The sugar painting is just paintings made of sugar, which can not only be eaten but also appreciated. It is always called Inverse Sugar Figure, Inverse Sugar Cake or Sugar Light Figure. The history of this handicraft, with the local characters of Sichuan Province, is more than 400 years. It is said that the sugar painting originated from the Sugar Prime Minister of Ming Dynasty, which are actually various figures made of sugar. As the figures looks like the officials at court, they are called Sugar Prime Minister. Later, the folk artists of Sichuan integrated the sculpture technique of paper-cut and shadow play with each other. They paint the shadow play with the sugar solution in the small copper spoon instead of moulds. And the technique gradually develops into the sugar painting art today. 【View More】
The History of Sugar Painting
| Sugar painting may have originated during the Ming dynasty when small animals made of sugar were created in molds for religious rituals. This art form then became more popular during the Qing dynasty. After that period techniques improved, and a more diverse range of patterns emerged. In Sichuan, further developments were made in production, seeing the replacement of the molds with the now-common small ladle, often bronze or copper. 【View More】 | |
Technique
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| | Although techniques vary, normally the hot sugar is drizzled from a small ladle onto a flat surface, usually white marble or metal. The outline is produced with a relatively thick stream of sugar. Then, supporting strands of thinner sugar are placed to attached the outline, and fill in the body of the figure. These supporting... 【View More】 | |
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Home of Sugar Painting - Sichuan
In Sichuan Province of southwestern China, it is usual to see some folk artists producing sugar paintings along the streets, in the parks, and around the schools. The artist uses the bronze spoon and shovel as the tool, and the slab of marble as the "paper". The liquid brown sugar or white sugar is the raw material.
The artists normally sit before a wooden stand where there is a polished slab of marble in the middle. On the side there is a wooden plate with a revolvable bamboo arrow on it. The plate is painted with various patterns in a circle such as a Chinese dragon, bird, dog, flower basket and so forth. After paying about 1 or 2 yuan, the customer, normally kids, turn the arrow and wait till it stops. The pattern pointed by the arrow is the one the artist is supposed to make with sugar. 【View More】
Figures
Popular figures include dragons, fishes, monkeys, dogs, birds, and flower baskets.
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Written by Dora Men
