The magical and sacred glassware - Colored Glaze

2025-08-29 15:56:36

Liuli is a type of glass, made by adding "glass stone" to "glass mother" and firing it. Common varieties include handmade

glass and lost-wax glass. Its colors are vibrant and magnificent, and its quality is crystal clear and dazzling. It is considered

the first of China's five famous instruments and one of the seven treasures of Buddhism, and has a history of over 2,000 years.

If you've ever witnessed the production of Liuli, you'll be deeply captivated: it's the breath of glass, not the work of an assembly

line, but the tacit understanding between fire and hands. Each piece of glass undergoes a thousand-degree heat, is stretched,

blown, and cut, then solidifies in a gentle embrace. The curved lines you see aren't cold objects, but souls shaped piece by piece

by artisans. There's no dialogue, no explanation, only a dialogue between glass and time. They don't just replicate tradition; they

can create regal chandeliers and bring minimalist poetry to modern homes!

When talking about Liuli, one can't help but mention Boshan in Zibo. Boshan is the birthplace of Chinese colored glaze culture

and is recognized by the science and technology history community as the "colored glaze manufacturing center of the Ming and

Qing Dynasties." The earliest existing ancient colored glaze furnace site in China was discovered there, China's earliest and only

furnace temple was born, the first ancient Chinese colored glaze monograph was written, and China's first colored glaze museum

was built. Since ancient times, it has been known as "Look at China for the world's colored glaze, and look at Boshan for China's

colored glaze." The profound cultural heritage has laid a good foundation for the sustainable development and innovation of

Boshan's colored glaze industry.

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Colored Glass Varieties:

A rich assortment of glass is available, encompassing five major categories: thermoforming, lampwork, lost wax, carving, and

interior painting.

There are nearly a thousand varieties and tens of thousands of colors. Precious materials such as chicken-oil yellow, chicken-liver stone, golden red, and turquoise green are renowned both domestically and internationally.

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Characteristics of the Liuli production process:

1. Lengthy production process: From conception and design, sculpting, firing, fine-tuning, and polishing to the finished piece,

it requires 47 meticulously detailed manual steps.

2. Handcrafted: Workers must master exquisite techniques to operate. Each process involves its own unique variables and

requires repeated experimentation. No two pieces are alike, making the production process extremely challenging.

3. One mold, one product: A mold can only produce one piece and cannot be reused. Large and complex pieces may even

require multiple mold openings and firings. This low success rate makes the pieces even more valuable.

4. High-temperature firing: Selected raw materials are melted at temperatures exceeding 1400°C to form various colored

crystal glass. After multiple rounds of cleaning, they are placed in molds according to the material ratio required for the piece.

A strict heating and cooling curve is established, and the furnace temperature is controlled within 1000°C ± 5°C to ensure

that the crystal material is precisely processed to every detail. This ensures the work is exquisitely crafted, three-dimensional,

realistic, streamlined, and clear.

5. The colors within the glass are created by high-temperature sintering of various metal oxides, preventing fading, oxidation,

or other aging effects.

6. Bubbles in the Glass: Glass works should possess artistic vitality. The presence of bubbles within the work allows for

greater imagination and aura. Bubbles are the breath of the glass, a common understanding within the glass art community.

[Note: To care for glass: Avoid collision or friction with hard objects, as well as contact with sulfur, chlorine, and other gases.

Keep the glass at room temperature and wipe with purified water. If using tap water, allow it to sit for at least 12 hours before

wiping. Maintain the glass's glossy surface and keep it clean. Avoid contamination with oil stains or foreign matter.]

Liuli, "using fire as a brush and material as ink," is a millennium-old intangible cultural heritage craft, kept alive by the kiln fires of a thousand years.

In modern society, Liuli artisans, filled with reverence for traditional cultural skills, inherit historical techniques and culture while pioneering and forging ahead. They use the Oriental refinement, delicacy, and subtlety to blend thought and emotion with art, continuously offering exquisite works to meet people's demand for beauty!

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Mr. Jarek

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