Makers › Master Craftsmen
Wu Zhifan
Early Qing bamboo carver of Jiading, master of the low-relief 'thin ground, raised design' technique, who also carved boxwood
A craft workshop centres on a potter's wheel holding a tall celadon vase, amid racks of red lacquer boxes, an embroidery frame with a floral design, shelves of celadon ware, carved wooden panels and stacked logs, while one craftsman works at a table and another stands at a glowing kiln.
Also known as Zi Luzhen · Hao Donghai Daoren
- Roles
- Master Craftsmen
Wu Zhifan, courtesy name Luzhen, who called himself Donghai Daoren, came from Chaxi (Nanxiang) in Jiading and worked in the early Kangxi years. Building on the Jiading bamboo tradition and borrowing from Northern Wei stone relief, he became known for 'thin ground, raised design': cutting away a shallow layer of the surface so the picture stands slightly proud, a manner earlier critics called the finest of its kind. The Palace Museum in Beijing holds his bamboo brush holder of chess players signed in a wuwu year, and a boxwood brush holder with news of victory arriving at Mount Dong, signed Chaxi Wu Zhifan and Luzhen and inscribed with a Qianlong poem.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active in the early Kangxi reign