Metal tire enamel is a composite process made of gold, silver, and copper, and decorated with enamel glaze. According to its different processing techniques, enamel can be divided into as many as six types. There are three types of snuff bottles that are used to make snuff bottles, namely painted enamel, cloisonné enamel, and silver soft enamel (commonly known as silver blue). In the Qing Dynasty, the places where enamels were made were made in the Qing Palace, and in the workshops in Guangzhou, Yangzhou, Beijing and other places. There are two main types of metal tire enamel snuff bottles: painted enamel and cloisonné enamel.
Painting enamel snuff bottles.
The enamel is made of red copper (a few are made of gold), and the surface of the vessel is first coated with a layer of white glaze for the ground, and then the pattern is painted with colored glaze, which is made of firing and gilding. The copper fetal painting enamel snuff bottle has the characteristics of light body, brilliant color, bright enamel and a wide range of subjects. From the beginning of Kangxi to the 18th year of Jiaqing (1815), thousands of imperial painting enamel snuff bottles were produced, most of which are now preserved in the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Palace Museum in Taipei.
Kangxi style painting enamel snuff bottle is the earliest and most reliable work in the existing various types of snuff bottles, the shape of the vessel shaves the shoulders and flat abdomen, dignified and generous, the glaze is soft, the decorative themes are flowers, flowers and birds, people, etc., the most special is the decoration embedded with the slice and lacquer, which is precious. Yongzheng's enamel snuff bottle is relatively smaller, clear and beautiful, the decoration is light and elegant, and he likes to use contrasting colors, such as black and white, red and white, yellow and green, etc.
Qianlong painted enamel snuff bottles, all-round development, both imitation of the previous dynasty, but also original and innovative, the shape of the vessel is small and exquisite, the decoration is delicate and delicate, the picture is gorgeous and gorgeous, the gilding is thick and bright, showing a magnificent style.
Cloisonné enamel snuff bottle.
Cloisonné enamel is made of fine flat copper wire pinched into a flower shape, pasted on the surface of the copper tire to paste the pattern, and then filled with color glaze, baked, polished, and gilded.
From a technological point of view, it is difficult to make snuff bottles from cloisonné enamel, and it is not easy to produce good results. Therefore, the number of snuff bottles made of cloisonné enamel in the Qing Dynasty is very small. The cloisonné enamel inlay enamel lady snuff bottle in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei and the double-bottle snuff bottle in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing are typical court works of the Qianlong Dynasty.
Article**: Overview of the Qing Palace's Tibetan Snuff Bottles
Author: Zhang Rong.