The cover of this animal-mask-patterned tie-liang hat is decorated with animal-mask patterns, with opposing bird patterns between the animal-mask patterns.
The neck is decorated with protruding animal heads on the front and back, and Kui dragon patterns on both sides.
The dragon head faces the animal head, and its upper and lower parts are decorated with string patterns, its belly is decorated with animal face patterns, and the circle foot is decorated with a bird pattern belt.
The inscription on the lid and the vessel reads: "Zuo Bao Yi".
The shape and pattern of this 囉卣 are consistent with those of other 圉卣s unearthed in Liulihe River.
Its animal mask pattern is unique and is the most valuable information for studying the bronzes of the Yan Kingdom.
The State of Yan was a vassal state enfeoffed in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Its political center was in the capital area. The Liuli River in Fangshan, the capital, has the ancient city ruins and ancient tombs of the State of Yan.
Qianlong's classical sentiments inherited the traditional thinking of literati since the Song and Ming Dynasties.
It is said that the great virtue of the ancient kings lies in rituals and music; the spirit of the scribes lies in calligraphy; playing with ritual and musical instruments can improve virtue; playing with ink and old engravings can improve one's skills; living in today's world, one can meet the ancients.
This concept of loving antiquity has also led to the trend of imitating ancient artifacts.
Antique wares from the Qing Dynasty have always been known as beautiful bells and clocks, and they were basically produced by the palace manufacturing office.
Represented by the Qianlong Dynasty, it can be roughly divided into three categories.
The first is to imitate the ancient Yi wares in shape, that is, to imitate the bronze wares in the "Xuanhe Bogu Tu", "Xiqing Ancient Mirror", "Ningshou Jiangu" and "Archaeological Map". This part accounts for 10% of the antique wares. Most of it;
The second is to imitate the ancient jade of the previous generation to make new jade, imitating and innovating in shape and decoration;
The third is to imitate the ancient style and connotation. Although there are many additions and deletions in the shape and decoration of the vessel, the emphasis is on imitating its charm.
Among the art works handed down from the Qianlong Emperor, there are a large number of palace crafts that imitate the shapes, textures and styles of ancient artifacts.
Among them, the jade imitation of ancient works is the best in the world. There is no such group of works in terms of quantity, scale, material grade and workmanship quality in all dynasties. It is said that it is unprecedented and unprecedented.
Let’s talk about the yellow jade jade just now. It is an example of antique palace utensils during the Qianlong period.
It is made of luxurious materials and has a simple shape. It has the elegance, simplicity, beauty and mystery of the ancient Jijin heavy vessels, and it also combines the magnificence and magnificence of the golden vessels.
Such Qing Dynasty palaces had two main uses for jade and ritual vessels.
One is to use it according to tradition on specific occasions.
The second is to study it as an integral part of traditional culture, research and collect it.
Lucky Notes in Volume 82 of "Manuscripts of the Qing Dynasty": Sacrifice,... jade, silk, animal prison, six grades of jade, God Cang Bi, Emperor Huang Cong, Dashe Huang Gui, Da Ji Qing Gui, Chao Ri Chi Bi, Xi Ri White jade, the old Sheji altar, was often used for worship in the Spring and Autumn Period, but not for prayers.
This shows that the court of the Qing Dynasty used ritual vessels such as Gui, Bi, and Cong in auspicious rituals.
This piece of Guibi is full and full of beauty, with fine workmanship, complex craftsmanship and unique ingenuity.
It is neat and refreshing in big parts, exquisite and expressive in small parts. It is based on the past but not rigidly adhere to the past. It is high in antiquity but has deep new ideas.
It can be said that it perfectly combines the ancient and elegant charm with the complex and vigorous artistic style of the Qing Dynasty.
These heavy objects have undergone changes and innovations during the inheritance, showing the style of jade making in the palace of Qianlong.
If this piece of Guibi is a complex and majestic thing, then the small thing underneath it is a piece of unique craftsmanship.
There are quite a few Qianlong jades here, but when it comes to being small, exquisite, and unique, there is one piece that is really unique.
This is a jade badger with a length of 5.5cm, carved from white jade.
This piece of white jade carving shows a badger lying on the ground.
It looks back with a crooked neck, a short kiss, and round eyes!
There are grooves in the ears, and the body is plump, with graceful lines and full of muscles.
The limbs are retracted under the abdomen, the claws are in the shape of a fist, the long tail is curled up and attached to the side of the body, and the bottom abdomen is also plump and round. The workmanship is exquisite and the image is vivid.
A small round badger is clinging to his side, lively, cute and innocent.
This work is cleverly conceived, using the red gold part of the jade material as the head of a badger, which symbolizes good luck and good luck;
Take the black part of the jade material and carve it into a round shape to resemble a magpie flying on its back, with round eyes and sharp beak, looking at each other and chirping in harmony with a badger from a distance.
The neck is decorated with a circle of short thin yin lines, and the wing feathers are folded into a resting shape. The feathers are neat and dense, with clear roots.
Badger is a homophonic word for "huan", which means joy;
Magpies symbolize the arrival of good news, and together they mean joy.
To be able to use anticipation to carve such a small thing to this extent, with this method, this kind of craftsmanship, and this kind of idea can only be accomplished by the most top carving masters.
Therefore, jade production reached its peak during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.
This style mainly takes the form of fancy shapes, gorgeous patterns, fine workmanship, and auspicious themes.
At that time, it was called "the style of the times" and was widely loved.
The beauty of this ornament lies in its craftsmanship, which cannot be achieved without whimsy and wonderful ideas. The knife handling is delicate and smooth, and ingenuity is integrated into the meticulous workmanship. The image is vivid and lifelike.
The auspicious meaning makes people fall in love with it.
This is a handle piece, small in size, just perfect for holding in your hand.
Of course, apart from such playthings, what Chen Wenzhe values most is practical tools.
He had previously bought an agate-carved jade cup at the Chenghuang Temple stall in Dahai City.
Now he has no shortage of jade cups, so what he focuses on this time is not the jade cup, but a jade pot.
Chen Wenzhe has made many purple clay teapots and porcelain teapots, but he has never thought about carving a jade teapot.
The main reason is that this requires too much jade material, which is a waste of jade material and effort. Chen Wenzhe feels that the gain outweighs the gain.
However, if he could get a jade pot for free, he would be quite happy in his heart.
The piece in front of me is not a jade from the Qing Dynasty, but a yellow jade chilong-held teapot from the Ming Dynasty.
Another piece of jade with a chilong pattern, and another piece of topaz. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, or maybe foreigners in the Ming and Qing Dynasties really liked topaz and chilong patterns.
In any case, these things most likely came from the royal family, and I don’t know how foreign merchants obtained them back then.
Anyway, it's an advantage for him now, but he doesn't have time to look into the past now, because there are too many things that require him to study the origins.
This Ming Dynasty topaz chilong teapot is really quite big, its height reaches 17.4cm.
The shape of the holding pot is rectangular, with a straight mouth rim, a slightly convergent neck, rich bends, a rectangular belly, a shank, and high feet at the bottom.
The entire vessel is made of topaz, which is smooth and shiny, and the oil-drawing technique is used to form several tan patches to retain the playful and withered meaning;
Short flow and full, small mouth slightly skimmed;
A chilong is embossed high on the wall of the pot, with protruding eyes and a wide mouth, and its horns are drawn back.
Chilong has strong limbs and strong back.
It has a strong body and sharp claws. It clings to the side wall as if it wants to pounce and climb up. The depiction is lifelike;
The Panshou is made with high relief, carving and engraving techniques.
The transformed dragon is in the shape of a pot, with the dragon's head held in its mouth and its eyes wide open.
It can be said that the image of Chilong is vividly expressed.