It is said that to judge jadeite from its quality, water, color and workmanship, do you know the four characteristics of good carving?

Jade carving is one of the oldest types of carving in China. Jade carving itself can be further subdivided into many varieties, mainly including figures, utensils, birds, beasts, flowers, etc.

Chinese jade carvings enjoy a high reputation in the world. People in the industry often say that when looking at jade, one must look at its "type", "water", "color" and "craftsmanship". Type, water and color are all natural characteristics of the jade material, and only the craftsmanship of the carving is an acquired process. Therefore, many jade lovers are concerned about how to look at the carving? What are the characteristics of modern jade carving technology in China?

Crafting according to the material

The raw jade stones are all different, so when carving them, they must also be processed according to their texture, color, shape and other characteristics. This is also called "applying art according to the material" in the industry.

Because jade raw materials are precious, craftsmanship based on the material can minimize the loss of jade materials as much as possible, and can also make use of the characteristics of the jade itself to make the work more beautiful and distinctive.

Remove dirt and tangle

Dirt and cracks can be said to be the most common flaws in jadeite raw stones. Removing dirt and cracks means removing or covering up these impurities so that they do not affect the beauty of the jadeite work itself.

When we say “good materials don’t need to be carved”, it also illustrates this problem from another aspect. In order to preserve the maximum value of materials that have no flaws, they are generally not carved too much.

Turn flaws into virtues

As mentioned earlier, dirt and cracks on the raw materials should be dealt with and avoided as much as possible during carving. However, specific problems still need specific analysis. The cracks in certain materials can also be cleverly utilized to become part of the work.

To turn flaws into virtues requires jade carvers to have both creative ideas and a full understanding and grasp of the raw materials, which is indeed a state of mind.

Waste Utilization

Myanmar is the only place in the world that produces gem-grade jadeite. Now that Myanmar has restricted mining, resources are becoming increasingly scarce, and high-quality jadeite raw materials have become difficult to come by. From this perspective, many jade carvers will reprocess some waste materials of little value in order to save resources and maximize their utilization.

In most cases, it is used for "practice", but there are also times when ideas flow like springs and writing is brilliant, "turning decay into magic". Such jade carvers deserve the praise of a "master".

After talking about some principles and characteristics of carving, what are the commonly used carving techniques in China?

1. Relief

Relief is one of the most common engraving techniques, and its production process is similar to painting on a canvas. The only difference is that this "drawing board" has become a jade surface, with patterns and shapes carved on the jade, with rich layers, delicate and diverse shapes. Depending on the depth of carving, relief can be divided into shallow relief, medium relief and deep relief.

Round Sculpture

Round sculpture is a kind of three-dimensional sculpture. There is no strict distinction between the front and bottom surfaces in round sculptures. They can be viewed from any angle, just like real objects.

Color

Color matching is to conceive design works based on the colors of jade, so that the advantages of jade color can be displayed to the greatest extent. The key to colorful jade carving lies in material selection and conception. Good material selection, good creativity, and the jade carver's ingenious carving techniques can often create unique jade carvings.

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