# Wrong gold and silver craft # wrong gold and silver is one of the ancient metal fine decoration techniques, is the use of two different metals of gold and silver luster to show the pattern on the utensils, to achieve the role of beautifying the utensils, the earliest first seen in the Bronze Of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, mainly used in bronze utensils of various utensils, carriages and horses and weapons and other practical utensils on the decorative pattern, is the mainland ancient science and technology development to a certain stage of the product, has been circulated for more than 2,000 years, and is still in use.
As early as the pre-Qin era, the nobles used gold and silver to inlay bronze utensils, and this decorative process was commonly known as "gold and silver error", also known as "wrong gold and silver". Wrong gold and silver process includes "inlay" and "wrong" two techniques, "inlay" is to embed things into or add edges on the periphery, "embedded" is to set things in the gap, "wrong" is to use cuo (wrong) stone to grind the wrong to make it smooth, its process can be described as delicate and meticulous, meticulous.
Its production process is: first pre-cast the shallow concave pattern, inscription, ornament or glyph required groove on the surface of the bronze, and then use a tool with a large hardness to engrave the shallow groove, and then embed a very fine and thin gold and silver wire and piece in the shallow groove, grind the wrong with cuo (wrong) stone, so that the embedded gold and silver wire, piece and copper surface are smooth, hammered firmly, and then polished smoothly with wax stone, and finally further polished with charcoal and water on the surface of the instrument to make the instrument more brilliant. On the surface of the utensils that have been decorated by the "wrong gold and silver" process, the different lusters of gold and silver and bronze reflect each other, and their patterns and inscriptions are particularly gorgeous and elegant, and the brilliance is shining.
In 1968, the wrong silver and copper upsetting excavated from the ruins of the Warring States Qin Great Wall in Pingle Village, Touying Township, Yuanzhou District, Guyuan City, Ningxia (Figure 1), is a bronze silver artifact, 6.9 cm high, 2.7 cm in diameter, the whole is a thin waist barrel shape, flat bottom, and the upper end has a wooden handle that can be loaded into ge and halberd. The copper upsetting process is very exquisite, the body and bottom are inlaid with small silver sheets and silver wires, and then filed; the whole body pattern constitutes a regular cirrus pattern and curved pattern, the lines are smooth and concise, and the pattern is colorful. Due to the different natural colors of bronze and gold and silver metals, the silver is brilliant and brilliant. Although this bronze upsetting has been buried in the ground for thousands of years, its appearance is still intact and colorful, and it is a rare and rare handicraft, which is a national first-class cultural relic, and is now collected in the Ningxia Museum.
The handicrafts of the Han Dynasty developed rapidly, the level was improved, and the production was more refined. In 1974, the tomb of Gucheng Township han in Yuanzhou District, Guyuan City, Ningxia, unearthed a piece of bronze cast wrong gold and silver copper sheep. The bronze sheep is 8 cm long, 5.5 cm high, weighs 665 grams, belongs to the national first-class cultural relics, and is also collected in the Ningxia Museum. The limbs of the copper sheep are tightened as lying on the ground and looking back, the sheep's neck is bent and looking back as if it is looking, the eyes are staring, the expression is peaceful, and the form is realistic.
The copper sheep throughout the body uses the traditional wrong gold and silver process; from the bridge of the nose over the ridge to the tail end of a longitudinal through a gold thread, the sides of the body with thin as a hair gold and silver thread inlaid with a three-dimensional strong curly hair pattern, the overall golden light and silver color of the copper sheep shines interactively, the pattern is slender, well-made, full of fun. The wrong gold and silver process is extremely difficult to produce, the process requirements are extremely precise, the pattern lines should be smooth, the thickness of the wire strips should be consistent, and the groove depth should be accurate, otherwise the gold and silver wire cannot be embedded, even if it is barely embedded, it is not firm. In particular, the pattern decoration of the combination of gold sheets and gold wire images is dense, and the precision of pattern slotting in the arc concentration is more stringent, and the production is more difficult.
Because the gold and silver wire of the wrong process is all beaten and pressed on the surface of the embedded utensils, no adhesive can be used, so it is necessary to have smooth pattern lines, but also to have accurate groove accuracy, flat inlay, no trace on the wire, and the difficulty of processing and production can be imagined. The craftsmanship of the wrong gold, silver and bronze sheep shows the ingenuity and production level of the craftsmen of the Han Dynasty, and is a rare artistic treasure.
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