Enamel is also known as "FuLang", "Flang", "French Blue", "Hair Blue", etc., its basic components are quartz, feldspar, borax and fluoride, and ceramic glaze, glass, glass belong to the same silicate substances. The enamel craft was introduced to China by arab countries around the end of the 13th century, and has since undergone the development of the Ming and Qing dynasties, achieving brilliant achievements and can be called the unique treasures in ancient Chinese art. Jinan Municipal Museum this time to select more than 50 pieces of enamel cultural relics, a variety of instrument types, rich patterns, dating from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, from the historical evolution of enamel, production technology, utensil modeling, decorative patterns, etc., present a unique Chinese arts and crafts, showing the past and present life of enamelware.
Exquisitely skilled integrated craftsmanship
The enamel process originated in foreign countries, and around the 13th century during the Yuan Dynasty, the filigree enamel process passed through the northern grassland road, and then passed through the southern tea horse ancient road or was introduced to China due to wars and dynastic changes. Around the middle of the 17th century, the art of painting enamel was also introduced to China by Europe through the Maritime Silk Road. The industrious and intelligent Chinese people combined the art of enamel with traditional Chinese culture, and gave birth to the unique Chinese cloisonné (filigree enamel) art, which is unique in the world of filigree enamel craftsmanship with its distinctive national style and gorgeous artistic style. Painting enamel gave birth to the pinnacle of Chinese porcelain, enamel porcelain. Enamel process integrates east and west, Chinese and Western, according to the production method and process characteristics can be roughly divided into filigree enamel, inner filling enamel (that is, embedded enamel), painting enamel, transparent enamel and so on. The two main processes are described below: filigree enamel and painting enamel.
Filigree enamel
Filigree enamel (commonly known as cloisonné), its production can be roughly divided into 7 steps: tire making, that is, making a vessel shape with a red copper plate; filigree, that is, the flattened copper wire is glued to the carcass according to the design ornament; soldering, welding it again; dotting blue, glazing color sequentially according to the color in the ornament, first pointing the ground, then pointing the flower, then pointing blue, and then adding bright white; burning blue, pointing blue once, repeating more than 3 times; polishing, grinding smooth blue and rough parts of copper wire with fine sandstone, yellowstone and charcoal, respectively; gold plating, That is, the final process of polishing and rust removal. It can be said that the production process of filigree enamel uses both bronze technology and porcelain technology, and at the same time introduces a large number of traditional painting and carving techniques, which can be called the master of traditional Chinese craftsmanship.
Paint enamel
The painting enamel is first coated with white enamel glaze on the red copper tire, put into the kiln firing, the surface is smoothed, and then the pattern is painted with various colors of enamel material, and then fired twice. This process is later than tires and filigree enamel. In the late Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, the copper tire painting enamel technique was transplanted to the porcelain tire and a new kind of colored porcelain was created, which was called "porcelain tire painting enamel" in the Qing Palace archives, and later generations called it "enamel color".
The treasure of the country, with the same brilliance. Welcome the audience to jinan museum, let us walk into the world of gorgeous enamel that integrates east and west, and appreciate the exquisite charm of its flowing light.
Venue: Exhibition Hall 4, 1st Floor, Jinan Museum
Duration: Spring Festival 2022 - mid-December
(Reporting by Tian Kexin, correspondent Jia Mingjie, client reporter of Dazhong Daily)