I have previously written about the Longquan kiln, and this article is based on several new sets of specimens. Good collections can be encountered but not sought, and good specimens are the same, so I will share them here for the reference of Tibetan friends, and also record some personal experiences for Tibetan friends to discuss.
Look at the picture to speak, first go to the picture.
Ruyi foot specimen:
Height 10.2, caliber 13.5 cm
This piece of furnace system remnant repair, thin tire, pink thick glaze, inner fold along the wide and flat, cylindrical abdomen, the bottom circle foot is larger, the foot trim is delicate, the body of the instrument is divided into three sections of decorative string pattern, upper and lower are two, the middle three, the lower three ruyi-shaped feet. The whole apparatus is dignified and neat, the craftsmanship is exquisite, and it can be regarded as a fine product in the same type of furnace seen.
Specimen of the same furnace fragment
The glaze color reduction is not good, the color is uneven, the bottom is yellowish in the blue, and there are ice cracks
Same furnace reference example
Collection of the Tokyo National Museum, Japan
Height 9.6, caliber 13.7 cm
Collection of the Great David Foundation, UK
Height 9.7, caliber 14.5 cm
Longquan kiln blue glaze string pattern ruyi foot kiln diameter 14 cm
China Guardian Hong Kong 2021 Autumn Auction LOT Number: 0887
Southern Song Dynasty Longquan kiln powder blue glaze convex string pattern furnace
Height 10 cm, caliber 10.4 cm
It was excavated in 1978 in Geling, Hangzhou, and is now in the Hangzhou Museum
(Hangbo official website of the picture glaze color is biased, can not see is pink blue glaze, I looked for news videos on the Internet, screenshots closer to the real thing)
The Shipwreck of Shinan, South Korea, is now in the collection of the National Museum of Korea
Height 9.3, caliber 13 .8cm
It is worth mentioning that in the above reference example, the outer bottom of the furnace is almost flush with the ruyi-shaped three-legged foot, or the same flush landing, and the specimen shared by the author has a higher circle foot, and only the three-legged landing plays a supporting role.
Similarly, there is the following private collection, with the circle foot hanging high and the three feet landing on the ground.
The glaze of the stove is superb and very beautiful. Although there are small flaws in the mouth edge, they are flawed.
The following are a class of specimens of the hoofed foot:
Height 9.2, caliber 14.5 cm
The stove is also a restorer, the inner fold is slightly downward, the barrel belly, the bottom circle foot, the pedicure is thinner, the body is decorated with four strings, the upper one is two, the middle two, and the lower three animal hoof-shaped feet. The whole body is glazed with plums, the glaze color is rich, and the texture is warm.
Another similar specimen:
Height 10.1, caliber 13.6 cm
The above two furnaces are plum blue glaze, both are circle foot landing, and the three hoof foot flush style, the two instruments are consistent, the size is similar, should come from the same kiln.
Specimens of fragments of the same furnace:
In this case, the circle foot is large, the foot is regularly repaired, and the hoof-shaped sole end is glazed, and the process is meticulous
The first two cases of ungulate-shaped feet are shorter, this one is higher, and the chord pattern is also neater than the first two examples.
Comparison of two types of furnaces
Song Dynasty Longquan kiln string pattern furnace can be roughly divided into the above two types, Ruyi-shaped foot furnace and animal hoof-shaped foot furnace, both of which are decorated with string patterns. Based on a certain accumulation of specimens, the author also found an intriguing phenomenon:
Ruyi-shaped foot furnace to apply powder blue glaze is more, the tire is relatively thin, the string pattern is relatively thin, the whole instrument is more elegant; the animal hoof-shaped foot furnace is more common in plum blue glaze, the tire quality is relatively thicker, and the string pattern is rougher. This shows that the kiln workers at that time were thinking about the design when firing the furnace, and what kind of instrument style and what glaze color were chosen.
This conscious choice may not be limited to the furnace, but also exists in other vessel shapes. Of course, due to various uncontrollable factors, the finished product after the kiln does not necessarily meet the expected ideal glaze color, and the deviation is always there.
In addition, Ru kilns, Ding kilns, Southern Song Dynasty official kilns, etc. also have firing furnaces. Take a look at the kiln-type furnace counterparts at the mouth of these kilns.
Ru kiln azure glaze string pattern bottle and bearing plate
Collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing
【Bottle bearing plate】 release
Three-legged furnaces decorated with cylindrical chords are called tandem furnaces, some are called bottle furnaces. However, 奁 and 樽實 are two different types of utensils, the difference is very large, "奁", there are makeup, mirror, food, mostly made of lacquerware; "bottle (Zun)" is a wine container, mostly made of copper. Because the Song people's poetry notes and other literature often mention the furnace, the author in the previous article unified as the "furnace" (see the humble work "Longquan Kiln Furnace"). However, personal doubts have always been in doubt, so this time Another examination was conducted to confirm that the shape of such a furnace was actually a wine bottle of the Han Dynasty, not a bottle.
Western Han Dynasty Gilded bronze bottle
In 2003, Tomb No. 1 of Furong Garden, Yanta District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, was excavated
"Yanle Tu" portrait brick Was excavated from the Han Tomb of Zhaojue Temple in 1965
Collection of Chengdu Museum
In the Han Dynasty, the copper bottle was a common wine vessel in high society, holding high-grade sake (wine that was repeatedly re-brewed many times), with a three-legged plate at the bottom, built-in dipper, and drinking with a spooned wine in the banquet.
The Ru kiln string pattern bottle with the bearing plate is undoubtedly the closest to the bronze wine bottle, and its use cannot be excluded from being used as a wine vessel in addition to incense or flower utensils.
Western Han Dynasty lacquerware (built-in three lacquer plates, ear wicks)
Tomb No. 168 of Fenghuangshan in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, was excavated
Collection of Jingzhou Museum
The material is generally light, most of them are footless, and the shape is flattened, similar to a box. You can search for examples of artifacts excavated from the tombs, and you can see that the "kinship" between the kiln and the furnace is not very close.
Another point to explain is that this lacquerware is probably due to two ears, officially marked as "lacquer", and this article uses the name in Mr. Sun Ji's "Illustration of Material Culture Information in the Han Dynasty".
The reason for citing this piece, the author believes that its ornament layout may have a reference effect on the Longquan kiln kiln. Longquan kiln kiln, Yu Zhun, Yu Yi, in some ways is already you have me, I have you, so this article retains the name of the furnace.
Northern Song Dynasty - Jin Ding kiln string pattern bottle
Collection of the National Palace in Taipei
There are many cases of fixed kiln string pattern bottles collected by the National Palace Museum in Taipei, and the proportion of the instrument type is wider, shorter or thiner; the distribution of string patterns is more than two/three/one, and there are also two/three/two or three/one/one.
Southern Song Dynasty official kiln string pattern bottle
The above is the excavator of the Southern Song Dynasty Xiunei Siguan kiln site in Hangzhou Tiger Cave
From these examples, it can be seen that the hoof-shaped foot should be "authentic", and the furnaces such as the Ru kiln, the Ding kiln, and the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln are all flat-bottomed, and the three-hoofed foot is supported.
In contrast, the Longquan kiln has its own characteristics, and the shape of the Longquan kiln may be more "fashionable" (I will write an article in this regard in the future, and this article will stop here).