A Brief Introduction of the Painted Clay Crafts
2 min readA Brief Introduction of the Painted Clay Crafts
Among the Chinese folk arts，the painted clay crafts are unique in their style. They are beautifully shaped，vivid，lively and lovely.They have become an art that isappealing to both the elite and the unsophisticated.The history of the painted claycrafts goes back to the Ming Dynasty，more than 600 years ago.
Popular themes include mystical and historical figures，animals as well as fruits.The process of making such clay crafts is not very complicated.The artisan will first make a model，then make roughcast after the model by using a mixture of clay and pulp，which are to be sun dried，powdered，painted and finally varnished.
Clay Figure Modelling
Clay figure modelling varies with localities in technology，styles and subject matter.For example，the longstanding painted clay work from Fengxiang，Shanxi has to go through over ten steps in the whole process.They include moulding the clay，turning over the base，gluing into the designed shape，polishing，painting，outlining，coloring，glossing，and so on.As a result，painted clay figures made in Fengxiang are very much loved for their bright color，vivid shape，dramatic composition and bold style.The main clay work includes tigers，five poisonous creatures（scorpion，viper，centipede，house lizard and toad），crouching cow，zodiac animals（the twelve symbolic animals used to denote the year of one’s birth），toys，legendary figures like the eight immortals，and characters in the Three Kingdoms and Pilgrimage to the West.
Thefamed clay figures produced in Wuxi fall into two types:the coarse，and the refined.The former is characterized by unsophisticated composition out of moulded shape，and bright color from hand painting with the theme of good fortune and happiness.The latter is made by kneading the clay with hands into sophisticated figures based on the wonderful scenes in Beijing opera or Kun opera.With each being a wonder，the refined clay figures are unique works of art created with painstaking effort.0ther influential clay figure producers are Gaomi of Shandong，Beigou of Hebei，and Xunxian of Henan.
