(Zhang Cheng Zao) Tixi Box with Cloud Pattern

This Tixi box features round plane. Red and black lacquer is applied with about 100 layers on wooden body. The cover and box body are fully carved with cloud pattern, and the rest is coated with black paint. The left edge of box bottom sees three needled characters “Zhang Cheng Zao”. This object is a necessity for daily life, which features simple and elegant shape, bright and shining color and deep rounded craftsmanship. It is a masterpiece among famous handed-down works created by Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng

Zhang Cheng was a craftsman in the Yuan Dynasty, who was a native of Xitang, Jiaxing (in today’s Zhejiang). He was famous for the production of carved lacquerware. His works feature profound carving, mellow style and hidden blade. Such unique style inflfl uenced carved lacquerware of the early Ming Dynasty. In Yongle Period, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty saw works of Zhang Cheng. He was fond of them, and sent offifi cials to appoint Zhang Cheng in Beijing. At that time, Zhang Cheng had died, and his son Zhang Degang was summoned to the capital to hold the post, who was conferred with a house as his home in Beijing. After lacquerware of Zhang Cheng spread to Japan, it had tremendous effect for the wooden lacquer crafts in Japan.

Tixi

Tixi is a kind of carved lacquerware, which is very delicate. Before carving, coating of different colored paint should be conducted layer upon layer to achieve the suffifi cient thickness. Such products often see partly hidden and partly visible red lines as the gossamers, which is as magic as wizard. Such effect is achieved as a result of specially adding red paint layer into multilayer black paint before coating, and then carving on the body.

Carved lacquerware

Carved lacquerware refers to carved lacquer craft which coats layers of paint on original body of lacquer ware, depicts drawing when the original body of lacquer ware is half dried, and then engraves the pattern. It generally adopts brocade as background, carries implicit pattern, shows exquisite, gorgeous and grand style. Carved lacquerware was originated in the Tang Dynasty, prospered in the Yuan Dynasty, and enjoyed the heyday in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Technology of Xitang, Jiaxing in the Yuan Dynasty was the most famous. On the carved lacquerware, layer thickness varies, which depends on carving patterns. Such thickness generally covers 30-40 layers and up to hundreds of layers. By color, carved lacquerware can fall into red carved lacquerware, yellow carved lacquerware, black carved lacquerware, green carved lacquerware, colored carved lacquerware and Tixi , etc. Red carved lacquerware and Tixi are relatively common.

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