Chinese traditional inlaying technology has a long history. As early as the Xia and Shang Dynasties, inlaying technology has been widely used in bronzes and lacquerware. The bronze plaque inlaid with turquoise, now preserved in Luoyang Museum, is one thousand nine hundred and eighty-four Unearthed in the autumn of. It is the earliest and most exquisite inlaid bronze ware found at present, and its discovery has created a precedent for inlaying bronze ware.
one thousand nine hundred and sixty-two In, the silver inlaid grinded rectangular box unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Lianyungang was inlaid with two silver plates in the middle, agate beads inlaid on the leaves, and hunting silver plates inlaid on the box cover and the vertical wall of the base. This is an earlier inlaid object with high artistic value in China.
With the improvement of furniture variety technology, inlay technology is gradually applied to the production of furniture. During the Warring States Period, colored lacquer inlaid with jade has appeared. In the Tang Dynasty, the inlaying process became more mature, and even inlaid mother of pearl, ivory and other artifacts on hardwood. The five stringed lute inlaid with red sandalwood and mother of pearl of the Tang Dynasty has been preserved in Japan's Zhengcang Courtyard, and has been designated as a national treasure by the Japanese government.
The seventh volume of the Examination of Ancient and Modern Things by Wang Sanpin of the Ming Dynasty: "The mother of pearl wares, which came out of Luling County, Jiangxi Province, were all lacquerware or inlaid with copper wires in the imperial palace of the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, the rich families were not limited to making them in years. The lacquer was firm and the figures were fine and attractive. At the beginning of the Hongwu period, they copied from Shen Wansan's family of the Su people. The benches, tables and chairs were the best. The mother of pearl wares were carved red, and there were still people in the six branches of government offices." It can be seen that inlaid artifacts in the Ming Dynasty were very popular.
The common feature of these inlay processes is that the inlay is flush with the paint surface. Until the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Zhu, a native of Yangzhou, used inlays higher than the paint surface of the land, and then carved inlays on the inlays, known as the "Zhou system". Such inlay is not only applied to lacquerware, but also widely applied to hardwood furniture such as red sandalwood, yellow flower, pear, etc., greatly improving the three-dimensional image of inlay, with excellent decoration effect.
The hundred treasures inlaid on the yellow rosewood and red sandalwood of the Ming and Qing dynasties are mostly small pieces, such as official suitcases and pen cases. Among the large pieces of furniture, hanging screens are the most common, followed by palace seats, chairs, cabinets and tables. The inlay of folk furniture is mainly mother of pearl, which is often relatively young. The purple and yellow furniture of Ming and Qing Dynasty inlaid with Baibao is not only small in number, but also rich or expensive.
The boxes and cabinets on the top of Huanghua Pear are inlaid with Baibao, which is the rarest among all furniture categories. The Palace Museum has a pair of restored Huanghua Pear People who enter the top cabinet of the treasure map, inlaid with rare animals. The Metropolitan Museum of New York, the United States, collects a pair of yellow flowers, pears, and hundreds of treasures with flowers and birds.
Figure one The Imperial Palace has hidden yellow flowers, pears, hundreds of treasures, and people entering the treasure map top box
Figure two Top cabinet with yellow flowers, pears, flowers and birds inlaid in the Metropolitan Museum of New York
The Philadelphia Museum in the United States has a square corner cabinet with a museum picture, which seems to have lost its top box.
In addition, there are few red sandalwood inlaid cabinets. For example, the National Museum displays the Lu top multi treasure cabinet of Prince Gong's Mansion, and the ancient patterns embedded in the cabinet door are almost lost; The top box cabinet with red sandalwood inlaid with rhinoceros horn dragon pattern, which is also on display next to the cabinet, is the natural color of rhinoceros horn in light color, and the dyeing of rhinoceros horn in dark color. This cabinet is made of fine workmanship and materials, but the inlay materials are single.
two thousand and six In, Christie's New York photographed a pair of small top cabinets, and the height with seats was insufficient one point five M, mixed with soft and hard wood, the seat is suspected to be equipped later. Sotheby's one thousand nine hundred and ninety-four Year and Christie's two thousand and twelve In, I shot a square corner cabinet respectively, which was also inlaid with hundreds of treasures. Since no real object was found, it needs to be identified. In addition, there have been two red sandalwood or hardwood small top boxes, both of which are less than one meter high.
Huanghua pear and red sandalwood top boxes with hundreds of treasures inlaid are about the same. Strictly speaking, the complete Huanghua Pear Top Box is only in the collection of the Forbidden City, New York Metropolitan, and this auction of Shanghai Kuangshi. Occasionally, I heard that there are other such living things, and there is no exact information.
However, the cabinets of the collections in the Forbidden City and the Metropolitan City of New York are all made of yellow pear wood, not pure yellow pear wood. Both of them are only inlaid with Baibao on the front, while the side is plain without decoration. These are obviously different from this auction. What's more, the first two are both collected by the museum, and this is the only box and cabinet with a ceiling of Huanghua Pear 100 Treasures that can be circulated among the people.
The bookcase is top box type, made of precious yellow pear wood. Although the system is simple, the woodworking process is exquisite, and the process characteristics show that it was made earlier. For example, the tenon is exposed on the front and side of the cabinet body, and the internal threading or the whole piece is light and dark alternately; Rounding of threading strip in cabinet door; In particular, the sidebar at the bottom of the cabinet has exposed tenons on the front of the legs and feet; The front of the middle shelf is slightly lower than the other three sides, and is flush with the front edge of the shelf; There is no stuffy bin in the lower cabinet, and the movable center pillar is set. These characteristics are consistent with the woodworking process of the Ming Dynasty.
The cabinet door is made of rare materials such as mother of pearl, turquoise, tridacna, Shoushan stone, hibiscus stone, feeder, tortoise shell, dyed teeth, agate, elephant bone, ebony, chicken wing wood, yellow flower pear, boxwood, and filigree enamel, and is inlaid with ancient paintings of furnaces, tripods, zun, bottles, gu, and jue.
The side hills are inlaid with flowers such as magnolia, wintersweet and peony. The Bogu pattern is exquisite and luxurious, full of antiquity.
Open the cabinet door, and the drawer panel in the interior is also inlaid with a pattern of miscellaneous treasures.
The inlaid hundred treasures are exquisite and delicate, and the carving techniques include openwork, round carving, and intaglio carving. The craftsmanship is superb, and the carved patterns are clear and subtle, with a strong sense of three-dimensional. The decorative patterns of the inlaid objects themselves are also carved out vividly.
What is particularly rare is the animal patterns on some utensils, such as lions, dragons, monkeys, etc., are all face up, and their shapes are typical of the Ming Dynasty style, which also indicates that bookcases may be made as early as the Ming Dynasty.
Its precious materials and exquisite craftsmanship reveal the noble palace atmosphere. In the Ming Dynasty, most of the handicraft products inlaid with Baibao were accepted by the government, but rarely by the people. In the early Qing Dynasty, although there were folk imitations, most of them were inlaid with mother of pearl. By the middle and late Qing Dynasty, due to years of war, the national strength was declining and handicraftsmen were displaced. Many precious materials, which are indispensable for the embedding process of Baibao, are also in shortage, and it is even more difficult to find materials with sufficient thickness. So that it is hard to see large furniture embossed with jade, agate, enamel, etc., most of which are flat inlaid with mother of pearl.
The bookcase on the top of the box is inlaid with Huanghua Pear and Baibao, and the three-dimensional picture scroll inlaid with Baibao makes the painting colorful. When the light and darkness change, Baibao radiates fantastic colors, making Baibao shine again. Such exquisite craftsmanship shows the aristocratic temperament of that ancient era.
