In the Ming and Qing dynasties, cranes were endowed with the cultural connotation of loyalty, integrity and noble morality. The embroidered cranes on the supplementary clothing of the civil servants ranked them as important symbols next to the dragon and phoenix dedicated to the royal families. Therefore, people also called cranes "the First-class Birds". Taoism pursues immortality and regards cranes as a symbol of longevity.
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How to make a lifelike crane with Boshan lamp blown technology?
Materials: colored glaze material rods
The colored glaze material rod needed for making glass cranes can be roughly divided into two sizes. One is black and white with a diameter of 1 cm, the other is 0.5 cm in diameter, in transparent, black, red and white, one for each color.
Tools: blowtorch, tweezers, anvil
Apart from the tools listed above for making cranes, there are also general tools for all the lamp glass works, such as pliers, scissors, iron plates, iron bars, etc. Among them, the blowtorch provides heat source by using oxygen and liquefied gas as fuel to produce flame up to 1300℃. The size of the flame can be adjusted at any time according to the production requirements. Tweezers are mainly used to complete the shaping by pinching, pulling, poking and other actions. Anvils are used for flattening the bottom of the product.
Tools and materials are ready, but before starting the production, one more thing is necessary: to understand the shape of the crane. Otherwise, the final product may look like a duck.
A crane usually has three long parts - beak, legs and neck. Now, we will explain the production procedures of each part of the crane one by one.
1. Tail
Take a white colored glaze material rod with a diameter of 1cm and put one end on the outer layer of the blowtorch flame to preheat for 1-2 minutes. This step is obligatory for all colored glaze material rods before hot-moulded in order to avoid bursting and even injuring people due to quick heat.
After melting and softening one end of the white colored glaze material rod, a black colored glaze material rod with a diameter of 0.5 cm is taken and heated in the fire. Use the softened black bar to draw three lines on the white bar.
Then shape the crane's tail by pinching and pulling the bar with tweezers.
2. Thighs
Continue to heat the white part of the body which is connected to the tail.
Preheat and heat a white colored glaze material rod with a diameter of 0.5 cm in the fire.
After melting and softening the bar, pull out two thighs from thick to thin on the crane's white body.
3. Calves
After completing the thighs, take a black colored glaze material rod with a diameter of 0.5 cm, heat and soften it, and connect it to the end of the thigh.
Stretch the glazed liquid into straight, slender calves while it is still hot.
This process requires the craftsman's hands to be fast and steady with a good control of power. When both legs are ready, don't rush to remove the black bar. Keep the connection with the calves for the next step.
4. Neck
Decide the location of the crane neck and heat the bar.
When the bar is soft, stretch and bent it to adjust the shape of the neck.
A slender and curved neck.
Then melt and cut the white rod by flame.
5. Wings
Take another fine black colored glaze material rod and melt it.
Then, as in brush painting, draw two wings on the white part of the crane body.
6. Head
Take a fine red colored glaze material rod, melt and soften it, then apply it on top of the head.
Take a black rod to point two eyes.
Then make a mouth.
Hot melt the black rod and attach it to the white end. Carefully pull out the shape of the crane mouth while pay attention to the size and proportion.
After the whole head is finished, the shape of crane's head and neck can also be adjusted according to the design requirements to make them look differently.
7. Claws
This is the last step. Heat the black rod that is originally connected with the calves to take it down.
Then use it to make claws.
Pull out three long claws and one short claw evenly.
During this procedure, the claws need to be leveled on the anvil at any time to ensure that the crane can stand steadily, rather than being crippled.
The glazed crane in front of us is beautiful in shape, elegant in temperament and lifelike in spirit. This kind of lamp material animal's production skill is not accomplished overnight. It is impossible to achieve this goal without years of experience. In addition, craftsmen need to master the characteristics of colored glaze and have a mature idea in their minds, so that they can have a well-thought-out plan to make the production more than enough, and even to achieve the realm of exquisite.
This work was created by Sun Fengjun, the master of Chinese glass (glazed) art.
