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Metal crafts, which mainly include cloisonné, filigree inlays, variegated copperware, tinwork, iron pictures, golden and silver accessories, etc, play a special role among China’s arts and crafts.

 Cloisonné

Cloisonné is a kind of enamelware where the design colors are separated by thin metal strips. Its major processes include making a red copper roughcast, forming patterns on it using thin copper strips, filling patterns with different colors, firing, and polishing. Cloisonné integrates bronze and porcelain skills, and traditional painting and etching. It is the pinnacle of traditional Chinese handicrafts.

Cloisonné first originated in Beijing. The earliest piece of cloisonné was made in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), while the best examples were produced during the Xuande reign (1426-1456) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). During the Jingtai reign (1426-1456) of the Ming, handicraftsmen found a dark blue enamel that gave cloisonné a gorgeous, solemn appeal, which is still used today.

During the Qianlong reign (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when pure copper was used as a roughcast, the art of cloisonné reached its pinnacle.

Beijingers still like to decorate their homes with cloisonné articles and young women adore cloisonné bracelets and earrings. Cloisonné articles also make great gifts.

People are attracted to its beauty and glittering thin copper strips.

In Beijing, most hotel shops and tourist stores sell cloisonné articles, which can be as big as sacrificial utensils, screens, tables and chairs, or as small as chopsticks, earrings, candy boxes, toothpicks and smoking paraphernalia. They are works of art with a practical value. Recently, handicraftsmen have developed a multi-coloring technique to make cloisonné , which has resulted in more refined and gorgeous products.

** The process

As one of the famous arts and crafts of Beijing, cloisonné is a form of famous traditional enamelware with a history of over 500 years. The making of cloisonné involves an elaborate and complex process, which includes base-hammering, copper-strip inlays, soldering, enamel filling, enamel firing, polishing and gilding.

Base hammering is the first step in the making of cloisonné. The material used for the body is copper because copper is very malleable and ductile. This step requires sound judgment in the shaping and uniformity of thickness and weight. It is, in fact, much like the work of a coppersmith. The only difference is that when an article is shaped, the coppersmith’s work is finished, whereas the cloisonné craftsman’s work has just begun.

The second step is filigree soldering. This step requires great care and high creativity. The artisan pastes copper strips to the body that are 1/16 of an inch in diameter and a desired length chosen by the artisan, making up a complex but complete pattern. The artisan creates a blueprint in his or her mind and makes full use of his/her experience, imagination and aesthetic perspective in setting the copper strips on the body.

The third step is applying color, which is known as enamel filling. The color is like the glaze on ceramics and is called “enamel”. Its basic elements are boric acid, saltpeter and alkaline. Due to the differences in the added minerals, the colors differ accordingly. Usually, iron will turn gray; uranium, yellow; chromium, green; zinc, white; bronze, blue; and gold or iodine, red. The colors are ground into powder and deposited into the cells separated by filigree.

The fourth step is enamel firing, which is achieved by putting the article with its enamel filling into a kiln. Soon after, the copper body turns red, but after firing, the enamel in the little compartments will sag slightly, which will require re-filling. This process will go on repeatedly until the little cells are full.

The fifth step is polishing, which begins with emery. Polishing aims to even out the filigree and the filled compartments. The whole piece is again put into the fire and then polished once more with a whet-stone. Finally, a piece of hard carbon is used to polish the article a final time to obtain some luster on the surface.

The sixth step is gilding, which is done by placing the article in gold or silver fluid, charged with an electric current. The exposed parts of the filigree and the metal fringes of the article will again undergo another electroplating and a slight polishing.

 Filigree inlays

Filigree inlays, also called “refined metal crafts”, are made of gold, silver and other materials inlaid with various kinds of precious stones, pearls, or woven patterns. They fall into two categories: filigree, where gold and silver are made into thin threads and then transformed into craftworks using such techniques as piling and weaving; and inlays, where thin gold and silver strips are hammered into wares, carved with decorative patterns and then inlayed with precious stones.

Filigree inlays took shape as early as in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), achieved super craftsmanship in the Ming Dynasty and enjoyed great developments in the Qing Dynasty. As a result, many famous filigree inlay works have continued to emerge, many becoming articles of tribute for the imperial courts.

The craft of filigree inlays is the most famous in Beijing and Chengdu, capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province. Filigree inlay works in Beijing feature weaving and piling, and dian cui, which refers to pasting blue and green leathers of kingfishers onto gold and silver wares for a better effect. Beijing filigree inlay craftworks were awarded the Excellent Design Award at a Southeast Asian jewelry design contest.

The craft of filigree inlays in Chengdu mainly includes silver filigree. The silver enameling, gold-and-silver inlaid craftworks in the city are very unique. Chengdu’s filigree inlay craftworks mainly include vases, compotes, smoker’s sets, jewels, etc.

“A Phoenix Spreads Its Wings” and “A Peacock in His Pride” — two large wall hangings in the Sichuan Hall of the Great Hall of the People — are filigree inlay masterworks by Sichuan artists.

 Iron picture

Iron picture, also called “Wuhu Iron Picture,” is a cross between painting and sculpture. It was first created by Tang Tianchi, a blacksmith from Wuhu city of Anhui Province in the mid-17th century. Using an anvil as his inkstone and the hammer as his brush, Tang forged, filed and shaped iron strips and wires into pictures by following the principles of composition of Chinese painting. The art developed by the smith-artist was handed down and cultivated for 300 years.

The iron picture is usually painted black (with or without sheen) forming a clear contrast with the light-colored wall where it hangs. The landscapes, flowers and plants represented in iron appeal to viewers due to their simple yet bold three-dimensional effect rarely found elsewhere.

The craft combines the traditional techniques of Chinese painting and calligraphy, sculpture and paper-cutting. It incorporates iron as the “drawing brush” through smelting, forge drilling and filing, transforming iron into pictures of high artistic value. “Ironing a picture involves hot-etching a picture on a piece of wood using the changes and variations of dark and light to express the artist’s thoughts. Making use of the wood grain is a signature technique characteristic of iron pictures that possesses a high aesthetic value.

Following in the footsteps of Tang Tianchi was another celebrated iron picture artisan named Liang Yingda. Subsequently, there were no other particularly outstanding masters although the art was handed down from generation to generation by skillful craftsmen. Today, iron pictures are not only favorite artistic ornaments used by ordinary people but are also displayed at national-level guesthouses or halls, appealing to both refined and popular tastes.

 Variegated copperware

Variegated copperwares are the traditional folk artworks unique to Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, and boast a history of more than 300 years. The process of making variegated copperware is complicated and strict, requiring high-quality copper alloy as its base material.

Variegated copperware features russet variegated patterns on its surface and a touch of grandeur. When copper is mixed evenly with other compounds, it can achieve copper products of a single color, such as brass, purple copper, bronze, etc. If unevenly mixed, the surface of the copper will result in either faint or strong variegated patterns. Variegated copperware is achieved by mixing copper and other compounds unevenly.

The variegated copperware of Yunnan Province not only inherits and improves on its traditional characteristics, but also assimilates artistic elements from Yunnan’s bronze and bronze culture from the Central Plains and integrates the techniques of modern sculpting. Currently, the products appear in six categories: human figures, animals, flowers, vases and pots, burners, wall decorations, and household utensils.

Artworks made of variegated copper are simple and unsophisticated, yet elegant. Among them, peacock, ox and tiger motifs are most unique in Yunnan. Yunnan variegated copperware has won international prizes on several occasions and has been designated as State-level gifts sent abroad.

Variegated copperware has long been considered as an artwork for collectors. At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, craftsmen in the Dongchuan area of Yunnan began to use high-quality natural copper to make incense burners, vases and pots, among which the more precious ones became articles of tribute.

After the founding of new China in 1949, the Kunming Variegated Copperware Manufacturer — the only professional manufacturer of such products in China — was established, inheriting the traditional techniques with a focus on innovation. After more than 30 years of efforts, the company produced many quality variegated copperware works. According to statistics, the products from the manufacturer have won more than 40 prizes and honors. Some curious pieces, such as the “Archaized Ox”, “Five-Shape Incense Burner”, “Kwan-yin Statue,” etc, are very famous. Others, such as the “Peacock King and Buddha”, “Peacock Vase”, “Great Rhinoceros,” etc, were listed as industrial arts treasures by the national government in 1986.

（Source: chinaculture.org）