As far back as the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people in the Datong area had the custom of giving red eggs for good luck when celebrating weddings, birthdays, or having a baby. At that time, this style was even more popular in the capital area, and the consumption was considerable. So some people set up stalls to sell red-dyed eggs, calling them "Easter Eggs." Later, traders painted patterns of flowers, birds, fish, insects, facial makeup, etc. on the eggs in order to boost their business. After years of evolution, the craftsmanship of Easter eggs has gradually improved, and finally, an art treasure with high appreciation value has been formed.
On the basis of the Easter egg craft, Zhang Jiancheng of Datong City Material Recycling Company used a unique idea to carve various patterns on the thin eggshell with a carving knife, which is known as "Datong Egg Carving". In order to master the processing technology of egg substances, he went to Beijing Damucang Easter Egg Art Factory many times for advice, and finally learned a set of egg white and egg yolk processing techniques. After being carved from reddish-brown fresh eggs, the pattern is clear, the lines are distinct, and it has a strong three-dimensional effect. Then use a syringe to extract the egg white and yolk, wash them repeatedly with water and syrup, and pour a self-prepared chemical emulsion into the original hole. While rotating the egg, the emulsion solidifies inside the egg to form a thin layer. Protective film. The pinhole remains in the lace without revealing any trace, which elevates an ordinary egg to a work of art with great appreciation value.
There are many types of egg carvings, including portraits of people, flowers, birds, fish and insects, Peking opera masks, poems and paintings. For example, the "Portrait" egg carvings, from ancient emperors and generals to modern celebrities, all have realistic and vivid images; in the "Galloping Horse Picture" egg carving, the tones are bright and lifelike, just like a painting of Xu Beihong's galloping horse. In front of you, you will be mesmerized; in the "Flowers, Birds, Fish and Insects" egg sculptures, the grasshoppers are flying and singing, the flowers are dripping in the wind, the flowers are fragrant, the birds are singing, and the goldfish are playing in the water, which will definitely make you relaxed and happy; in the "Poetry" In the "Word Painting" egg carving, the portrait of the poet is engraved on the front, and the witty poems are engraved on the back, and calligraphy is integrated into it. It can be said that characters, poems, and calligraphy are integrated into one furnace. It is like storing hundreds of treasures, making people never tire of it. Endless aftertaste
Zhang Jiancheng studied traditional Chinese painting and seal cutting in his early years. With his profound skills, he used oval egg shells to design cleverly. The carved images are similar in form and spirit, and have a strong three-dimensional effect. His egg carving works are written with a knife, which not only inherits the line drawing technique of Chinese traditional painting, but also integrates the realistic style of Western oil painting, truly achieving "the past serves the present, and the foreign serves China"
Datong Egg Carving , each set is equipped with a mahogany base and a brocade forged packaging box, making it more elegant and outstanding. Although it is a newly unearthed seedling, after hard cultivation, it will soon thrive, bloom and bear fruit, making it appear among the flowers in the Sculpture Art Garden, exuding national beauty and heavenly fragrance, giving people a beautiful enjoyment. Nowadays, Datong's egg carving art has attracted the attention of experts, scholars and people from all walks of life. They unanimously praised it as "Datong's unique skill and rare art." (Datong)