Dehua kiln white glazed appliqué porcelain tree head cup Qing Dynasty
On March 2nd, the "Beauty of Dehua - Collection of Ming and Qing Dehua White Porcelain Exhibition" sponsored by Guangzhou Museum was officially opened in the special exhibition hall of ZhenhaiLou Exhibition Area.
Guangzhou Museum has a collection of nearly 300 pieces of Dehua white porcelain in the Ming and Qing dynasties, from which 134 pieces (sets) are selected in this exhibition, which are divided into four parts: magic hands and flowers, Buddhist statues, Boya Haogu furniture utensils, mingxiang wine and food utensils, and Yiqing Hanmo wenfang Yayi, showing the unique charm of Dehua white porcelain solemnity and tranquility, minimalist aesthetics and a glimpse of Chinese social life in the Ming and Qing dynasties, presenting the diligence and wisdom of Dehua porcelain craftsmen who successfully shaped the world-renowned oriental art treasures.
Dehua porcelain has three beauties - glaze color modeling utensils
Dehua is one of the three ancient porcelain capitals of China, along with Jingdezhen in Jiangxi and Liling in Hunan.
"Where is the beauty of 'dehua porcelain'?" Wu Lingyun, director of the Guangzhou Museum, told reporters that one is the beauty of glaze color, the second is the beauty of modeling, and the third is the beauty of utensils.
Wu Lingyun said that celadon white porcelain is the two main systems of porcelain. In the south, it is mainly a celadon system, but Dehua porcelain is very special, it undertakes the system of Xing kiln and Ding kiln white porcelain in the north, and it is facing overseas. The so-called "Chinese white" is actually from Dehua white porcelain. From the stylistic point of view, the Guanyin statues in this exhibition, "that kind of quiet, humane, the kind of tranquility that stands there, are completely squeezed by the hands of craftsmen, and the high level of modeling ability is incomparable."
Experts from the museum pointed out that different civilizations in the world have a convergent aesthetic and preference for "white", and in many cultures, white has the meaning of holiness, light and love. Whether it is export or domestic demand, Dehua white porcelain is respected at home and abroad for its proud porcelain quality, and has achieved the reputation of "the world's white porcelain looks at China, and China's white porcelain looks at Dehua". Dehua white porcelain has had a major impact on European social life and the emergence of its white porcelain industry, and is known as "Chinese white" by the French, and is known as the "mother of European white porcelain".
Cultures of different regions are interconnected
According to the function, Dehua white porcelain can be divided into four categories: sculpture figures, furnishing offerings, living utensils, and literary rooms, of which sculptural figures are the most distinctive.
Li Jin, curator of the exhibition and deputy director of the Exhibition Research Department of the Guangzhou Museum, said that the exhibition is a systematic collation, research and display of the white porcelain collection accumulated by Guangbo Museum for more than 90 years. Among them, it cannot be said that the porcelain statue, which reflects the rich connotation of immigrant culture, marine culture and religious sacrifice culture in the production of Dehua kilns at that time. The cup with the largest collection was also one of the largest export varieties at that time. Among them, the elegant plum blossom cup is particularly popular in foreign markets because of its simple design, three-dimensional relief and vivid plum blossom image.
"This whitening of Dehua porcelain is very amazing to us." Li Jin said. So what does it have to do with Guangzhou? First of all, they are the things collected by the Guangzhou Museum, and they belong to the cultural wealth of Guangzhou; and they can also see the figure of marine culture and see their infiltration in life, such as the Wenchang Emperor Jun, which means auspicious or encourages people to be studious, which is also common in our lives. Guangzhou Liwan still has folk cultural activities to commemorate Emperor Wenchang. Cultures are interconnected, and the beautiful imagery hidden in the collection, as well as the prayer for the peace of the voyage in the marine culture, are loved by everyone who loves life.
"Chinese White" with international influence
The Dehua porcelain industry began in Xia Shang, flourished in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Quanzhou developed into the largest port in the East under the stimulation of overseas trade policies, and Dehua porcelain began to be marketed overseas, thus promoting trade and cultural exchanges between the East and the West. In 1987, the Guangzhou Rescue and Salvage Bureau cooperated with the British Ocean Exploration Company to salvage more than 200 pieces of Fujian Dehua kiln, Jinjiang magnetic stove kiln, Jingdezhen kiln system and Longquan kiln ancient porcelain in the Song Dynasty shipwreck "Nanhai No. 1". In the subsequent archaeological excavations, the underwater archaeological team salvaged a large number of gold, silver, copper, iron and porcelain cultural relics from the "Nanhai No. 1", of which Dehua porcelain accounted for a considerable proportion.
Zeng Lingling, deputy director of the Guangzhou Museum, told reporters that the Dehua porcelain of the Song Dynasty unearthed on the "Nanhai No. 1" is still not the same as the Dehua porcelain of the Ming and Qing dynasties, such as glaze color, tire quality and craftsmanship. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were many changes in the technology of Dehua porcelain, on the one hand, the glaze color, on the other hand, the prominence of porcelain sculpture - China's ceramic sculpture porcelain sculpture has three large varieties with extensive international influence, one is the Terracotta Warriors, the second is Tang Sancai, and the third is Dehua porcelain, which has affected the world's impression of Chinese ceramic sculpture. Why is it called "Chinese white"? In fact, it is the last peak of ancient Chinese white porcelain.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the port of Quanzhou began to decline, official trade shrank, and private trade flourished. Dehua kiln is located in a remote corner, in history has never had the name of official kiln, but with its continuous improvement of white porcelain craftsmanship and exquisite skills swept the world, more creatively formed a systematic porcelain sculpture technology and cultural category, laid its position in the history of Chinese ceramics, and became one of the most representative commodities of the Maritime Silk Road, which emerged He Chaochun, He Chaozong and other famous porcelain sculpture masters.
In the heyday of the Ming Dynasty, Dehua white porcelain tire quality is delicate and firm, the tire color is white, there is a natural ivory-like fun, the glaze color of the products is charming, with milky white as the bulk, there are "lard white", "ivory white", "goose down white", "onion root white" and "daughter red", representing the highest level of white porcelain production in the country at that time.
Deng Yumei, director of the Exhibition and Research Department of the Guangzhou Museum, said that the common feature of porcelain created in Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang is that it is on a sea vessel and exported to the West. Dehua porcelain has a direct influence on the earliest real hard porcelain in Europe, German Mason porcelain. At the beginning of the 18th century, the alchemist Bertger, with the support of the rulers of the Duchy of Saxony, began an experiment in firing hard porcelain and eventually succeeded. He made unremitting imitations and research on porcelain sculptures in Dehua white porcelain. Augustus II of Saxony was also a passionate lover of Dehua white porcelain, and there are more than 20 Dehua white porcelain cups in the collection alone. The varieties of Dehua white porcelain circulating abroad today are very rich and the number is also very large.
Deng Yumei said that Chinese porcelain sculpture is the most direct embodiment of "Chinese style". After they were introduced to Europe, they were first welcomed in France, and then began to spread more widely. At that time, European drawings, oil paintings, interior design drawings can often see Germanized porcelain sculptures, placed on manchesterrs, banquet tables, etc., which shows that they have entered the lives of Europeans very deeply. (Reporter Bu Songzhu Correspondent Liu Yingying Lin Hui)