Introduction to Sprinkling Gold Paper

Gold-sprinkled paper is a representative category of paper cultural relics from the Qing Dynasty's imperial court in the collection of the Palace Museum, with the ribbed gold-sprinkled paper made during the Yongzheng period being a typical example. This paper measures 133 cm in length and 65 cm in width. It is made of Xuan paper as the base. The surface of the paper features a pattern of interwoven horizontal and vertical fine lines in a ridged pattern. The entire paper is covered with light yellow and decorated with fine gold foil. It has the characteristics of thick and dense texture and water resistance. Its craftsmanship can be traced back to the production techniques of ribbed paper recorded in the "Wenfang Sipu" of the Northern Song Dynasty. After improvement in the Qing Dynasty, it incorporated the technique of gold splashing. During the Kangxi to Yongzheng periods, Hangzhou craftsman Wang Chengzhi innovated the copper wire curtain paper-making technology, which promoted the emergence of derivative products such as narrow curtain ribbed paper.