Technological Characteristics of Lacquer Art in Chengdu

Chengdu lacquerware is made of natural raw lacquer and solid wood, which is informal in matrix and exquisite in craftsmanship. It is a handmade product that combines artistry and practicality. It is famous for its exquisiteness, elegance, delicate luster and gorgeous colors. It can be hung high above the temple to show its luxury, and it can also be used as an exquisite and durable daily necessities.

Chengdu lacquerware has a long history. Like other lacquerware schools in China, it has experienced many technological innovations in its technological development and evolution. In the Western Han Dynasty, emerging technologies included the method of filling gold with needles and the method of filling patterns with thick materials piled up with paint. In particular, the top is made of metal inlay, agate or glass beads as buttons, and the mouth and body of utensils are made of gold and silver buckles and hoops, which are very popular. In the Tang Dynasty, the level of lacquer art in China reached an unprecedented height, and it was useful to pile up thick lacquer with raised patterns. Mother-of-pearl ware with shells cut into objects, lines carved and patterns inlaid on the paint surface; The gold and silver leveler inlaid with honeysuckle slices is useful. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were 14 kinds of lacquerware in Chengdu, including monochrome lacquerware, covering lacquer, gold lacquer, overlapping lacquer, filling lacquer, carving filling, mother-of-pearl, rhinoceros skin, removing red, rhinoceros, painting, gilding and embedding treasure, which fully demonstrated the innovative ability of China folk art.

To make lacquer, we should plant sumac trees first, then cut the export on the sumac trees with a knife, and wait for the juice from the trees to seep out bit by bit, and then put them together for processing. From China's point of view, Chengdu lacquerware was famous in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. From a global perspective, "Chinese lacquer" has always been a symbol of this ancient oriental country. Just as porcelain can represent the image of China, lacquerware actually adds a lot of light and color to us. The History of Zhou Li recorded an official name at that time, called "lacquer garden official", whose duty may be to manage the national lacquer garden. Historical Records Biography of Lao Fei said that if a person owned a thousand acres of sumac trees at that time, his political status was equivalent to a "thousand households". Although archaeologists have seen many lacquerware throughout the ages, they can't help but sigh that they are rare among lacquerware in the Warring States period in China.

By the Han Dynasty, Chengdu lacquerware had become popular in the Central Plains. There are boxes, baskets, plates, ear cups, flat pots, cases, drums and so on. Lacquerware is painted with birds, animals, immortals and other patterns, with exquisite colors. Modern lacquerware produced in Chengdu mainly includes wooden tires, hemp tires, paper tires and plastic tires. Its shape is elegant and exquisite, and the paint surface is transparent as water and bright as a mirror. The main technological feature of Chengdu lacquerware is "carving and coloring". Artists use knives as pens to carve various patterns on tire soles, fill them with colored pigments and polish them repeatedly. The visual effect is amazing.

Chengdu lacquer art has many processes, meticulous production and long time-consuming. It is famous for its decorative techniques with rich regional characteristics, such as carving and filling colors, carving and filling shadow flowers, carving tin and mercerizing, broaching needles and carving, and painting hidden flowers. The colored paint used for color filling is refined from natural raw lacquer and mineral pigments.

Taking the carving and filling process as an example, the first step is to design tire samples and decorative drawings, and then make wooden tires. After repeated dusting, priming and polishing by painters, several coats of polishing paint were applied, each of which was re-ground before finishing. This is the first step. The second step is carving and filling. First, copy the designed decorative drawings to the carcass, carve the intaglio picture with a knife, then scrape the prepared color paint into the intaglio with a small horn knife, dry it and polish it with fine sandpaper to make the lines flush with the paint surface. In this step, you can also paste gold foil and silver foil on the intaglio, then cover it with multi-layer transparent paint and polish it. Step three, polishing and wiping. The method is to apply polishing paint, dry it, polish it, rub it with hair or cotton stained with vegetable oil, and after repeated cleaning and polishing, the paint surface will be bright and gorgeous.

Chengdu lacquer art, as a wonderful flower in Chinese lacquer art garden, enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad for its long history and unique technology. At present, the main manufacturer of lacquerware crafts in Chengdu is Chengdu Lacquerware Craft Factory. The main products are lacquer screens, boxes, replicas of unearthed cultural relics, lacquer paintings, etc., which are leading the traditional Chengdu lacquer art to a higher artistic realm and a broader market.