Pokerwork is a handicraft picture branded on the surface of fan ribs, combs, wooden furniture, paper and thin silk, by using a specially designed iron stylus. It is also known as an ironed picture, heated-pen picture, heated pokerwork, and ironed flower. The pyrography was reportedly initiated in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Pokerworks are produced in Henan, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.

In the early stage, some simple designs were ironed on the surface of bamboo and wood works for decorations. Today’s pokerworks are developed gradually on this basis. To produce pokerworks, we must first have a specially designed iron stylus, heat the tool and manually decorate designs on woody or thick paper materials. To complete a pokerwork, we will go through the procedures of selecting suitable materials, working out the composition, drawing a sketch map, producing designs on materials by using heated tools, lacquering it, and mounting the pokerwork.

Finished pokerworks are eulogized for concise and natural lines, freehand and realistic paintings, being true to life, and never fading. They entertain people with plain styles, antique beauty and elegance. Pokerworks are based on wide-ranging contents, largely presenting figure paintings, flower-bird paintings, birds, beasts, landscapes and calligraphy. Paper-based pokerworks mainly focus on figures from A Dream in Red Mansion, the Romance of West Chamber, the Romance of Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, and Dunhuang frescoes. These works are marvelous creation excelling nature. They are best artistic handicrafts for household and guesthouse decorations, or given as gifts and put as collections.

Pokerwork art

In the early days, pokerworks were largely expressed by integrating traditional Chinese paintings and folk paintings. Later, handicraftsmen kept making explorations in all ages. They made bold experiments through absorbing expression modes of western paintings, achieving admirable results. They have made progress in the gestures, tools, materials, techniques and contents of producing pokerworks.

Gestures

In the old days, handicraftsmen would lie on the side on a bed, a gesture reminding us opium addicts, and decorate materials with tools heated upon lamps. Such a mode was called “sleeping pyrography”. This method could only be used to decorate some small art works. It was hard to command the skills. This restricted the development of the pokerwork art to some extents. In the 1940s, handicraftsmen began to support iron styluses upon pen racks, propelling the establishment of the “sitting pyrography” technique. This method was hailed for its flexibility and simplicity, breaking a new ground for studying and developing the pokerwork art.

Tools

In the beginning, pokerworks were made with iron needles. Handicraftsmen would burn iron needles on oil lamps to scorch designs on small articles of everyday use, such as chopsticks, rulers and wooden combs. Afterwards, they continued to deepen reforms of the workmanship and tools. The lamp-burned pyrography was replaced by electric and laser-based pyrography. Needles and irons were changed into large, medium and small-sized special electric soldering pens. Advanced soldering pens may easily control the temperature, and are equipped with multiple special pen points. They endow the age-old creation mode with unprecedented expressive ability.

Materials

In the past, pokerworks were made only on the surface of wood blocks, barks and gourds. They presented varying scraggy skin textures, with considerable relief effects. The colors were of dark brown, light brown and even black. Nowadays, rice paper and thin silk are boldly applied to enrich the pokerwork art. Raw materials in the early stage were gourds, bamboos and woods, which were hard and thick, making it easy to control the process of pyrography. Rice paper and thin silk, though fairly thin, may as well be decorated into pokerworks of dark or light colors, presenting vigorous or gentle variations, according to the extents of carbonization. If the temperature is kept too high, or too much strength is exerted, the rice paper and thin silk will be burnt. If the temperature is kept too low, designs will not be branded. Besides, artistic recreation is made according to the picture contents, making rice paper pokerwork elaborate works of the Nanyang school.