The Applied and Decorative Arts of China.
The applied and decorative arts of China, one of the most ancient states of the world, distinguish themselves by variety and richness. They developed in close interaction with the cultures of other peoples. In its turn China influenced on the arts of Japan, Korea, Mongolia, the states of Indochina and other countries.
The Chinese art has rich and uneasy history of development. During 5 thousand years new forms and genres have been arising in Chinese art. The history of the Chinese culture is those, that it cannot be scrutinized separately from the previous periods.
The beginning of China as the state is identified with the period of Shang Dynasty (the 16th-11th centuries B.C.). The origin of writing, fixed symbols and the mythological images connected with nature, the further development of totemic beliefs reflected in the fine arts, are referred to the same period. Since the Shang epoch the development of Chinese ceramics has begun. Vessels were made on a potter's wheel or manually, some of them were decorated with geometrical or stylized ornaments. They say that at that time protoporcelain (протофарфор)originated (the stone mass containing non-purified kaolin, covered by glaze from feldspar, burnt at a high temperature).
The Han period (206 BC – AD 220) was especially fruitful in the sphere of fine art. In the 4th century BC the mysterious symbolism of ancient vessels and bronze products were substituted by the new plots and themes where fantasy was mixed with real life motifes. During the Han period both painted ceramic vessels with bright geometrical ornament and monochrome ones with sculptural belts covered by green glaze were widely spread. As for the Han ceramics it was not only the painted pottery, but also the products covered with lead glaze and coloured with copper oxide in perfect green color. The typical form of vessels of that time reminds the form of bronze articles.
As for the jeweller’s art of the Han period, those were silver products both religious and utilitarian: bowls, cups, toilet articles. Bronze thin-walled vessels had simple, severe forms, almost deprived of ornaments. Products from bronze with a dash of noble metals were made for rich and notable families.
The 7th-13th centuries were the periods of developed feudalism and the highest flourishing of the Chinese medieval culture, when the two states – Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (AD 960-1279) - dominated. Those were the brilliant periods of culture when numerous kinds and genres of art were flourishing.
However the Mongols invasion (Yuan Dynasty, the 13th-14th centuries) devastated the country and damaged the economy and culture of China. The 14th-17th centuries when China had thrown off the Mongolian yoke were the time of especially intense struggle in the feudal society. At that historical period China was an advanced country in many aspects of life, and at the same time it lagged behind Europe in major areas of public relations, science and culture.
The end of the 18th and the 19th century were the time of a deep crisis in culture. However new art phenomena were arising in the weakened, ruined and enslaved country. The craftsmen of the Chinese Middle Ages had borrowed many skills, techniques and traditional forms of patterns from antiquity. Meanwhile the requests of a new historical epoch caused numerous innovative arts-and-crafts types and techniques. Love to color and beautiful materials, carefulness of the execution, the developed feeling of rhythm, tendency to dynamism and stylization, and also natural theme prevalence over the theme of the person are the characteristic features of decorative Chinese art.
Jewellery.
Jewellery refers to the ornaments people wear. The most common types are bracelets, brooches, earrings, neckleces, and rings. Jewellery has been chiefly used for personal decoration. But it has also been worn for religious or magical purposes, or as a symbol of wealth or status. Most fine jewellery consists of precious metals and gems created in artistic designs. Gold is the chief metal used, but silver and platinum are also widely used.
The history of jewellery is a long one, with many different uses among different cultures. It has endured for thousands of years and has provided various insights into how ancient cultures worked.
Early jewellery. Prehistoric jewellery consisted largely of crude necklaces and bracelets. They were made of leather or reeds strung wilh pebbles, berries, feathers, shells, or animal bones. People wore jewellery as part of religious ceremonies or to show rank. They believed certain jewellery could protect them from sickness and bad luck.
By the late 2000s B.C., the ancienl Egyptians were using gemstones in such jewellery as bracelets, brooches, headdresses, pendants, and rings. They believed that gems had magical powers and wore them for good luck. The ancient Egyptians made jewellery from a variety of gemstones as well as from glass, faience (tin oxide-glazed earthenware), and enamel. The Greeks valued fine metalwork in their jewellery and rarely used inlaid gems. Greek jewellery featured beautiful filigree, a lacelike decoration made by twisting fine wires of gold or silver into patterns. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans often used gems in their jewellery. They used gold settings but placed greater emphasis on precious stones. They especially wore gems in rings. The Romans were probably the first to use rings as a symbol of engagement.
European jewellery. During the early Middle Ages, beginning in the A.D. 700s, the wearing of jewellery was almost entirely restricted to royalty and members of the royal courts. Between 1200 and 1400, a prosperous middle class developed. This class began to acquire jewellery, wearing it as a sign of social status. Gold was still the most prominent precious metal, though some bronze and silver was also used, jewellery most often took the form of brooches, buckles, head ornaments, and rings.
Precious stones were very fashionable in the 1500s. Women wove long strands of pearls and other gems into their hairdos. The first watches were made in the early 1500s. People wore them in pendants and miniature cases. During the 1600s and 1700s, diamonds became popular as a result of advances in gem cutting.
African jewellery. African craftworkers have always used local materials, such as bone, coloured feathers, ivory, wood, and sometimes metals, to make colourful ornaments. Necklaces of shells and seeds, studs of ivory or bone for the lobes of the ears, and bronze bangles are still popular with some Africans.
Asian jewellery. Indian jewellers have been famous for their decorative skill for nearly 4,000 years. They use gold as their chief material. Wealthy Indians used to buy as much gold as they could afford. Anklets, bracelets, and rings for the fingers, nose, and toes are stiil popular in India and Pakistan.
Oriental jewellery. Jewellery became popular in China during the Song dynasty (960-1279). The Chinese favoured silver, enamel, feathers, and jade. Jade was often carved or polished and combined with metal. Chinese jewellery was very delicate and elaborate and often took the form of ornate headdresses.
Japanese jewellery was similar to Chinese jewellery. However, the Japanese first used jewelled objects to decorate swords and ceremonial objects. Later, they began to wear jewellery as a personal adornment.
Pre-Columbian jewellery.American Indian art created before A.D. 1500 is called pre-Columbian because it was produced before Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492. During pre-Columbian times, the Indians of the Inca empire inhabited large parts of South America. The Inca cultures were highly skilled at working with metals, especially gold and silver. Most of the Inca jewellery was melted down by Spanish conquerors in the 1500s. However, a few pieces survived. These include large round rings, armbands, headdresses, masks, ornate necklaces, and earrings.
Modern jewellery. The modern jewellery movement began in the late 1940s at the end of World War II with a renewed interest in artistic and leisurely pursuits. The movement is most noted with works by George Jensen and other jewellery designers who advanced the concept of wearable art. The advent of new materials, such as plastics, Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and colouring techniques, has led to increased variety in styles. Other advances, such as the development of improved pearl harvesting by people such as Mikimoto Kokichi and the development of improved quality artificial gemstones such as moissanite (a diamond simulant), has placed jewellery within the economic grasp of a much larger segment of the population. Most jewellery today is machine made. However, many expensive pieces are created by hand.
Embroidery.
Embroidery is a method of decorating with the needle and thread an already existing structure, usually a woven foundation fabric. Fabric used for embroidery is called backing fabric. Common backing fabrics include cotton, linen, silk, and wool. Some people use cardboard, bark, parchment and other materials. Embroidery threads range from thin strands to thick yarns. The most widely used threads include embroidery floss, linen, pearl cotton, and wool. Various sizes of sewing needles are used for embroidery. The size chosen depends on the kind of backing fabric and thread being used.
Embroidery can be done by hand or, since the nineteenth century, by machine. Unlike needlework, it excludes simple seaming and other basic stitchcraft, and also needleworked techniques such as knitting or crochet.
It is possible to confuse embroidery with certain weaving techniques, particularly brocade, but embroidery yarns are worked into the fabric after it has come off the loom, whereas brocade yarns are placed there by a moving shuttle or bobbin during the weaving process. Tapestry and embroidery have also frequently been confused since the nineteenth century, mainly because the word 'tapestry' has been wrongly applied to canvas-work or counted-thread embroidery, which was originally done in imitation of true woven tapestry.
Since prehistoric times, most cultures have developed their own embroidery styles. The earliest-surviving embroidery is Egyptian, from the tombs of Tuthmosis IV (c.1412-1364 bc) and Tutankhamun (1334-1325 bc), but its origins are presumably even older. People embroider clothing and use embroidered furnishings to decorate their homes and public buildings. Embroidered clothing ranges from simple undergarments to royal robes decorated with gold and silver threads. Embroidered furnishings include bed linens, chair covers, tablecloths, and wall hangings. Thousands of hours may be needed to richly embroider a garment or furnishing with millions of tiny stitches.
Many outstanding examples of early embroidery have been preserved. Among these is the Bayeux tapestry, embroidered in England in the late 1000's. Some 70 metres long and 50 centimetres wide, it depicts the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
The main embroidery stitches, very generally speaking, may be classified as one of three types: flat stitches, loop stitches and knotted stitches. Stitches can be combined to make an unlimited variety of designs, including flowers, animals, people, and abstract patterns. With flat stitches the threads lie flat on the surface of the ground fabric, although the stitches may be side by side, overlapping or crossed. Among the innumerable variations of flat stitches are satin stitch, stem stitch, long-and-short stitch and couching. To forma loop stitch the thread is brought to the front of the fabric, loosely looped and returned to the back. Loop stitches may be open, as in buttonhole stitch, or closed, an example of which is chain stitch. Knotted stitches form knots of thread on the fabric surface and give textural effects to the embroidery. The French or the Pekin knots are the examples of knotted stitches.
Embroidery has been both a domestic craft and a professional activity. The former has, in most cultures, been carried out mainly by women, although some men have done embroidery as a hobby. Professional work, however, has been practised by both sexes. Although some contemporary embroiderers work without a pattern, embroidery has traditionally been carefully planned before stitching is begun. Designs might be drawn directly on to the ground or, more usually, transferred from a paper pattern. In counted-thread embroidery each small square on graph paper represents a stitch, so transferring the pattern to the fabric is unnecessary.
Carving.
Carvingis the art of cutting figures, ornaments, or decorative objects by hand from such materials as stone, marble, wood, ivory, bone, and shell. The term sculpturedesignates large carvings in stone, marble, or wood. The term carvingapplies to small sculptures and to decorations that are carved on furniture or parts of buildings.
The art of carving is older than recorded history. Archaeologists have found examples of carved bone and horn which early peoples made during the Stone Age. People of today carve many objects from wood. Carved masks are outstanding examples of art from Africa. Islanders in the South Pacific Ocean work with simple tools to make ceremonial objects, as well as everyday tools and utensils. Craftworkers carve intricate decorations on houses, coconut shells, and canoe prows.
The ancient Egyptians cut beautiful objects from wood, ivory, alabaster, stone, turquoise, and other materials. Many such pieces are remarkable because they were carved from extremely hard stone, such as diorite or porphyry. Egyptian craftworkers made gems with intaglios,—that is, with designs cut in their surfaces. People used the gems to make an impression in sealing wax.
Mesopotamian civilizations also used intaglios. The ancient Sumerians and Babylonians carved cylinder seals from coloured stone. When these were rolled over soft clay, they left impressions. Early peoples in the Western Hemisphere also made use of carving. The Aztec, Maya, and Zapotec Indians chiselled figures on stone pyramids. These tribes also carved in jade and obsidian(volcanic glass).
Many Native Americans of Alaska and Canada carved wood. The Haida Indians of the Northwest Coast were famous totem-pole makers, and were known for their high-powered canoes.
The Greeks and Romans carved precious stones. They also worked with ivory, and produced many pieces of beautiful sculpture. Japanese craftworkers became noted for their ivory figures and fans.
The early Christians in Egypt, called Copts,used carved wood for ceilings and for screens. Woodcarving spread throughout the Arab world and into Spain. Outstanding examples of Arabic achievements in carving include the Mudejar wood ceiling in the Archbishop's Palace in Alcala, and the carved wonders of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The latter contains especially beautiful arches, ceilings, and doors. The carved ceiling of the Capella Palatina in Palermo, Sicily, is another masterpiece.
Woodcarvers decorated church stalls in Gothic churches. They also produced simple, sturdy, and massive pieces of furniture during the Gothic period. During the Italian Renaissance, craftworkers panelled rooms with carved decorations. Baroqueand rococo architecture also featured carvings of wood.
Oriental art has produced many examples of carving. The Ajanta Caves in India, which artists cut out of cliffs, contain examples of great artistry. So do many Oriental temples. Craftworkers have decorated outside walls of many of these structures. They have also carved figures on stone stelae,or pillars, to tell religious stories. The decorations of the Taj Mahal are another example of this art. They include delicate panelling and pierced marble windows and screens. The Chinese used simple tools to produce many beautiful jade pieces.
Carving as a hobby. The beginner usually prefers to carve in materials which are easy to cut. Woodcarving has always been popular for most beginners. A form of gypsum called alabasteris easy to carve and takes a high polish. Soap is an inexpensive and easily moulded material.