What is golden lacquered wood carving?
The golden lacquered wood carving has over 1000 years’ history and is listed among the first tier Chinese intangible cultural heritages. It was initially widely used in temples, then gradually applied to people’s daily used objects.
Palanquin with Phoenix Motif (Late Qing)Shenzhen Museum
Golden lacquered wood carving is a Chinese folk craft that is widely used and rich in meaning. Looking at the golden lacquered woodcraft items held by the Shenzhen Museum, the pieces can be divided into four categories.
Golden lacquer wood bed cover carved with flower, bird and auspicious animals (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
The first category is personified nature
This includes plants, animals, and scenery.
Most of the depictions of nature items using this craft are realistic. The selection of elements is meticulous, with most of them being metaphoric, and the combinations of the various elements hold different meanings.
Happy Brows plaque decorated with magpies and plum blossoms (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
This Happy Brows plaque is decorated with magpies and plum blossoms. The characters for plum and brow are homophonic in Chinese, and the character for happy is in the Chinese word for magpie, so this pattern holds the meaning of coming good events and happy times.This combination of flowers and birds is also the most common theme in golden lacquered wood carving.
Openwork Panel with Cloud and Bat Motif (Late Qing/early Republican era)Shenzhen Museum
Bats symbolize blessings, so there are countless bat-themed folk handicrafts. This golden lacquered carved transparent board with cloud and bat patterns is decorated with nearly 100 bats.
Folding Screen with West Lake Landscape (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
Landscape themes are also quite common.
Landscape scenes depicted using this craft are often created using golden lacquered paint.
Shrine wooden flower cover with double phoenix pattern (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
As well as appearing in landscapes, the sun and the moon are often paired with mythical and legendary animals, such as A Pair of Phoenixes Face the Sun and Plucking a Branch from Toad Palace.
Palanquin for the Gods with Story Scene Motif (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
The second category is patterns of human society.
Characters and stories depicted in this craft are usually taken from historical legends, operas, and folklore. These stories reflect an ideal society that ordinary people desire, as well as their morals and values.
Rectangular Box Decorated with Gold Lacquer (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
The front of this golden lacquered and carved wooden offering box is engraved with the story of Guan Yu's Single-Knife Meeting from the Three Kingdoms period.
Decorative panel carved with the story of Fenyang Mansion (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
This decorative panel tells the story of Fenyang Mansion. This is a tale, often told in operas, about the children of Guo Ziyi, the King of Fenyang, coming to pay their respects on his 60th birthday.
Decorated Lintel (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
The third category is the supernatural shown in a subjective manner.
This mainly includes people, beasts, and things from myths. It represents the people's desire for a mythical world and critiques the social injustices in reality.
Eight Immortals Candle Holder (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
Mythical themes are the most enjoyed by the people, especially the loyal and fearless Eight Immortals, who save those in poverty.This candle holder uses the Eight Immortals as its main decoration.
Plaque Honoring Ancestors (1860 (Reign of Xianfeng Emperor, Qing dynasty))Shenzhen Museum
Mythological creatures are also common subjects in this type of craftwork, such as qilin, dragons, phoenixes, and Ao (a mythological turtle).
There are six dragons carved on the frame of this plaque that was gifted to Xiao Jinyang's parents and grandparents. Four of the dragons form two groups of two dragons playing with a pearl.
Folding screen inscribed with poems wishing someone a long life (Late Qing/early Republican era)Shenzhen Museum
The fourth category is symbols.
This includes symbolic patterns, patterned text, and poetry.There are many kinds of symbols and patterns. The more common ones are Taiji, Bagua, Kuilong, Bogu, Duobao, Ruyi, and Juanyun.
Bridal Palanquin (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
As well as being decorated with characters from the story of The Burning Peach Blossoms and the Fields of Jade, this golden lacquered sedan chair also has a Yin Yang Bagua on the back.
A couplet from the story is engraved on the front. This piece has a festive feel and an auspicious sentiment.
Carved Shrine with Flower Motif (Modern)Shenzhen Museum
The themes depicted in traditional golden lacquering and woodcarving hold a lot of information about Chinese history and the national collective memory. They are full of the wisdom of working people from past dynasties, and their artistic style displays a unique Chinese flair that reflects the aesthetic connotations of East Asian culture.
