Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

"But how can I accept such a valuable item? Sister Yang, you don't know that this is an antique treasure from the middle of the Qing Dynasty! It has a history of several hundred years! In two words, valuable!"

However, Sister Yang smiled disapprovingly and said, "What's the big deal? As long as you like it, it's fine."

After saying that, he patted Xu Damao's shoulder gently and gave him a hint with his eyes, as if hoping that he would stop making excuses.

At this moment, Xu Damao thought: It must be because I just spent 50 yuan to buy that pottery dog ​​that Sister Yang liked me more, and that's why she was embarrassed to accept the money I paid for the cloisonné. Well...it should be so!

So Xu Damao said, "Sister Yang, I'm afraid you don't understand the true value of this item! Why don't you try it and feel its weight yourself?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Sister Yang walk up to him with a curious look on her face, stretched out a hand to hold one of the cloisonné bottles, and then lifted it up easily.

"Well, now that you've reminded me of this, I really feel like something is amiss. I didn't notice it before, but now that I've picked it up and taken a closer look, it's indeed heavier than other porcelain of the same size."

Sister Yang said in surprise.

"The craftsmanship of cloisonné is extremely complex and delicate. Don't underestimate these two bottles! They require many experienced and skilled masters to spend a year or even several years to carve them!"

“Isn’t it just a matter of firing it in the kiln after it’s made? Apart from the fact that it’s a bit troublesome to paint on it, there doesn’t seem to be anything special about it.” Sister Yang said casually with a relaxed look on her face, as if she didn’t have much knowledge or understanding of the exquisite handicraft in front of her.

However, Xu Damao, who was standing by, didn't think so. He knew the complexity and technical difficulty behind this work and felt it necessary to explain it to Sister Yang.

"Sister Yang, you don't know. This thing is made of pure copper, which is why it appears particularly heavy. Moreover, compared with porcelain, its production process is much more complicated!" Xu Damao explained seriously.

He then introduced the production process in detail: "First, the experienced coppersmith will carefully beat the copper into the shape of the vase."

"Then, they will use professional tools and rulers to carefully draw the ink lines of the warp and weft on the bottle body in order to position the subsequent patterns. After completing these, the designed patterns will be printed on the surface of the copper embryo bottle body through special methods."

At this point, Xu Damao paused for a moment, and his tone became more serious: "Next, it is time for the most critical, labor-intensive and time-consuming part of the entire production process - the filigree process."

"Sister Yang, look at the exquisite and lifelike patterns on this bottle. The reason why they are so vivid and lifelike is all due to the exquisite skills of the filigree craft!"

"The process of filigree requires extremely high standards from the craftsmen, and it does not tolerate any carelessness or repeated corrections."

"Because once the copper wire is manipulated many times, it will leave indelible marks on its surface, affecting the overall aesthetics. Therefore, each pattern must be successfully pinched out in one go."

"Don't underestimate this small and exquisite vase. It contains a huge amount of skills and effort. Just the process of filigree may take several months or even longer."

"After the wire-pinching is completed, the next key step is to use a special glue made from the Chinese medicinal herb Bletilla striata to meticulously stick the carefully pinched copper wire point by point and section by section along the pre-printed pattern on the copper bottle."

"The bottle is then carefully placed in a blazing furnace to be fired. The purpose of this is to weld the copper wire and the bottle tightly together through high temperature."

"After being forged in fierce fire, the copper bottle finally emerges from the furnace, but at this point you'll find it's covered with all sorts of impurities. These impurities are like flaws, sullying the originally smooth and bright surface."

"So it needs to be cleaned thoroughly to remove all the dirt and impurities. Only in this way can it be fully prepared for the next crucial step - adding blue. And adding blue is the core of cloisonné craftsmanship. It can be said that it gives the work a real soul."

Holding special blue guns and straws, the craftsmen carefully fill various colorful glazes into the fine spaces carefully carved out by copper wire.

The action needs to be gentle and precise, ensuring that every drop of glaze fills the space just right, but never allowing it to overflow from the edge of the copper wire even a little bit - because any excess will cause color bleeding and affect the quality of the final product.

When the first blue-dotting work is successfully completed, these exquisite works will be sent to the furnace to be baptized by the blazing flames. This step is commonly known as "burning blue."

After the first round of firing, the areas that were originally filled with glaze will have different degrees of depression due to the shrinkage effect after firing. Therefore, the craftsmen have to repeat the process of blue-dotting and blue-firing again, and repeat this cycle at least three or even four times to truly give cloisonné that unique and brilliant brilliance!

Finally, the final blueing process is completed. The bottle is already beautiful and amazing. However, if you touch it carefully, you can still feel some slight unevenness. Therefore, the next step is the crucial polishing.

Workers first use diamond sand with a higher hardness to smooth the surface of the bottle, then use yellow stone with a finer texture for further polishing, striving for perfection. Finally, the top-grade basswood charcoal is used for the final polishing, making the surface as smooth as silk.

After careful carving and polishing, the last key process is finally here - gold plating!

Only after the gold-plating treatment can the copper on top be less susceptible to oxidation. At the same time, it can also make the bottle shine more dazzlingly, becoming more gorgeous and brilliant!

Xu Damao explained in detail, and Sister Yang, who was listening nearby, was stunned with surprise.

"This bottle is so complicated to make? It even uses gold plating technology?"

Sister Yang's face was full of surprise. She muttered to herself while reaching out to pick up the bottle and looking at it carefully.

"I still don't quite understand it, but it does look pretty. If you put it that way, could this bottle be more valuable than the 2,000-year-old dog?"