Page 11 - Chinese Archaic Jades From The Yangdetang Collection PART II Christie's.pdf

the iron table-top tuo used over a period that spanned
from the Sui-Tang, Qing Dynasties through to the early
1960s. During this lengthy period, furniture was made
at an elevated height level as the table-top tuo was
placed onto a taller table. This apparatus was known as
a shui deng (meaning ‘water stool’) during the Ming and
Qing Dynasties. With the iron wheel powered by a foot
pedal and operated by a single person, the coordinated
movement of the hands and feet significantly advanced
the speed of production.

The fifth phase is the modern jade working era dating
from the 1960s to the present time. The body of the
tuo machine is made of iron instead of wood while the
head of the tuo is replaced with a steel tool that is coated
with powered diamond. The wheel is electricity powered
instead of by foot thus liberating the feet of the jade
craftsman and further accelerated expediency.
These five phases described above are based on the
development of tools used for the carving of jades in
China. Even though they roughly correspond to certain
historical periods, the rise and fall of dynasties probably
did not bring any immediate advancement in jade
carving technology, moreover it was a process of gradual
improvement over time.

figs. 4 and 5 paintings by Li Cheng, depicting the grinding wheel and the dia- The theoretical designs of the jade-working tuo wheels
mond borer
圖四、五 李澄繪沖砣圖及打鑽圖 from the first three phases were conjectured based on
a known historical backdrop and consideration of later
designs of the tuo wheel. For the fourth phase, the
earliest known schematic concept of a jade-working tuo
wheel (figs. 2 & 3) was found in the Pearls and Jade
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緒十七年）應英國醫生畢索普要求而作。 他不僅描 chapter of Tiangong Kaiwu (The Exploitation of the Works
繪了工匠治玉操作的場景，還將重要工具一一注明， of Nature) along with a description of the jade-cutting
process: “When cutting jade, shape a wheel out of iron,
可以說是玉器製作的連環畫，以圖文並茂的形式將玉
put sand in a pot of water, step to turn the wheel, add
雕工藝分為：搗沙、研漿、開玉、紮碢（砣）、沖碢 2
the sand to cut the jade, and gradually cut through” .
（砣）、磨碢（砣）、搯堂、上花、打鑽、透花、打眼、 The design of the tuo wheel and the way which jieyusha
木碢（砣）、皮碢（砣）等十三個工序。前兩道工序 (sand that abrades jade) was used as depicted by Luo
在書中合為一開，三至十三共十一個工序各為一開， Zhenyu provided a consistent picture of the method
共十二開，圖說詳細。（圖四、五） involved although there are no mention of other carving
or polishing tools.
治玉工藝發展的前四個時期為古代治玉階段，解玉砂
To date, the most detailed description of the process
和砣具是我們重點關注的物件，而通過對前四期古代 in traditional jade carving is from the Yuzuotu,
治玉和第五期現代治玉的對比，可以發現工藝在中國 ‘Illustrations of the Manufacture of Jade’, drawn by Li
古玉鑒定斷代中起著非常重要的作用。 Cheng-yuan towards the end of the Qing dynasty. The

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