Qianxikeloujiyi
01 · Historical Records
Lead-tin carving is a mold-making craft mastered by artisans in the Jingzhou area along with the transmission of ancient bronze-ware shaping techniques. Its basis is the record of this art being passed down through generations in the Ao family genealogy, a lineage exceeding five generations. This craft does not form objects on its own; rather, it uses lead and tin as mold material to provide pattern mother-molds for cast bronze ware. Therefore its transmission has always been attached to the line of bronze casting, and accordingly it has been busy or idle according to the needs of replicating and restoring excavated artifacts.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The lead-tin carving craft is a mold-making technique used by the Ao family of Jingzhou for making and replicating ancient bronze ware. This craft has been passed down through generations in the Ao family, with the genealogy recording more than five generations. The uniqueness of the lead-tin carving craft lies in the refinement of making and replicating the patterns of ancient bronze ware and the fluent naturalness of the patterns; the pattern shapes of bronze ware cast using the lead-tin carving craft are extremely similar to excavated ancient bronze ware. Exploiting the unique properties of lead and tin, and based on design drawings, this craft combines flat patterns with three-dimensional, twisted, and hollowed-out shapes, and combines vessel forms with animal forms, through techniques such as striking, twisting, weaving, pressing, and carving, finally completing a refined model.
Hammering and twisting the pattern
Hammering and twisting turn a flat drawing into a raised form, merging the shape of the vessel with the body of an animal.
Weaving and pressing for openwork
Weaving and pressing open the design, so that relief and openwork coexist on one block and appear together in the cast bronze.
Gilt silver and inlaid gold-silver
Besides the whole casting sequence, the inheritor masters gilding and gold-silver inlay on several metals, adding a bright surface to the cast vessel.
Box inlaid with cloud pattern
One of the inheritor's representative works, finely made with flowing ornament, it won a silver award at the first national intangible heritage exposition.
Five generations in one family genealogy
The Ao family genealogy records five generations of transmission, kept entirely within the household, so the craft rises and falls with the family line.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The lead-tin carving around Jingzhou is mainly transmitted within the family; the Ao lineage masters the complete process of casting various bronze wares, and the father-son succession of Ao Jiansheng and Ao Chaozong comes from this. Lead and tin can be struck, twisted, and pressed at room temperature, and flat patterns and three-dimensional, hollowed-out shapes can be realized simultaneously on the same mold material, so the cast patterns are almost indistinguishable from excavated ancient vessels.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The lead-tin carving craft provides an excellent example for the study of mold-making techniques of ancient Chinese bronze ware, has high historical value, and has extremely high practical value for the authentic restoration of ancient Chinese bronze ware. Because the lead-tin carving craft currently depends on the replication of ancient bronze ware and the need to meet the restoration of ancient artifacts by state cultural relics institutions, its transmission is rather difficult, and protecting and transmitting the lead-tin carving craft has become urgent. Ao Chaozong (from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in May 1944, from Jingzhou City, Hubei Province. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the lead-tin carving craft, an item of intangible cultural heritage. Born into a family of bronze-ware makers, he was influenced by the family from childhood and in 1957 learned the lead-tin carving craft from his father Ao Jiansheng, making various bronze wares. He has mastered the entire process of bronze-ware making as well as the techniques of gilding and inlaying gold and silver on many metal materials. His representative works include the Hunting Pot, the Cloud-Pattern Inlaid Box, the Gourd-Shaped Pot, and the Bronze Dragon-Pattern Basin, among others; the Cloud-Pattern Inlaid Box won a silver award at the first China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo held by the Ministry of Culture.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Ao Chaozong 04-1924
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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