Welding gold wires and gold grains to the utensils can make them beautiful and dazzling. As early as 2,600 BC, the Sumerians of the Two Rivers Valley welded gold grains to their scabbard and hilt. More than 1,800 BC, the Egyptians used gold wire to decorate their crowns.
During the Xia Shang period in China, gold was already used for decoration. During the Two Han Dynasty, gold wire and gold grain fine craftsmanship matured. Archaeological discoveries of Han dynasty gold wire and fine gold grain products were originally found in northern China, especially in the northern grassland including Inner Mongolia, northern Hebei, northern Shaanxi and Xinjiang. For example, the gold beast-shaped crest decorated with gold grains unearthed in Nalin Gao Rabbit in Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province, the gold crown ornament and gold earrings unearthed in the late Warring States tomb of Alu Caideng, Inner Mongolia, and the Warring States period necklace unearthed from the Aragou Tomb in Nanshan Mining Area, Urumqi City, Xinjiang.
After the Eastern Han Dynasty, gold jewelry rose in the Central Plains and southern regions, which were not only rich in variety but also exquisite in craftsmanship. For example, the golden balls unearthed from the Wulipai Han Tomb in Changsha and the Han Tomb in Guangzhou are masterpieces of gold craftsmanship at that time. This article briefly introduces several gold artifacts from the two Han dynasties unearthed by archaeological excavations.
The Xiongnu tomb is a gold silk and gold grain fine ornament, unearthed in an early Western Han tomb on the bank of Bur Taohai West Gou in the Junger Banner of the Inner Mongolia Empire. The tomb is rich in gold artifacts, including six pieces of gold-rimmed mussel ornaments, respectively composed of earrings, plaques, square gold beads and jade pendants, two rectangular plaques welded with gold grains and lace, four strings of square gold charms, and two pieces of gold and jade pendants, jade pieces hollowed out and carved patterns, surrounded by gold, finely decorated grained gold edges, with buttons.
Gold and jade agate headdresses and necklaces unearthed from the Xiongnu tomb on the bank of the Zhenger Banner of Bul Taohaixigou in Inner Mongolia
A batch of gold ornaments were unearthed from the tomb of Liu Chang, King Mu of Zhongshan of the Eastern Han Dynasty in Dingzhou, Hebei. The gold wire and gold grain decorations unearthed in the tomb include dragon heads, warding off evil spirits, tianlu, flocks, etc., all of which are made of gold silk cloth into wings, mouth and nose, horns, tails and patterns, surrounded by gold grains, turquoise, red agate and other decorations, and the eyes are inlaid with turquoise or red agate. The sheep of the golden flock are only one centimeter long and about 0.8 centimeters high, which is extremely delicate.
M43 unearthed a golden dragon head in Dingxian County, Hebei
M43 in Dingxian County, Hebei Province unearthed gold to ward off evil
M43 in Dingxian County, Hebei Province unearthed Jin Tianlu
A golden sheep flock was unearthed in M43 in Dingxian County, Hebei
Monsters, fish, birds and four gods were also unearthed in gold wire, and small gold grains were welded to decorate the animal's body surface with gold leaf ornaments representing wings and curls.
M43 unearthed gold leaf ornaments in Dingxian County, Hebei
Dragon-patterned gold buckle, found in the Eastern Han tombs in the ancient city of Bogdaqin, Yanqi Geda, Xinjiang. Dragons play in the water with gold sheets, longans and patterns set with rubies and turquoise, and lace made of gold wires as thin as hair, the dragon's body is full of large and small gold grains. The same theme buckle was found in the Lelanghan Tomb (Tomb 9) in the stone rock of Pyongyang.
Xinjiang Yanqi Geda Bogdaqin ancient city black circle unearthed dragon pattern gold buckle
Shuanghe Village, Ju County, Shandong Province, once excavated a Han Dynasty children's tomb, simple shape, small scale, small number of burial products, but the gold products buried in the tomb are extremely exquisite, including a golden shield, a golden toad, and a golden stove.
The front of the gold shield is convex, with a "ten" shaped fold, on which is inlaid with gold wire with double hook clouds and clouds, and the inside of the cloud pattern is filled with small gold grains.
A golden shield was unearthed from the Han tomb in Shuanghe Village, Ju County, Shandong
The golden toad's limbs are bent into a jumping shape, and the gold wire is embedded into the toad's eyes, nose and back, filled with gold grains, a turquoise stone embedded on each side of the back, and small gold grains on both sides of the abdomen.
Golden toads were unearthed from the Han tomb in Shuanghe Village, Ju County, Shandong
There is a pot in the center of the stove, which is filled with small gold grains symbolizing millet rice, a fish made of gold wire and gold grains at the front of the stove, and the inscription "Yi Zi Sun" made of gold wire at the bottom of the stove. These utensils have small holes for the pair, which are worn and played with by children. The Eastern Han Tomb of Bird Turtle Dun in Hefei City, Anhui Province, also unearthed a "Yizi Sun" gold ornament with gold grains welded on the edge.
A golden stove was unearthed from the Han tomb in Shuanghe Village, Ju County, Shandong
The inscription "Yi descendants" at the bottom of the golden stove
Lujiakou, Weiyang District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province also unearthed a gold stove, made of thin gold flakes, the kettle on the stove is full of gold grains, there is a chimney behind the kettle, the top and sides of the stove are decorated with gold wire into cloud patterns, and inlaid with turquoise and rubies, the perimeter of the stove, the stove door and the cloud pattern decorated with gold wire, are welded with a beaded band composed of gold grains, and the bottom is decorated with the word "Rili" made of gold wire.
A golden stove was unearthed in Lujiakou, Weiyang District, Xi'an, Shaanxi
Spherical gold ornaments, excavated in the Eastern Han Tomb of Wulipai in Changsha, Hunan Province. A number of gold wire and gold grain fine craftsmanship products were unearthed from the tomb, including tube ornaments, small bead ornaments, gold wins, spherical ornaments, and silk-shaped bracelets. Of the eleven spherical ornaments, four are made of twelve small gold rings, and three gold grains are glued in the gap between the rings. The five pieces are first made into a small gold ball, and then decorated with gold silk strings, embellished with gold grains; Between the gold grains, vertical and horizontal rows, orderly.
A golden ball ornament was unearthed from the Eastern Han Tomb of Wuli in Changsha, Hunan Province
What is the specific production process of these exquisite and complex gold products?
The method of gold wire is usually to cut the gold sheet into thin strips, then knead it into thick wire, and finally pull and pull it into fine wire.
There are several ways to make gold grains. For example, the molten gold liquid is splashed towards the spherical object, and the impact force is used to spread the gold liquid to form gold particles of different sizes; Or drop gold in cold water to obtain gold grains; Gold grains can also be obtained by blowing method, the gold wire is cut into small particles, placed on a sand plate or charcoal disk, blown with a blowpipe, one end is contained in the mouth when blowing, and the other end is rhythmically blown against the flame of the oil lamp, so that the flame on the lamp heats up, and the high temperature flame is blown to the gold particles, and small gold particles are formed after heat melting and cooling.
Gold wire and gold grains are used for decoration, mainly by welding embellishment. The method is to first use an adhesive such as white splence to initially fix the gold wire or gold particles, and then weld it at high temperature, that is, fusion welding, solder and flux are sprinkled on the surface of the weldment and heated together. Because the melting point of solder and flux is lower than that of weldment, after the solder and flux are melted, the molten solder penetrates into the connection to solder the gold wire or gold grain on the weldment, and the weld is integrated after welding.
Solder is generally processed into powder with the same metal, there are pure gold, sterling silver or gold, silver, copper mixed in a certain proportion, and flux is added during welding, also known as flux, solder. The traditional process uses moonstone as flux, modern borax, flux is mainly used to protect the metal surface at the connection from oxidation when heated, and improve the adhesion ability of the solder to the weldment. The situation of solder melting and weldment linking together can often be seen in gold wire and gold grain fine work, and the golden flower ball unearthed from the tomb of the Nanyue King in Guangzhou can be clearly seen under a twenty-fold microscope, and the design and processing are very fine. Superb welding skills can hardly be seen in the traces of welding.
Gold wire and gold grain are generally used together, the pattern is outlined by the gold wire, and then the gold grain is welded along its edge; Gold grains are also often used alone as a decoration for the edge, welded for a week or two, or as a decoration for the bottom of the utensil, and filled with the pattern through the embellishment overlay welding of gold grains to obtain a three-dimensional sense and dazzling effect.