My system is not decent

Chapter 1814 Composite Bronze Mirror, Absolutely Wonderful

Chen Wenzhe could see it, the bronze mirror he saw in this private antique craft museum, each side has its own unique craftsmanship, it is a classic of an era.

Just like the compound mirror in front of me, there is actually a phoenix. How can such a bronze mirror be simple?

This is a compound mirror with bronze openwork and phoenix patterns from the Warring States Period, which should be from the Western Zhou Dynasty.

It is round, with a small bridge-shaped button, and the mirror back is centered on the button seat.

Make a cross and divide it into four quadrants, and openwork a pair of facing phoenix birds in each area.

Each group of phoenix birds is connected with each other by crown, neck and wings to form an overall pattern.

The edge of the mirror is reversed and inlaid with a flat and thin mirror.

There is an introductory text below, explaining that this compound mirror is now collected in the Shaoxing Museum.

Through this mirror, Chen Wenzhe truly realized how complicated the manufacturing process of this composite mirror is.

The manufacturing process of composite mirrors is complicated, mainly because the back of the mirror is first hollowed out and cast with patterns, and then merged with the mirror surface to form a mirror, so it is also called a mirror or openwork mirror.

Most of these bronze mirrors appeared in the Warring States Period. The composite bronze mirrors disappeared after the Warring States Period.

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the Palace Building Office reorganized the mirrors of the ancient mirrors collected in the palace to achieve the effect of appreciating the appearance.

Some of the ancient mirrors are composited, recast a mirror surface, and then adhered to the front of the ancient mirror after grinding.

However, this kind of compound mirror is naturally different from the compound mirror of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

The craftsmanship and artistic style of bronze mirrors have gradually evolved from the ancient and simple bronze mirrors of the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the delicate and light Warring States mirrors.

Afterwards, it went from the plump and strange mirrors of the Han Dynasty to the magnificent mirrors of the Tang Dynasty.

From the beautiful and slender flower-and-bird mirrors of the Song Dynasty, to the mirrors of trademark names, auspicious patterns and inscriptions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties that only emphasize practicality.

my country's bronze mirrors have gone from prehistory to modern times, leaving us countless precious cultural heritages.

The composite mirror is a kind of special craft mirror that embellishes the ancient bronze craft in a magnificent and magnificent way by using various strange crafts of the era.

Special craft mirrors can be roughly divided into two categories in terms of craft.

The first category is special processes in manufacturing, such as composite mirrors;

The other is the special process of decoration, such as inlaying, interlacing gold and silver, colored painting, mother-of-pearl, gold and silver flat, gilding, gold paste, silver paste and so on.

What Chen Wenzhe sees here is the composite copper mirror, which can be divided into two types: embedded mirror and cast-welded mirror.

The so-called "composite" refers to the synthesis of the mirror surface and the mirror back after separate casting.

Therefore, it is also called laminated mirror and sleeve mirror.

Finally, a special air-permeable structure is formed, and some composite mirrors also use mosaic technology and painting technology.

For example, a square mirror inlaid with geometric patterns in the air during the Warring States Period, the real one is now in the Maritime Museum.

This Warring States transparent square mirror inlaid with geometric patterns has a length and width of 18.5 cm and a weight of 929 grams.

The length and width of the mirror are both 16.5 cm, and the thickness is only 0.2 cm.

The mirror surface and the mirror back are cast separately and integrated into one body, the mirror surface is embedded in the frame, and the main body of the decoration on the mirror back is a transparent geometric pattern band.

There are red copper geometric thin lines with a width of less than 1mm on the decorative band, and turquoise is embedded in the outline formed by the thin lines.

There is a staggered gold breast stud at each of the four corners of the back of the mirror, decorated with flame patterns.

Around the back of the mirror, there are also 12 round turquoise milk nails.

The design and color matching of this mirror are very elegant, which fully demonstrates the wonderful bronze decoration skills of the Warring States Period.

The production of composite mirrors still uses the fitting technology.

Regarding the chimera technology, the details cannot be fully clarified at present, and it may be that multiple methods coexist.

Mr. He Tangkun said in "Technical Research on Ancient Chinese Bronze Mirrors": The fitting technology of composite mirrors is very superb.

The method is to cast the mirror back first, and then cast the mirror surface.

After the metal condenses, the mirror edge connected with the mirror part will produce a tight force like the mortise and tenon.

This strengthens the fitting of the metals of the mirror surface and the mirror back.

Teacher Gao Xisheng believes that the mirror surface and the mirror back should be cast separately and then glued together.

Or after two castings, use rivets etc. to make the face and the back buckle into one.

However, there is also a method of bonding glue and paint on composite mirrors. It is amazing that the back of the mirror has not been separated after more than 2000 years.

Various methods have their own basis and are not conclusive.

Then there is the casting and welding technology used. Another composite method in the composite copper mirror is casting and welding, which is to re-cast the mirror surface and the mirror back after separate casting.

A Warring States through-the-air mirror with dragon patterns hidden in the Dahai City Museum is a typical representative.

This mirror of the Warring States period with dragon patterns is round, with a diameter of 8 cm on the back of the mirror.

It is composed of fifteen intersecting dragon patterns interlaced through the air, and a frame with a width of 0.8 cm.

The button seat and the button area are hollow, and there is a lying beast in each of the three equal parts of the frame, which is the cast welding spot between the mirror back and the mirror surface.

The diameter of the mirror is 10.2 cm, and there is a 1 cm wide frame on the back, decorated with 25 long S-shaped patterns.

There is a niche in each of the three divisions of the inner edge of the frame, corresponding to the three lying beasts on the mirror back, which are the joints of the mirror surface and the mirror back by casting and welding.

When casting this mirror, the mirror back and the mirror surface are cast separately first, and three niches are left on the back of the mirror surface.

Then, put the back of the mirror and the mirror surface together, and place a model cavity in the shape of a crouching animal on each of the missing niches at the junction of the back.

After casting, the copper liquid flows into the reserved niche, so that the mirror back and the mirror surface can be solidified at three points. This process is welding and casting.

The whole principle is the secondary casting in bronze casting. By the Warring States period, this technology was relatively mature, and it was able to show its talents on bronze mirrors.

So, what is the difference between the fitting of the composite mirror and the casting welding technology?

As the name suggests, the composite mirror means that the mirror surface and the mirror back are not integrated.

It is a mirror with a special shape and a hollow structure formed after being separated and casted and combined into one.

However, the method of compound mirror synthesis is different. The biggest difference between the fitting and casting welding technology is whether to perform secondary welding and casting.

Fitting is synthesis by embedding or adhesion, and casting welding is to weld and fuse the mirror surface and the mirror back through the niche again.

Through these bronze mirrors, Chen Wenzhe also learned a lot about the production methods of ancient bronze wares.

Especially the bronze mirror, now he wants to imitate it himself, and there is no problem at all.

Of course, to make a bronze mirror, we must not only focus on unique technology, but also need some ordinary craftsmanship.

Through the various mirrors in the museum, Chen Wenzhi learned a whole set of bronze mirror casting techniques.

It can be said that there are all kinds of techniques, and there are many unique techniques. He has also seen how the ancients used casting techniques on very delicate mirrors.

Summing up the same conclusion, now he knows that generally two methods of "open" and "combined casting" are used when casting bronze mirrors.

"Open type" means that there is only one mirror, without sprue and groove. When casting, the mirror is placed flat and the solution is poured from above.

(End of this chapter)