Northern Song Dynasty Longquan kiln carved flower jar
Longquan kiln is a famous porcelain kiln system in Chinese history, with a long history and great influence, because it is located in Longquan, Zhejiang Province, and is one of the six famous kilns of the Song Dynasty.
Northern Song Dynasty Longquan kiln carved flower plum vase
Longquan kiln was founded in the Three Kingdoms and Two Jin Dynasties, and gradually declined in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, making it the longest porcelain kiln system in Chinese history. Longquan kiln belongs to the southern celadon system, the integration of the north and south technology of the long, its firing of celadon color as clear as jade, gentle and elegant, far away from all over the world, famous at home and abroad.
Northern Song Dynasty Longquan kiln double series pan bottle
In the early Northern Song Dynasty, the Longquan kiln held the pot
Longquan celadon in the Northern Song Dynasty, the fetal bone is thicker, the tire soil is light gray, the bottom foot exposed tire is seen in the ochre brown kiln red, the tire is slightly fired, the glaze is well vitrified, the glaze layer is transparent, and the glaze surface is very shiny. The decorative pattern is more concise, and the common patterns are fish pattern, banana leaf, gold branch, lotus flower and so on.
Early Northern Song Dynasty Longquan kiln light blue glaze five-tube bottle
Northern Song Dynasty Longquan kiln cup
The shape of the Southern Song Dynasty Longquan celadon also formed its own style, stable and generous, thick and simple without losing its beauty, rich and diverse instruments, and the decoration generally adopted engraving and piling methods, which was quite artistic.
In the late Southern Song Dynasty, longquan kiln put cups
The middle and late Southern Song Dynasty was the heyday of the development of Longquan kiln, and it was also a peak in the history of celadon porcelain in China. After the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, the advanced porcelain-making technology in the north also moved south along with the political and economic center, and a large number of skilled craftsmen "came with the south", and the Longquan kiln absorbed the essence of the northern and southern techniques, and the porcelain-making technology became more and more mature and perfected.
During this period, Longquan kiln broke through the tradition, creating a "Song Dynasty folk kiln giant" pink, plum green and other good products, these two pure blue glaze to the celadon elegant and gentle beauty, its color "verdant, warm as jade", its shape is dignified and beautiful, thick and elegant, becoming proud of the gold jade, the world's good beauty and noble treasures, the celadon technology in China to the peak.
Yuanlongquan kiln lotus leaf out of the rib jar
Entering the Yuan Dynasty, the production scale of Longquan kiln has been further developed and expanded, the export output of Porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty has increased sharply, and the Longquan kiln has gradually changed to a production mode based on civilian use and export.
Yuanlongquan kiln porcelain statue
Yuanlongquan kiln shrine
Compared with the gentle and exquisite porcelain of the Southern Song Dynasty, the porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty was influenced by the aesthetics of the Yuan people's atmosphere and ruggedness, and it was relatively thick and bold, and its body was tall. The Longquan kiln of the Yuan Dynasty is still in its heyday, during this period, the porcelain of the Longquan kiln is thick and heavy, and the color is not as warm as jade as in the Southern Song Dynasty, but a variety of decorative techniques and ornamental patterns have been developed, and there are carvings, scratches, printing, pasting, plastic, etc., mainly scratching flowers, rough patterns, unrestrained lines, and ornamentation with yunlong, flying phoenix, pisces, eight immortals, bagua, peony, lotus leaves, etc. are more common. In addition, a large number of Inscriptions in Chinese and Bashiba characters have appeared.
Yuanlongquan kiln carved flower jade pot spring bottle
At this time, some large-scale porcelain has begun to be mass-produced, which are sold to the private sector and overseas. In 1975, a Yuan Dynasty shipwreck was found on the seabed of Sin'an in southwestern South Korea, and more than 10,000 pieces of porcelain were salvaged, of which as many as 9,000 were Longquan celadons, which showed that Longquan kilns dominated foreign trade in the Yuan Dynasty.
Ming longquan kiln onion tube foot ding-type furnace
The Ming Dynasty Longquan kiln continues the thick atmosphere of the Yuan Dynasty, and is equipped with exquisite carved decorations, and the patterns with beautiful lines are blended into the warm jade color, and the boldness and fineness coexist, reaching a new artistic height.
Ming Longquan kiln celadon furnace
Beginning in the fourteenth century, the Ming government ordered the implementation of the sea ban, and the sales of celadon fell sharply. Longquan kiln can only be dominated by folk common celadon porcelain, and its shape, craftsmanship and color are not as elaborate as before.
Qinglongquan kiln cap barrel
In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the porcelain of the Longquan kiln was rough in shape and heavy in tire quality, and it also lost its world-famous jade color. At this point, a porcelain star that was once famous overseas and brilliant, Longquan kiln celadon, began to fall.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, some people from Japan, Germany and the United States successively came to Longquan to collect celadon porcelain, and then a large number of domestic antique dealers flocked to Longquan, which triggered the wind of excavating ancient kiln sites and excavating ancient tombs in Longquan.
Ming Longquan kiln animal foot furnace
Ming Long Quan kiln smoker
At the same time, the local development of antique celadon in Longquan was flourishing, and a group of folk porcelain artists joined the trip. During the years of Qing Guangxu and Xuantong, the brothers Of Sun Keng Fan Zuqi and Zu Qiu made antique celadon famous for a while, and by the early days of the Republic of China, the county town of Liao Xianzhong (Qing Xiucai) antique products could be almost chaotic.
Longquan kiln in the history of Chinese ceramics has experienced ups and downs, but with jade beide, longquan kiln celadon with jade metaphor still brings us unlimited reverie, after nearly a thousand years of vicissitudes, it still gives people a purifying state of mind, refreshing the artistic appeal, in addition to sighing more admiration for the ghostly work of Longquan kiln.
Authenticity identification of Longquan kiln porcelain
1. Glaze color identification
The glaze color of Longquan kiln celadon is extremely rich, all of which are thick and green, just like the plum green of green plum color; There are pink as jade, translucent pink blue, and green beans with yellowing in the blue and darker glaze luster. Its blue glaze is moist and has no floating light, the glaze juice rarely flows, the glaze color is exquisite, the color is stable, and the glaze is not open. The Yue kiln celadon glaze color is darker, and it is ai cyan; The celadon glaze of the Yaozhou kiln is blue and yellow, and it lacks pure moisture. The glaze of Longquan kiln belongs to the lime alkali glaze, which has poor fluidity and strong jade texture, and a large number of uniformly dense tiny bubbles can be seen under the magnifying glass. Generally speaking, the glaze of Longquan kiln porcelain in the early Northern Song Dynasty is light cyan, the glaze layer is transparent, and the surface is bright. The glaze of Longquan kiln porcelain in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty is blue with yellow, the glaze layer is thin, and there are more open pieces. The glaze color of Longquan kiln porcelain in the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty is verdant, and there is very little opening and no glaze phenomenon.
2. Fetal quality identification
The tire color of the Longquan kiln is gray, the tire quality is meticulous, and the carcass is thin and uniform. In the same period, the tires of Yaozhou kiln celadon were darker in color, and the tire quality was not as meticulous as that of the Longquan kiln. In the same period, the Yue kiln celadon tire color is grayer, the carcass is thick, and the tire quality is relatively hard. Civilian imitations are more important carcasses. In the actual appraisal, as long as you sweep it by hand, you can find that the utensils of Yue kiln, Yaozhou kiln and civilian imitations feel heavy. In the specific identification process, it is necessary to distinguish the different characteristics of the tires in each period of the Longquan kiln: the tires of the Longquan kiln in the early Northern Song Dynasty are relatively thick, impure, but the texture is hard. The tires of Longquan kiln porcelain in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty are gray or light gray, the tire wall is thin and uniform, and the tread is smooth. In the early Southern Song Dynasty, the tire wall of Longquan kiln porcelain was thicker, and the content of alumina in the carcass was lower. In the late Southern Song Dynasty, the tire quality of Longquan kiln porcelain was hard and delicate, the vitrification was good, and the tire color was white and blue. At the same time, the tires of Longquan black tire blue glazed porcelain were thinner than those of Longquan kiln porcelain in previous dynasties, and the tire quality was fine and solid, most of which were gray-black, a few were yellow or brick red, and the tire quality was loose and light.
3. Identification of ornaments
During the Northern Song Dynasty, carved flowers were mainly carved, and there were still carved flowers in the early Southern Song Dynasty. In the early Northern Song Dynasty, there were many lotus petal patterns, deformed cloud patterns, and water rippled heap patterns. In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, it was dominated by tufted flowers, lotus petals and tangled peony patterns. Its layout is rigorous. In the early Southern Song Dynasty, carved flowers were the mainstay, followed by scratching flowers, and the castor pattern was getting less and less. Cloud patterns, water ripples, and banana leaf patterns are more common. In the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty, there was no ornamentation, and it won with a blue jade glaze color.
4. Styling appraisal
The variety of Longquan kiln is very rich, and the variety is in the forefront of the major kiln systems in the Song Dynasty, in addition to porcelain for daily life, it also fires various decorative porcelain. No matter what kind of utensil type, it is simple and stable, and the bottom of the vessel and the circle foot are made regularly. In particular, some porcelain used in daily life has string patterns, ribs and so on.
Longquan kiln has the reputation of the song dynasty folk kiln giant, the cover because of its excellent quality. In the specific identification process, it is necessary to strictly distinguish between the Longquan kiln artifacts of the Northern Song Dynasty and the early Southern Song Dynasty and the heyday (middle and late Southern Song Dynasty) utensils. Generally speaking, the Northern Song Dynasty Longquan kiln utensils are "quite thick in quality" and have a light blue glaze; In the early Southern Song Dynasty, the carcass of the Longquan kiln ware was heavy, and the glaze color turned to green and yellow; In the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty, Longquan kiln utensils were thin and thick glazed, winning with a jade-like glaze color.