Can you imagine a round eggshell may be an exquisite craft? Artists may emboss and chase various delicate patterns on eggshell with the thickness less than that of two hairs, whether it is a hen egg, duck egg or ostrich egg. These impressive artworks are marvelous!
Egg Carving Artwork
In Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties in China, people had the custom of presenting red eggs as a gift on weddings, birthday parties and child birth celebrations. At that time it prevailed even more in Beijing area with a considerable amount of egg consumption. Thus some people worked on the business of dyed red egg which is called the "color egg". Later, traders painted patterns on these eggs such as flowers and birds, fishes and insects and facial make-up for better sales. After years of evolution, the egg craft gradually improves. Nowadays, people may hollow the egg and carve exquisite patterns on the shell surface which finally forms a precious art with high appreciation value - egg carving.
Egg carving has a variety of crafts. One kind is to carve such patterns as figures, landscapes, birds and flowers on dark egg shell using burin with the formed patterns similar to the sketch or outline drawing; the other kind is to carve on thick duck or ostrich eggs with the method of bas-relief or hollow-out. The process of removal of egg liquid, disinfection and so on needs to be done after completing the egg carving. Due to fragileness, it is very difficult to carve on avian eggshell; hence egg carving products are not common in market.
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