Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-136Traditional CraftsmanshipSuzhou, JiangsuBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The art of Suzhou painting and calligraphy mounting originated in the Southern Song dynasty, gradually shifting from imperial court mounting to the folk sphere. Mounting art had already reached a certain level from the Tang dynasty through the Northern Song, and was called the "Xuanhe mounting style." Its mounting techniques followed the Song-dynasty styles and adopted the "Xuanhe mounting" throughout. From the Ming dynasty onward, Suzhou mounting was influenced by the Wu School of painting; in the course of its long development it formed its own distinctive artistic style, whose main features are "fine selection of materials, elegant color matching, smooth pressing and burnishing, diverse formats, and superb mounting work," fully highlighting the regional character of the Suzhou Wu area.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Suzhou is the birthplace of painting mounting in China, and its influence radiated across the country and abroad; places strongly influenced include Beijing, Shanghai, Yangzhou, Shandong, and other domestic regions, as well as Japan, Southeast Asia, and overseas Chinese communities abroad. After the Xuande reign of the Ming, famous painters and calligraphers emerged in great numbers in the Wu region, and the center of gravity gradually shifted to Suzhou. Suzhou inherited the fine tradition of the time of Mi Fu and was influenced by the literati of the Wu School; over the following centuries, Suzhou mounting rose to the top of the country, known as "Wu mounting" (Wu zhuang). The restoration of old paintings and calligraphy, on the basis of mounting new works, additionally involves steps such as bleaching, lifting, washing, scraping the edges, applying glue-alum, pasting straight strips, concealed filling, and color restoration. Through mounting, new paintings and calligraphic works can be hung for appreciation; their painterly quality is fully realized, and the spirit of the work is better displayed. Because of its high degree of integration with painting, calligraphy, and culture, the influence of art and culture is further sustained and extended.

The Xuanhe mounting format

Mounting had reached the Xuanhe standard by the Tang and Northern Song and was used in its Song form thereafter; this layout became the template Suzhou mounters followed.

Red gang, travelling gang and antique-style mounting

Mounters divide into three trades: the red gang for simple formats, the travelling gang for ordinary works, and the antique-style mounting shop for treasured pieces of collectors and masters.

Lifting, washing, floating and scraping the joins

Restoring old works adds drifting, lifting, washing, scraping the joins, sizing, lining, filling and inpainting to the mounting of new ones, before the sheet can be re-laid.

Fine materials and restrained colouring

The Suzhou style shows in fine selected stock, restrained colouring, well-fitted brocade, varied formats and skilled workmanship, with the painting always holding the foreground.

Repairing the old as old

The inheritor Fan Guangchou mounts in a form suited to each painting's style and restores mouldy or worm-eaten paper and silk cores to look as old as they were.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Painting and calligraphy mounting is divided into three categories: first, the "red guild" (hong bang), with simple mounting styles; second, the "trade guild" (hang bang), specializing in mounting ordinary paintings and calligraphy; and third, the "antique mounting" (fanggu zhuangchi), dedicated to mounting precious old and new works for famous painters-calligraphers and antique-collecting connoisseurs. The influence of Suzhou mounting radiated from Suzhou to the whole country and abroad; places strongly influenced include Beijing, Shanghai, Yangzhou, Shandong, and other domestic regions, as well as Japan, Southeast Asia, and overseas Chinese communities. This pattern is directly related to its origins—Suzhou is the birthplace of painting mounting in China; from the Ming dynasty Suzhou mounting was influenced by the Wu School, and in the course of its long development formed its own distinctive artistic style, whose main features are fine selection of materials, elegant color matching, smooth pressing and burnishing, diverse formats, and superb mounting work, fully highlighting the regional character of the Suzhou Wu area. Within the mounting trade, there is a further division into three lines by clientele: first, the red guild, with simple styles; second, the trade guild, specializing in ordinary works; and third, antique mounting, dedicated to precious old and new works for famous artists and collectors. The three lines coexisting allowed a household to distinguish high from low by the tier of business. After the Ming Xuande reign, famous Wu-region artists emerged in numbers and the center shifted to Suzhou; Suzhou inherited Mi Fu's fine tradition and was influenced by Wu School literati, and over the following centuries its mounting rose to the country's foremost, known as Wu mounting.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship · Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship · Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship · Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship · Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship · Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Through restoration, old paintings and calligraphy can recover their original appearance, allowing traditional cultural art to be rescued, protected, continued, and transmitted; later generations can, through the images, intuitively understand history, politics, economy, daily life, and folk customs. Fan Guangchou (per official archive records of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in September 1936, a native of Jingjiang City, Jiangsu Province. Representative inheritor of the Mounting and Restoration Craft (Suzhou Painting and Calligraphy Mounting and Restoration Craft), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project, in its fourth batch. He has long been engaged in the art of Suzhou mounting and the restoration of old paintings and calligraphy. He excels at conceiving mounting forms according to a work's stylistic features, with skilled and deft technique, and is especially good at restoring and mounting old works. For damaged, soiled, mildewed, or insect-eaten paper- or silk-core paintings, he can restore them to pristine condition following the principle of "restoring the old as it was." He has restored old paintings and calligraphy for museums in Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing, Changsha, Nantong, and elsewhere. In 1992, he was invited to lecture in the United States, where he was highly praised. In 2008, he was specially appointed by the Suzhou Museum as a researcher of Suzhou mounting, responsible for training restoration talent for ancient paintings and calligraphy and passing on the Suzhou mounting craft.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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