Zhang Tonglu
Mastery, Signature Works & Repertoire
Male, of Han ethnicity, born in 1942, a native of Beijing. National representative bearer of Cloisonné Enamel Craftsmanship, a first-batch national intangible cultural heritage project, and a master of Chinese arts and crafts. In 1958 he entered the Beijing Cloisonné Factory to learn body-making (zhitai) techniques, and the following year he studied metals at the Beijing Arts and Crafts School. After graduating he returned to the cloisonné workshop of the Beijing Arts and Crafts Factory, where he studied under Jin Shiquan and Qiao Defu. He successively undertook practical training in each step of the process: wire inlay, enamel filling, and polishing, and he came to know and master the whole of the cloisonné craft. In 1963 he was transferred to the design office to work full-time on cloisonné design. He later served as deputy factory director and chief technical officer, making outstanding contributions in innovative product design, the recovery of the cast-body process, the invention of bojing enamel, the combination of cloisonné with other crafts, and the extension of cloisonné into outdoor environmental art. After retiring he founded a handicrafts company and continued his work of revitalizing the cloisonné craft. Representative works include the Diehua Vase (Butterfly-Flower Vase), the Ganghua Vase (Steel-Flower Vase), the Huaguan Wannian Deng (Lamp of the Floriated Crown for Ten Thousand Years), and the Jiyang Bao Deng (Treasure Lamp of the Auspicious Ram).
Honors & Recognition
Throughout his life Zhang Tonglu devoted himself enthusiastically to training apprentices, and he exercised wide influence in the trade.
References & Archival Sources
Representative Items of This Bearer
Profile
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