Fine Gold and Silver Work Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Shanghai Lao Fengxiang, founded in the twenty-eighth year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty (1848), is a famous time-honored Chinese brand. Having been transmitted through several generations across the Qing dynasty, the Republic of China, and the People's Republic of China, it has comprehensively inherited the exquisite craftsmanship of Chinese gold-and-silver fine metalwork. From making gold and silver ornaments, jade and diamond jewelry, vessels, and gilded enamel, to making medals, shield-shaped ornaments, and miniature buildings, it basically possesses every kind of technique, covering almost all the content of our country's traditional gold-and-silver fine metalwork.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Gold-and-silver fine metalwork is a traditional craft of making gold and silver objects. The objects made are mainly used for interior display and appreciation, while also serving practical functions. Gold-and-silver fine metalwork has a long and distant origin, traceable as far back as the Shang and Zhou dynasties, with a history of more than three thousand years to the present day. By the Eastern Han period, a complete gold-and-silver craftsmanship had already taken shape. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, the use of enamel and cloisonné techniques promoted the development of gold-and-silver making, making the produced gold-and-silver objects even more crystal-clear and lustrous. Among this trade, the craftsmanship of the Shanghai time-honored silver shop Lao Fengxiang, the Nanjing Baoqing Silver Shop, and the Jiangdu gold-and-silver fine metalwork technique are the most famous. Its techniques of repoussé, gilding, raising, wire-twisting, inlay, and chasing have been used unchanged since ancient times, and are living materials that concretely and vividly reflect the history of our country's gold-and-silver fine metalwork.
Melting and pouring the gold
Gold and silver are melted separately and poured to the order of the house.
Raising and pressing
Sheet metal is gradually raised on a pitch block with punches, giving the vessel its form.
Fire gilding
Gold foil is fixed to the surface and heated until it fuses invisibly into the body.
Bending gold sheet
Sheet is bent to angles and curves, chiefly for box forms and the frames of jewellery.
Chasing
Patterns and images are chased into the plain surface with steady, even line work.
Stone setting
Gemstones are set into prepared collets, where the security of each claw decides the piece.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Shanghai gold-and-silver fine metalwork is based on the cluster of silver shops around Nanjing Road and Fangbang Middle Road. The shop-front and workshop layout that Lao Fengxiang has maintained since the port opened divided the various kinds of work—ornaments, vessels, display pieces, medals, and miniature buildings—into several parallel production lines. In technique it is divided into northern and southern schools: repoussé, gilding, and raising emphasize block-and-surface modeling, while chasing and inlay emphasize patterns and settings; wire-twisting and filigree specialize in details and openwork. A complete piece of work often changes hands several times within the same workshop before it is finished; the masters each have their own lineage, and a newcomer starts by learning the most inconspicuous chasing.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Fine Gold and Silver Work Craftsmanship · Fine Gold and Silver Work Craftsmanship · Fine Gold and Silver Work Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zhang Xinyi (per the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in February 1958, from Shanghai. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item 'Gold-and-Silver Fine Metalwork Technique.' China Arts and Crafts Master, senior arts and crafts artist. Beginning in 1972, he studied gold-and-silver fine metalwork under Tao Liangbao and Bian Bingsen, and since 2006 has served as chief craftsmaster of Shanghai Lao Fengxiang Co., Ltd. While inheriting traditional craftsmanship, he absorbed the essence of Chinese and foreign arts and crafts, boldly broke through and brought forth the new, and successively designed and produced a number of fine works representing the top level of Chinese gold-and-silver fine metalwork, repeatedly winning multiple domestic and international design awards. His jewelry works 'Golden Snake Leather Collar,' 'Spin,' 'Descendants of the Dragon,' 'Galloping,' and 'Dragon Boat' won first prize of the China Arts and Crafts Hundred Flowers Award issued by the China National Arts and Crafts Society, among others; his display pieces 'Guanyin of the Flourishing Age,' 'Pearl Scale Piece,' 'Eight Immortals Magic Gourd,' and 'Hall Full of Gold and Jade' won second prize of the Hundred Flowers Cup Excellent Chinese Arts and Crafts Award issued by the China Arts and Crafts Association.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Dianxiang 03-1375
- Zhang Xinyi 04-1882
- Wang Jiezhong 05-2813
- Li Jianjun 05-2814
- Fang Xuebin 05-2815
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。