What are the arts and crafts of gold and silver wares?

Gold and silver vessels occupy an important position in historical relics and are an important carrier of Chinese traditional culture and art. Gold and silver are precious metals, with moderate hardness, ductility, easy hammering, bright natural color and difficult oxidation and discoloration, and are good materials for making handicrafts. Since human beings discovered and understood gold and silver, they have been processed into various gold and silver products. From the unearthed gold and silver wares, we can know that China had gold wares as early as 3000 years ago in Shang Dynasty, and the production and use of gold and silver wares flourished for a long time after each dynasty.

Among the large collection of gold and silver vessels in the Palace Museum, the emperors and queens in Qing Dynasty used the most gold and silver vessels, including ritual instruments, household utensils and various furnishings, as well as Buddha statues, niches, sacrificial vessels and utensils in religious cultural relics (the gold and silver vessels in religious cultural relics are introduced separately). These objects are made by casting, hammering, chiseling, silking, etc. Many gold and silver utensils are inlaid with precious gems, beautiful jade, jadeite and tourmaline. Most of these gold and silver vessels are unique in shape, exquisite in decoration, full of palace characteristics and of high historical and artistic value.