How to judge the craftsmanship of jadeite carving?

For any piece of jade jewelry to be transformed from a rough material into an exquisite finished product, it is inseparable from the meticulous carving of craftsmen. Therefore, when we appreciate or understand a piece of jade jewelry more deeply, we naturally have to judge its carving.

So, how do we judge the quality of the craftsmanship of a jade carving?

In previous articles, we have also introduced jade carving. Jade carving techniques include relief, round carving, hollow carving and so on. In fact, no matter which one, when carving jade, the three major standards of "cleverness, beauty and refinement" must be met as much as possible.

The so-called "clever"

That is, ingenuity, which refers to clever conception. It is to consider all aspects of the jade raw material's color, type, water, size, structure and shape to design the most suitable carving subject, and then finally define the work with the most beautiful meaning and present the best effect.

The so-called "pretty"

That is, Qiao Se, which refers to the use of Qiao Se, which is to make full use of the color layout of the jade material to carry out carving, so that the color of the material is just right; so that it can be harmoniously integrated with the carving subject, shape of the work, etc., and together show all the charm of this piece of jade.

The so-called "essence"

That is, artistic refinement, referring to exquisite workmanship, which requires taking into account every detail of the jade work, achieving natural and comfortable carving lines, harmonious and unified size proportions, and vivid movements and expressions, etc., so that the whole work looks delicate but not complicated, simple but not lacking in style.

Every piece of exquisite jade jewelry requires a lot of attention to the carving. It is based on such attention to detail and standards that we can roughly judge the quality of the carving by weighing the degree of completion of a work.

So how do you judge whether the jade in your hand is machine carved or hand carved?

Features of hand-carved:

Hand carving can carve, repair and hide cracks, dirt, lines, etc. on the jade material. The surface polishing and edges may be slightly rough. The carvings have smooth lines, are vivid and delicate, and each has its own characteristics.

Features of machine carving technology:

In order to reduce the expensive engraving costs, modern ultrasonic molding engraving is used to achieve the purpose of fast engraving. Its characteristic is "large quantities and similarities", using low-value, low-grade miscellaneous materials to reduce the cost of carvings. To facilitate demoulding, all recessed parts are vertical. There is no knife skill unique to hand carving, and there are few knife marks and cracks.

How to distinguish between hand engraving and machine engraving?

1. Comparison of scratches between hand-carved and machine-carved:

When hand-carving different jade materials, the scratches will be different: thick, thin, deep, shallow, wide, narrow, etc.; the traces will also be different: straight, curved, V-shaped, U-shaped, and concave.

These traces can only be determined by the shape of the sharp edge formed when the stone is hit and cracked, thus forming the diversity of the shapes of the ancient jade grooves. However, no matter how things change, the basic principle remains the same: using manual tools to make repetitive "two points in a straight line" movements on the work surface makes the various line types mentioned above all have a common feature.

The nature of the mechanic's wheel rotation:

The rotating circle's outer circumference contacts and moves with the processed surface N times, and the difference in moving speed along the grain line and the deviation in trajectory control cause the engraving to change unpredictably. Irregular straight lines, oblique lines or loose sand-shaped lines can be seen.

Furthermore, because there is a level difference between the groove bottom and the groove walls, the rotating weight contacts the groove bottom and the groove wall at different levels at the same time, which will produce different running trajectories.

2. Comparison of grinding marks between hand-carved and machine-carved:

The surface of the hand-polished vessel is an arched convex surface of varying sizes. The light and dark contrast between the concave and convex surfaces is not obvious, and the transition between the concave and convex surfaces is smooth. To use a more understandable metaphor, the convex surface is like lumps of different sizes.

The intensity of mechanical grinding determines that the mechanically polished jade can be seen through microscopic photos that the machine-polished surface is a uniform plane.

3. Comparison of appearance between hand-carved and machine-carved:

The hand-carved edges have an inward concave arc and obvious artificial traces. Strong light can show the unevenness of the handwork, and the rounded corners;

The edges of machine-carved jade are uniform and very flat, with no inward concave arc. When viewed from the side, there is no sense of three-dimensionality. They are basically on the same plane, with smooth and even traces, and the corners are very stiff.

Some jade lovers like to buy raw stones themselves and then ask carving masters to process them. Private customization is good, but they should also pay attention to the following issues:

① The risk of buying stones is relatively high. It is troublesome if the stones look good on the surface but turn out to be a mess inside.

② After peeling off the skin, do not cut it casually. It is best to communicate with the carving master before cutting, otherwise a lot of stone will be wasted. (You can often find good scraps in the cutting room of a jade processing factory);

③ The more expensive the carving is, the better it is. It should match the jade material. After all, the most important thing for jade lovers to buy jade is the texture of the jade. It is unnecessary to find a carving that costs 20,000 yuan for a material that costs 2,000 yuan.

④ When choosing a carving master, you should look at their previous works, not just their age and working time;

⑤ It is necessary to clearly distinguish the categories of carvings. There are large carvings and small carvings. Small jade carvings are divided into flower pieces and figures. Figures are divided into Guanyin and Buddha.

So if you want to carve a Guanyin, don't look for a carving master who carves decorative pieces to do it, don't waste your materials, they generally won't take such a job;

⑥Polishing is also very important, try to find an experienced polishing master.

Therefore, if you pay more attention to the carving, you must distinguish the difference between hand-carving and machine carving. The grade and price are very different.

fcgc66

fcpf18