Chapter 1917 A thousand miles and a thousand swords and a pound of paint
The Jiajing round box with red clouds, cranes and longevity patterns, the red ruyi-patterned teapot, and the red clouds, cranes and longevity discs are all very distinctive.
These lacquerwares are all decorated with patterns such as clouds and cranes, longevity characters, wishful thinking patterns, etc. They have distinctive characteristics of the times and are all lacquerware made by officials in the Jiajing Dynasty.
The Wanli carved red dragon and phoenix patterned disk is a piece of lacquerware from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.
It is round in shape, shallow in shape, and round in shape.
The bottom of the plate is carved with a picture of dragon and phoenix playing with each other. The dragon is strong and powerful, and the phoenix is soft and graceful. They chase each other with the orb as the center, forming a picture of dragon and phoenix in auspiciousness.
The four sides of the inner wall are illuminated, with peonies, camellias, chrysanthemums and pomegranates carved with broken branches clockwise inside, and a Ganoderma lucidum flower at intervals on the outside.
The outer wall is fully carved with intertwining floral patterns, which makes it look very beautiful no matter how you look at it.
The first peak period of official-made lacquerware in the Ming Dynasty was in the Yongle and Xuande dynasties.
The second peak is Jiajing and Wanli dynasties.
The styles and characteristics of lacquerware in these two periods are completely different, and their decorative patterns have different priorities.
The Wanli Dynasty mainly featured dragons, phoenixes and double dragons, with a small number of landscape figures and flower and bird patterns, reflecting the rich palace characteristics.
This dragon and phoenix plate is an outstanding representative.
Later, the most exquisite works of red paintings must have been produced in the three dynasties of Kang, Yong and Qian dynasties.
These three dynasties were the golden age of lacquerware production in the Qing Dynasty, and the products of the Yangxindian Manufacturing Office represented the highest level.
In the work records of the Manufacturing Office, records of carved lacquer production during the Qianlong period can often be seen.
There are dozens of poems and essays about carved lacquer produced by Emperor Qianlong.
The production of carved lacquer and treasure inlays during the Qianlong period was at its peak. The carved lacquer was deeply influenced by the artistic styles of Jiajing and Wanli in the late Ming Dynasty.
The color of the red lacquerware is brighter and duller than that of the Ming Dynasty, and the patterns and decorations are more colorful. In addition to flowers and auspicious animals, there are many decorative patterns that imply auspiciousness and praise the peaceful and prosperous times.
The decoration is gorgeous and complicated, reaching its peak.
One of the classics is the Qianlong-era purple clay teapot with red roux pattern, bright red lacquer, sharp and accurate knife work, and clear and powerful ridges.
The composition is full, the flowers are blooming, the branches and leaves are lush, and it is gorgeous and gorgeous.
It is rare to see purple sand as the fetal bone of lacquerware, so this pot is extremely precious.
"A thousand knives a hundred miles a pound of lacquer", there are a lot of lacquerware from the Qianlong Dynasty in the Forbidden City.
The Qianlong Dynasty lacquerware collected in the Palace Museum was once open to the public, and more than 100 pieces of Qianlong Dynasty lacquerware from the Qing Dynasty were on display.
These lacquerwares cover a variety of techniques such as lacquer carving, gilding, inlaying, etc., showing the style, characteristics and artistic aesthetics of lacquerware craftsmanship in this period.
The Palace Museum has more than 18,000 sets of lacquerware, among which Qing Dynasty lacquerware accounts for the largest proportion.
In particular, lacquerware from the mid-Qing Dynasty, represented by the Qianlong Dynasty, is an important part of the lacquerware collection.
The more than 100 pieces of lacquerware collected by the Palace Museum from the Qianlong Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty were previously exhibited. The exhibits were divided into four categories based on the common craft categories used in the Qing Dynasty palace lacquerware: carved lacquer, painted and gold lacquer, gold-painted lacquer and filled lacquer, and inlay.
unit.
In addition, five units of imitation lacquer porcelain are added to present the style, characteristics and artistic aesthetics of lacquerware craftsmanship in this period.
The national power of the Qing Dynasty entered its peak period, laying the foundation for the great development of court arts and crafts.
Among many craft categories, lacquerware was favored by Emperor Qianlong, which made the production of lacquerware used in the palace flourish.
During the Qing Dynasty, the Manufacturing Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Sushi Weaving were contracted to manufacture lacquerware for the palace. Emperor Qianlong often personally supervised the production and made clear requirements.
This has led to an unusually wide variety of lacquerware, and its techniques are mainly divided into plain painting, tracing and piling, carving, inlaying, etc.
Among them, the red ones were produced in large quantities because they were favored by Emperor Qianlong in the lacquer carving process.
Lacquer trees generally grow in inaccessible virgin forests. One lacquer tree can only produce about 10 kilograms of raw lacquer in its entire life cycle.
When cutting paint, the knife edge cannot exceed ten knives. Every ten days of cutting, you need to rest for ten days, and every year of cutting, you need to rest for one year.
Therefore, there is an ancient saying of "a thousand miles of paint and a pound of paint".
Due to the sticky nature of lacquer, the lacquer painting process also inlays clam slices, horn bones, metal, jade, glass and other materials into patterns to decorate the lacquerware, which increases the beauty of the utensils.
There are crafts techniques such as mother-of-pearl, gold and silver flat stripping, and treasure inlay.
Mother-of-pearl lacquerware appeared as early as the Shang Dynasty. "Painting and Decoration Records" states that "mother-of-pearl lacquerware was thick in ancient times but thin today."
Craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty also used mother-of-pearl paint to decorate bronze mirrors, which was unique and novel.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the lacquer technique of mother-of-pearl and gold and silver flakes became popular.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the production of mother-of-pearl reached its peak. The craftsmanship was exquisite, and the shells were in yellow, red, white and other luster changes. The colors complemented each other and formed a strong contrast with the lacquered ground, exuding auspiciousness and luxury.
Mother-of-pearl is the most gorgeous lacquerware painting technique.
Emperor Qianlong's elegance and appreciation of ancient utensils led to the flourishing of antique and antique utensils.
The shapes of lacquerware mostly imitate porcelain, jade and ancient bronze.
The red cong-style vase inlaid with mother-of-pearl and lady flowers is imitated in the shape of a jade cong, embodying Emperor Qianlong's idea of "embracing the past and present".
The shape is simple and dignified, the composition is vivid, the colors are bright, the layers are rich, and the craftsmanship is exquisite, which is amazing.
This definitely reflects once again the artistic charm of lacquer carvings showing off their skills and being complicated and extravagant during the Qianlong period.
There are more than 50 cultural relics from the Qianlong period on display in the Forbidden City. During the exhibition, these 50 cultural relics were further divided into six chapters.
They are literati allusions, antiques, Ming Dynasties, auspicious meanings, furnishings and ornaments, and exclusive functions.
For example, one of the red "Red Cliff Treasure Boxes" of the Qianlong period is regarded as a representative of "literati allusions".
This square box has three layers, upper and lower, and its four corners are decorated with Ruyi-shaped protrusions.
The exterior is painted with red paint and the cover is engraved with red cliff pictures. Su Zi and his guests took wine and fish and went boating under the red cliff.
At this time, "the frost and dew have fallen, and all the leaves have fallen off the trees." The two guests looked up and saw the bright moon reflecting on the cliffs near the river, and took pleasure in it.
The name of the "Red Cliff Treasure Box" in gold is engraved in the center of the cover.
Inscribed in the center of the outsole is a six-character, three-line inscription in regular gold calligraphy: "Made in the Qianlong Year of the Qing Dynasty."
Su Shi, a writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, visited Red Cliff twice with his friends and wrote the first and second "Red Cliff Ode".
The ancients often created art based on the descriptions in the text, such as "the moon rises above the east mountain, wandering among the bullfights", "the river flows with sound, the bank is broken thousands of feet, the mountain is high, the moon is small, the water falls and the rocks appear", etc.
This work represents the scene in "Fu Chibi Fu".
The Qianlong style "Red Cliff Treasure Box" is also a "red-painted landscape and figure box" that shows the interest of characters.
The box is imitated in the shape of a jade chime, with a canopy covering the ground, and Ruyi-style feet with mud supports under several seats.
The whole body is carved with red paint, and the cover is decorated with pictures of immortals celebrating their birthdays.
It uses the rolling mountains and the vast sea as the background to show the magnificent scene of eight immortals crossing the sea to celebrate their birthdays.
Two immortals hover on cranes in the sky, and auspicious aura rises from the water.
The bat and chime-shaped combination on the top of the cover means "Fuqing". The side walls are painted in the form of landscape paintings, and auspicious patterns such as birthday wishes and gifts are also carved.
The box contains four sub-boxes of different shapes, decorated with oil-painted lotus patterns, and the patterns are neat and elegant. The decorative patterns of this box are complex and there are many figures, but the composition is dense and dense, with clear priorities.
In particular, the characters are depicted with different expressions, reflecting superb carving skills.