Zhao Rubai
Mastery, Signature Works & Repertoire
A man of Han ethnicity, he was born in 1939 in Hongze, Jiangsu. A national representative bearer of Yangzhou Lacquerware Decoration Craftsmanship, a first-batch national intangible cultural heritage project, and a master of Chinese arts and crafts. In 1956, Zhao Rubai came from Hongze to the Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory, where he took the renowned lacquer artist Liang Guohai as his master and studied the art of carved lacquer, devoting himself to research on its various techniques. In 1958 he spent three years in the specialized course in arts and crafts at the Nanjing Arts Institute, after which he returned to the carved lacquer workshop of the Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory as a technician; from then on he worked continuously in carved lacquer production, employing the techniques of relief, round and openwork carving to produce many fine pieces of carved lacquer. After the 1980s, Zhao Rubai began to move into the carving of antique nanmu (Phoebe) wood. Zhao Rubai's carved lacquer technique is consummate: his knife work is rounded and smooth, the cutting edge is concealed and never exposed, his lines flow freely, and his works are exquisite and finely detailed. Over a career of nearly fifty years he has accumulated rich experience in carving; he excels at red carved lacquer and decorative carving, and is particularly versed in the lacquer finishing of antique nanmu wood and lacquer-sand inkstones. His representative works include Chunxi Yougu Tu (Deep Valley with a Spring Brook), Taishan Lansheng (Taking in the Sights of Mount Tai) and Jiangshan Shenyun (The Spirit of Rivers and Mountains), among others.
References & Archival Sources
Representative Items of This Bearer
Profile
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