According to documentary records, gold lacquer was produced in the Yongzheng Dynasty, but the quantity was not large.
The Qianlong Dynasty had a large production volume and rich decorative themes, among which the majority were auspicious and bionic themes.
The bionic lacquerware of the Qianlong Dynasty was more abundant, such as a Qianlong-style red lacquer bowl with gold phoenixes and peony patterns on the inside.
This bowl is made of wood, with a skimmed mouth and ringed feet. The entire bowl is painted with vermilion lacquer and gold, reflecting the luxury of palace decoration.
The wall of the bowl is painted with peonies and auspicious patterns of phoenixes and birds. The phoenixes fly among the peonies. It is also called "phoenix piercing the peonies", which means happiness and beauty.
The foot wall is decorated with golden sea patterns all around, and the rim of the mouth and the inside of the bowl are inlaid with silver.
The bottom of the bowl is decorated with two gold-painted frames, and is inscribed in regular script with the words "Qianlong Year of the Qing Dynasty" in six characters and three lines.
According to archival records, a total of sixteen pieces of this bowl were made at that time, and now all are preserved in the Palace Museum, with not one missing.
Two hundred years later, the decoration is still as bright as new.
Fine wooden bowls like this are really rare, but there are many similar works of the same type from the Qianlong period.
For example, the Qianlong model is a red lacquered bowl with golden phoenixes and peonies on the inside, and a silver bowl with a peony pattern, and the Qianlong model is a black lacquered plate with gold embroidered landscapes and figures.
This plate in particular is a shallow plate, with a wooden base, a square shape, a flat bottom, and a circle foot that conforms to the shape.
The whole body is painted black and decorated with gold patterns.
In the center of the plate are two pictures of landscapes and pavilions overlapping each other. The far, middle and close views are well arranged, with beautiful mountains and rocks, vigorous ancient trees and rippling water.
There are pavilions, terraces and waterside pavilions arranged in an orderly manner, and a small boat moves forward slowly.
The gold painting is done using the mountain stone chamfering method, with clear layers and haloes of shades, presenting a quiet, elegant and lofty artistic conception.
The inner wall of the plate is painted with a brocade pattern of six-petal flowers, and the outer wall is decorated with clusters of flowers.
Various broken flowers are scattered on the outsole, and the four-character double-line "Qianlong Year System" in gold regular script is embossed in the two central frames.
This plate draws on the neon maki-e technique, painting the gold pattern with transparent lacquer and grinding it to make the lacquer ground blacker and brighter, and the pattern more three-dimensional.
There are also Qianlong-style black lacquer and gold-painted landscapes and figures, and a black lacquer and gold-painted Ganoderma lucidum bonsai using the same black lacquer craftsmanship.
The surface of the Ganoderma lucidum is covered with gold foil, and the carving is lifelike. A round wooden block is dropped from the root for fixation.
The basin is in the Zun style, with the mouth curled, the neck tied, the abdomen bulged, the feet circled, and integrated with the base.
Its entire body is painted black, the mouth is painted with gold, and the bottom of the neck is decorated with a banana leaf pattern;
The belly of the basin is bulging on the outside, and is decorated with lots of lotus branches. The lower abdomen is decorated with banana leaves for a week.
The inner wall of the basin mouth is decorated with various branches and flowers.
Ganoderma lucidum has always symbolized longevity in traditional Chinese culture. Golden and plump Ganoderma lucidum makes people more wealthy and happy.
This bonsai was originally stored in the Shoukang Palace in the Forbidden City. This place was the residence of the empress dowager, and the concubines and concubines also lived here.
There are many works similar to the Ganoderma lucidum bonsai with black lacquer and golden banana leaves, and many even use the same technique.
For example, a Ruyi cloud-shaped box with an oil-painted lotus pattern is painted on the entire body with light blue paint as the ground, and the pattern is painted in oil tones.
The cover is decorated with gold and consecrated according to the shape, and the interior is painted with lotus and bat patterns;
The lotus branches wrapped around the vines symbolize longevity, and combined with the bat pattern, it means "good fortune and longevity".
The side walls are fully decorated with lotus and phoenix patterns, and the interior is painted with gold paint. The center of the outer sole is painted with one branch and two persimmons, which means "everything goes well".
In the mid-Qing Dynasty, various crafts and technologies reached their peak, and there were many works that used one type of material to imitate another type of material, which could almost look real.
This cloud-head box is an example, its decoration imitating copper-body filigree enamel.
Not only is its color and pattern highly simulated, it also deliberately imitates the gilt texture of the copper body and filigree. The authenticity can only be distinguished by holding it in your hand.
This top-notch craftsmanship can only be seen on palace objects.
For example, a gold-lacquered rectangular box with eight auspicious patterns has its entire body painted in gold lacquer. Inside the inscription on the cover, there is an inscription in regular script with the eight characters "Preface to the Imperial Summer Resort" written in regular script.
There are four lotus flowers on each side, supporting the eight auspicious patterns.
The cover wall is covered with lotus flowers on all sides, with huge flower heads and winding branches. The layout is exquisite without the feeling of being piled up in a complicated manner.
There are Ruyi cloud-shaped baffles at the four corners of the seat, which are used to fix the paper-based brocade drawers that hold the album pages.
The base has Ruyi cloud-shaped feet and is decorated with kidnapper patterns.
The album page of "Postscript to the Royal Summer Resort" originally contained in the box was written by Yongxuan, the eleventh son of Emperor Qianlong.
"Summer Resort Afterword" is a famous piece written by Emperor Qianlong in the 47th year of Qianlong's reign (1782).
It got its name because it was written after Emperor Kangxi's "Record of the Summer Resort".
Prince Yongxuan was good at calligraphy, and the pages of the "Afterword" carefully transcribed by him were included in this exquisite gold lacquer box and presented to Emperor Qianlong for his royal reading.
The gold-lacquered rectangular box with eight auspicious patterns uses gold-plated lacquer and lacquer filling techniques, so it has a rich palace color.
During the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, the production of gold-coloured lacquerware was more popular. Although there are archival records of the Yongzheng Dynasty's production, there are very few actual objects left.
The Qianlong Dynasty was a period of vigorous development of gold-painted lacquer craftsmanship. Not only was the production volume large, but there were also many high-quality products.
Its outstanding features are thick gold, bright colors, fine patterns, and the overall decoration is bright and bright, with a strong palace color and atmosphere.
The gold-coloured paint is a composite process that combines "gold-painted" and "colored paint".
The so-called gilding is to carve a pattern on a lacquered ground, and then apply gold foil or gold powder inside the negative line to form a golden pattern.
After the line is filled with gold, it is still a negative line, which is lower than the paint plane.
The so-called colored paint can be divided into filling paint and tracing paint. Filling paint is to carve out a depressed pattern on the paint floor according to the designed pattern. The pattern is filled with color paint and then polished, so that the pattern is flush with the paint surface.
flat.
Painting is to use various colors of paint to draw patterns on the lacquer ground. Since the patterns are painted on, the patterns are slightly higher than the flat surface of the paint.
In this way, there are two processes of gold filling paint and gold tracing paint. Relatively speaking, the production process of gold filling paint is more complicated.
According to the actual objects handed down, the Ming Dynasty mainly used gold-filled lacquer, while the Qing Dynasty used gold-painted paint. It is customary in academic circles to collectively refer to the two as gold-colored lacquer.
The craft of lacquering was valued during the Qianlong Dynasty. The surface of the lacquering works is smooth and delicate, subtle and restrained, giving people a sense of subtle beauty.
The production process is complex and time-consuming, and because it is difficult to operate, the decoration is generally based on standardized patterns.
Such as brocade patterns, entwining lotus patterns, etc., a vessel is covered with repeated exquisite patterns. Although the patterns are simple, they appear simple and elegant.
For example, a lacquered lotus leaf plate, with a wooden base, lotus leaf shape, rolled edges, and a flat bottom.
The inside and outside of the plate are painted with green paint as the ground, and the veins are filled with red paint.
The center of the plate is decorated with four lotuses, with leaf veins shooting out from the center and forked branches reaching the edge of the plate.
The spaces between the leaf veins are filled with yellow paint to create curly grass patterns, making the lines soft and smooth.
The shape of this plate imitates the style of the Ming Dynasty and is the only one of its kind in the collection of the Qing Palace.
This kind of collection that embodies unique craftsmanship is rare anywhere.
However, some top-notch craftsmanship are not uncommon, such as the Qianlong-style gold-painted "Ruyi Palace Box", which embodies the extremely high "gold-resistant" craftsmanship.
This box is painted entirely with brown paint on the ground and decorated with gold paint patterns.