen with blessings and longevity patterns, a white jade with auspicious animal statues, a white jade wash with five blessings and a longevity pattern, a pair of white jade handles, a white jade screen with pictures of babies playing, white jade with Festive wealth pattern water injection, etc.
For example, white jade works are the main force among them, with the largest number.
There are also many exquisite items, such as several statues of lid stoves. In addition to the two mentioned above, there is also a white jade lid furnace with Wanfu Ruyi, a white jade embossed animal face pattern, imitation bronze incense, and an emerald three lion buttons, two beasts, and three rings. Foot stove.
Especially the last one is a jade product, and such things already existed during the Qianlong period.
Among this batch of jade articles, there is also an imperial jadeite withered to ward off evil spirits, which is also a jadeite product.
From this it can be proved that the use of jade had already begun during the Qianlong period.
However, among the jades discovered by Chen Wenzhe, there were only two jadeite products, and the largest number of others were white jade products.
Among these white jade products, there are white jade animal statues, jade bowls, pen holders, and Yushanzi. In particular, Yushanzi is the most popular.
For example, the three-star white jade ornaments of Fortune, Lushou and Longevity, the white jade unicorn godson ornaments, the imperial white jade Luohan Shanzi, the white jade Qin Shanzi with the figure of playing the harp, the blue and white jade imperial poems on the Huangshan Thirty-six Peaks Pattern Shanzi, the black and white jade exquisitely carved imperial poem Shanzi, etc. .
The smallest number is the white jade bottle, such as a white jade bottle with animal ears and chi heads intertwined with two bodies.
Next is the white jade bowl, of which there are only two pieces, one is the imperial white jade bowl inscribed with poems, the other is a large white jade plate and a white jade bowl.
Chen Wenzhe really didn't realize that there was actually a large white jade plate underneath a white jade bowl.
Plates made of jade are really rare, at least Chen Wenzhe is not willing to use aniseed to make plates.
While identifying and cleaning, after cleaning the white jade bowls and plates, Chen Wenzhe unexpectedly found another white jade bottle in a corner.
This is a white jade amphorae with passion flower pattern. After cleaning the bottle, I found a white jade dragon and phoenix Changyi descendants pendant inside the bottle. This is a jade pendant.
In the end, there were only three ordinary items left, which were a pair of white jade incense sticks with cloud and dragon patterns and white jade incense sticks with landscape and figure patterns.
After cleaning up these white jade products, Chen Wenzhe was left with two important treasures.
One of the pieces is a piece of white jade with an engraved phoenix pattern and is suitable for the poster of descendants. I won’t say much about it. Apart from the complicated workmanship, there is nothing else to say about it.
After all, I have previously introduced a Guibi with a more complicated craftsmanship. At this time, what Chen Wenzhe values most is the Qianlong Qianlong sapphire handle with antique animal face pattern.
This is another typical Qianlong antique artifact. This time it is an imitation of the animal-face pattern Liangyou. This is a bronze artifact from the Western Zhou Dynasty and is now in the Capital Museum.
This animal-mask-patterned Liangyou is a work from the early Western Zhou Dynasty, with a height of 31.8 centimeters. It was unearthed from the Liuli River in Fangshan in 1974.
It has an animal head-style lifting beam, a round top cover, a catch handle in the middle of the top cover, an oval mouth, a long girdle neck, a drooping abdomen, and a circled foot that is turned outward.