評(píng)論
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I've got it with me now. It's very light to hold, and it's less like a wine cup and more like a small serving bowl-a bowl that would hold the equivalent of a very large glass of wine. It's a shallow oval about seven inches (18 cm) long, so roughly the size and shape of a large mango. And on each of the long sides there's a gilded handle, and it's these handles that give the cup its name-it's known as an ear cup. The core of the cup is wood, and through some of the damage you can just see that wood, but of course most of it's covered in layer after layer of reddish-brown lacquer.
我現(xiàn)在手里就拿著它，漆杯質(zhì)地很輕，外形更像一個(gè)小碗，而容量相當(dāng)于一個(gè)大葡萄酒杯。這是一個(gè)橢圓形的淺碗，直徑約18厘米，形狀與尺寸都像個(gè)大芒果。較長的兩邊各有一個(gè)鍍金把手，酒杯因此被命名為耳杯。它整體為木制，我們能從一些破損處看到里面的木胎。大部分碗體由紅棕色的漆層覆蓋。
The inside is plain but the outside has been decorated with gold and bronze inlay-pairs of birds face each other, each sporting exaggerated claws against a background of geometric shapes and decorative spirals. The whole effect is of a costly highly wrought object-elegant, stylish, confident. Everything about it speaks of assured taste and controlled opulence. Roel Sterckx, Professor of Chinese History at Cambridge, knows exactly how much effort would go into making one of these drinking cups:
內(nèi)壁沒有任何裝飾，外壁則鑲嵌黃金與青銅，并繪有數(shù)對(duì)相向而立的鳥，揮舞著它們大得夸張的鳥爪，而背景是一些幾何圖案及螺旋紋飾。漆杯價(jià)值高昂，工藝繁復(fù)，流露出優(yōu)雅、時(shí)髦與自信。每一個(gè)細(xì)節(jié)都表現(xiàn)出對(duì)品位的篤定，又不顯得過分奢華。制作這樣的漆杯到底需要多少人力物力，劍橋大學(xué)中國史教授胡司德頗為了解：
"Lacquerware takes an enormous amount of time to make. It's a very labour-intensive and a very tedious process, because there's the extraction of the sap of the lacquer tree, followed by all sorts of procedures, mixing with all sorts of pigments, letting it cure, applying successive layers on to a wooden core, to finally produce a beautiful piece. And it would have involved several sets of artisans."
漆器制作極為費(fèi)時(shí)，且需要消耗大量人力，過程又十分枯燥。首先從漆樹上割取汁液，然后與色素混合，晾干，再一層層涂抹在木胎上，最后才能得到美麗的成品。這需要多種手工藝人的配合。
