Clay Figure Zhang is a famous folk art

Folk art

Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....

 in Tianjin

Tianjin

' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

, China's second biggest city. It was initiated by Zhang Mingshan (1826-1906), a folk artist of Tianjin, during Daoguang

Daoguang Emperor

The Daoguang Emperor was the eighth emperor of the Manchurian Qing dynasty and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1820 to 1850.-Early years:...

 period in Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 (1821-1851). Up until now, Clay Figure Zhang has four generations and nearly 180 years of history.

Production Procedure

Clay Figure Zhang is made of ripe clay

Clay

Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

 which is pure puddle with little sand through the process of weathering, slurrying, filtrating, evaporating and adding cotton to rub up. It has the characteristics of viscosity. The side materials include wood, vine, lead, paper, flowers and so on. After completely drying, the clay figure is put into stove for firing. The temperature is up to 700 degree Celsius or so. After coming out of stove, the clay figure is polished and painted. It takes about 30 days or so to finish a piece of work.

Clay Figure Zhang Studio

Artistic Attractiveness

The images of Clay Figure Zhang vary from palace maids in costume, historic figures, religious figures, and modern figures to local customs. It is usually displayed indoor, on the shelf for example, because of its small size (usually 20 cm high). Therefore it is also called shelf sculpture. Clay Figure Zhang has vivid realistic characteristics, and can portray the figures' personality and posture, pursue dissection structure, reasonable exaggeration, suitable acceptance and rejection, special applying to give attention to both shape and spirit and have great originality. Several Chinese authors and artists, including Guo Moruo

Guo Moruo

Guo Moruo , courtesy name Dingtang , was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official from Sichuan, China.-Family history:Guo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November 10 or 16, in the small town of Shawan...

, Zhao Puchu, and Wu Zuoren, have collected Clay Figure Zhang.

Modern Development

The Clay Figure Zhang Workshop, established in 1958, is engaged in the research of painted sculpture. It has 46 staff members, 5 creation rooms and 3 shops. Many of its art works have been awarded and are collected by domestic and abroad Art Gallery. In 2006, Clay Figure Zhang was listed as first grade national legacy of China.