My system is not decent

Chapter 1923 The carving is sharp, but the grinder is not seen

The mid-Ming period refers to the period from Xuande to Jiajing, when government-run workshops came to a standstill.

Most of the existing lacquerware in the mid-Ming Dynasty is carved lacquerware. No matter in terms of lacquerwork techniques, decorative patterns, lacquer colors, and fine workmanship, they do not have the unified characteristics and style patterns of imperial lacquerware in the early Ming Dynasty.

Showing distinctive features of different regions, folk lacquerware plays the leading role, and the decorative themes are mainly flowers, flowers and birds, and there is no dragon and phoenix decoration on lacquerware.

The lacquerware of Jiajing and Wanli in the late Ming Dynasty was mainly carved lacquer with red and color.

The characteristics of carved lacquer are that there is less polishing, the brocade is fine and dense, and the knife is clumsy and heavy.

The style of the late Ming Dynasty continued until the early Qing Dynasty.

Jiajing lacquerware is mostly decorated with immortality and longevity as the theme, and flowers and animals become fairy grass and auspicious animals;
Wanli lacquerware, double dragons, double phoenixes, auspicious clouds, sea water and river cliffs have become the most important decorative themes.

By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, in addition to flying dragons and flying phoenixes, lions and sea beasts also became common symbols of auspiciousness.

The Ming Jiajing green land pick red double dragon pattern silver ingot style plate, Ming Jiajing pick color double dragon Fushou Pingan Ling fancy plate, Ming Jiajing pick red phoenix crane pattern official suitcase, etc., regardless of the decorative theme and production process, are all standard styles in the late Ming Dynasty , The official is a heavy weapon.

In particular, the "Daming Longqing Year System" style bowl with red double-dragon play and pearl pattern, the Longqing Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty was only six years old. According to published statistics, there are no more than 10 official Longqing lacquerware handed down from generation to generation, which is very precious.

Carved lacquer in the Qing Dynasty inherited the style of the Jiajing and Wanli periods of the Ming Dynasty. In terms of carving skills, it continued to maintain the technique of moving the knife like a brush, showing the beauty of sharp edges.

However, the carved lacquer in the Qing Dynasty emphasized engraving and light grinding, striving for fineness, delicacy and authenticity, and the lacquer layer became thicker and thicker.

The level and strength of the relief gradually increased, and the brocade pattern became more and more exquisite, with many changes.

The engraving is getting finer and finer, the depth of field is getting farther and farther away, and the composition is dense and multi-layered, which is good at more, giving people the feeling of being too delicate, fragmented, and cumbersome.

No carved lacquerware with a clear date was found in the early Qing Dynasty. The lacquerware in the middle Qing Dynasty refers to the lacquerware dominated by the court during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.

It also includes the lacquerware of the Jiaqing period influenced by it, and also specifically refers to the lacquerware of the Qianlong style. Carved lacquer is the most important lacquer craft variety.

After the mid-Qing Dynasty, carved lacquer declined, and the level of carved lacquer was not as good as before.

According to the Palace Museum’s analysis of the archives of the Qing Inner Palace, it is speculated that the production of carved lacquerware for the Qing court began in the third year of Qianlong’s reign, when lacquerware was first carved by ivory craftsmen in the Manufacturing Office.

After four years of Qianlong's reign, samples were basically sent to Suzhou for production, and then sent back to the palace for engraving.

In addition to Su City, Yang City is also an important producing area of ​​carved lacquer.

Yangshi is good at antique style, mostly with landscape and figure subjects.

In the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), the Taiping Army captured Suzhou, and the lacquer carving workshops in Suzhou ceased production.

The characteristic of carved lacquer in the mid-Qing Dynasty is that the shape of the utensils is changeable, and a lot of literary images are used. The patterns must be intentional and the meaning must be auspicious.

The lacquer is bright red, the carving is fine, the decoration is complicated, and the production is rigorous.

Carved lacquer in the mid-Qing Dynasty is the most important type of lacquerware collected by Zeng Zaizhai. It is large in quantity and high in quality. Only a few of them are selected in this book.

The plum-shaped holding box with eight monsters in the red sea in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, the treasure box of double dragons in Qianlong period in Qing Dynasty, the cong-style box with colorful birthday pictures in the middle period of Qing Dynasty, and the beam box with dragon pattern in seawater in the middle period of Qing Dynasty are all the best carved lacquers in Qianlong period. Can find the same artifact.

Especially in the mid-Qing Dynasty, the beam lifting box with the pattern of swimming dragons in the red sea is exquisite in workmanship. The tea cups inside the box are made of gold and red, and the matching tea sets are basically intact and precious.

In addition, there is also a variety with a special style in carved lacquer.

Carved lacquer from the Yuan to the early Ming Dynasty has little lacquer removal, dense decoration, and slightly exposed yellow lacquer ground. Regardless of lacquer color and knife technique, it emphasizes the ruddy and smooth lacquerware.

This style of carved lacquer works in the opposite direction, with many carvings, and a large area of ​​the surface of the lacquerware is removed, leaving only the top ridges of the decorations, which appear delicate and delicate.

According to literature records, this style appeared in the middle of the Ming Dynasty and was called "Nanyun carved lacquer", or "Diangong".

The lacquer layer is thin, the lacquer color is dark, the pattern is fine and broken, and the carver does not grind the edges and corners, exposing the peaks and edges.

This characteristic of carved lacquer with no hidden front directly affected the production of carved lacquer in the late Ming Dynasty and the Qianlong generation.

The themes of Nanyun carved lacquer are mostly drawn from various natural scenery.

Such as flowers, insects and fish, birds, animals, full of life breath.

There are quite a few lacquer ware of this style, such as a small cabinet with two doors and a black peony pattern in the Southern Song Dynasty.

There are also many works from the Ming Dynasty, such as the rectangular box with red double phoenix patterns in the Ming Dynasty, the square plate with the ball pattern of the red auspicious lion play in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the holding box with the red and auspicious animal pattern in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and the red Xiangxiang in the late Ming Dynasty. Fengyou pattern plate.

There are also some works from the Ming Dynasty, such as Mingtiao red peony pattern bowl, Mingtick black happy lion picture water chestnut square plate, Mingtick red lion ball pattern disc.

Then there is a gourd-shaped holding pot with red passion lotus pattern in the [-]th and [-]th centuries of the Ming Dynasty.

These are flower or animal patterns embossed on the yellow lacquer ground. The carvings are sharp and there is no grinder, but the patterns are jumping and agile, full of wild interest.

In fact, utensils of this style were first seen in the Neon Nezu Art Museum's Heihua Tangcao plate in the Southern Song Dynasty.

The small double-door cabinet with a black peony pattern and a top in the Southern Song Dynasty is another example of early evidence, which is of great significance to the study of the origin of Nanyun carved lacquer.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, a small double-door cabinet with a black peony pattern and a top, the lacquer is firm and moist, the color is bright, the black is red, and it has the visual effect of amber.

This small cabinet was exhibited in the Neon Kyushu National Museum. The researchers made a thorough comparative study of the lacquer quality and decoration, and believed that this cabinet has the characteristics of the era of carved lacquer in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Such as the paint layer, under a high-power magnifying glass, it can be seen that the paint layer is alternately vermilion and black.

Although it has spanned several centuries, it is impossible to determine how many layers there are, but at least eight layers with alternating red and black can be seen.

The peony lattice-shaped stamens are the characteristics of the Southern Song Dynasty stamens. They are similar to the Southern Song dishes in the Nezu Art Museum, and the carving methods are also the same.

This small cabinet has the craftsmanship of Nanyun carved lacquer. It is worth discussing when the style of Nanyun carved lacquer started.

In addition to these lacquer carvings, ticking rhinoceros is also a kind of carved lacquer.

The method is similar to that of color-picking, that is, two or three colored paints are used to paint regularly on the body of the utensils.

When it reaches a certain thickness, use a knife to cut out different patterns such as curly grass and wishful clouds, and different layers of colored paint will be revealed on the section of the knife edge.

In the cultural relics industry of Shendu, it is commonly known as "cloud carving", and neon calls it "qulun".

Usually there are black, purple and vermilion noodles.

Regardless of black face or vermilion face, as long as it is carved with a single and regular pattern such as hooked cloud or curly grass pattern, it is called ticking rhinoceros.

Rhinoceros picking in Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties is another important category, which is characterized by its early age and many fine works.

For example, the large bowl of the Song Dynasty, the whole body is purple, the lacquer is translucent, and it is as beautiful as amber. Through the surface lacquer, the three vermilion lines are clearly visible.

The lacquer color, lacquer quality, decoration and shape of works such as the rhinoceros picking bowl of the Song Dynasty are almost the same as the rhinoceros picking bowl with Ruyi cloud pattern in the Northern Song Dynasty unearthed in Zhangjiagang, Shazhou, Jiangsu.

This kind of deep belly bowl is also a unique bowl shape in the Song Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)