The Beauty of Dehua - Collection of Ming and Qing Dehua White Porcelain Exhibition
Duration: 2022/3/2~5/25
Venue: Guangzhou Museum ZhenhaiLou Exhibition Area
In the history of Chinese ceramics and even in the history of world ceramics, there is a kind of porcelain, she surprised the world with a gelatinous jade white, and envied time, she is Dehua white porcelain.
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. The 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: Buddhist statues, Boya Haogu furnishing utensils, mingxiang wine drinking 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, and presenting the diligence and wisdom of Dehua porcelain craftsmen who successfully shaped the world-renowned oriental art treasures.
Wu Lingyun, director of the Guangzhou Museum, introduced the exhibition
The road to breaking the circle of local folk kilns
Dehua is one of the three ancient porcelain capitals of China, which is on a par with Jingdezhen in Jiangxi and Liling in Hunan, located in the Daiyun Mountains, with rich mineral resources, diverse varieties and high-quality kaolin. The climate is humid, the soil is good, the forest resources are abundant, and the rivers and streams are dense. Dehua County's unique raw materials, fuel and transportation conditions have laid a solid foundation for the large-scale production of Dehua kilns.
Dehua ceramics have a natural and close connection with China's history, culture, art and foreign relations. 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 2002, the underwater archaeology team once again recovered more than 4,000 pieces of gold, silver, copper, iron and porcelain cultural relics from the "Nanhai No. 1", of which the number of ancient porcelain in Fujian was the largest, and most of them were produced by Dehua kilns and magnetic stove kilns. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, affected by the policy of closing the country to the outside world, the port of Quanzhou began to decline, official trade shrank, and private trade flourished. Dehua kiln is located in a corner, in history has never had the name of official kiln, but under this historical change, with its continuous improvement of white porcelain craftsmanship and exquisite skills swept the world, laid its position in the history of Chinese ceramics, and became one of the most representative commodities of the Maritime Silk Road. 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. Dehua kiln, a local rising star, is unique and shining in the history of Chinese ceramics.
Chinese porcelain, the world is white
Different civilizations in the world have a convergent aesthetic and preference for "white", and among the civilizations and beliefs, 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 the emergence of European social life and the emergence of white porcelain, which is called "Chinese white" by the French, and is known as the "mother of European white porcelain". 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. According to this, the exhibition is divided into four parts.
1
Part I of the exhibition: "Buddhist Statues of Magic Hands and Flowers"
Through the porcelain sculptures of Buddhist figures such as Guanyin, Dharma and Wenchang Emperor in the Ming and Qing dynasties, dehua white porcelain absorbs traditional crafts such as clay sculpture and wood carving in southern Fujian, and creatively shapes the characteristics of Chinese Buddhist culture after the secularization. In particular, the Dehua white porcelain Guanyin statue, with meticulous and exquisite carving and vivid shape, is a world-recognized dehua white porcelain treasure, which is collected by major museums in the world.
Dehua kiln white glazed porcelain carp Guanyin statue qing dynasty
Ming and Qing Dynasty white porcelain is the most representative of human statues, especially Buddhist figures. This Qing Dynasty Dehua kiln white glazed porcelain carp Guanyin standing statue, Guanyin feet on the lotus, the appearance is realistic, a hand basket, the basket contains carp. The fish basket Guanyin is mostly the image of carrying a fish basket or riding a big fish, and Guanyin appears in the folk with this image in order to advocate kindness and compassion for others.
02
The second part of the exhibition "Boya Haogu Furniture"
A large number of antique furnishings fired in Dehua kiln are introduced, and the common types of utensils are furnaces, yao, bottles, bottles, bottles, etc. It reflects the retro trend of the society at that time, as well as the traditional Chinese living room culture and interior furnishing art.
03
Exhibition Part III: "Tea Drinking and Eating Utensils"
It introduces the types, craft techniques, and characteristics of tea sets, wine vessels, and other life vessels in Dehua white porcelain dishes, and the traditional poetry and wine culture and social customs carried by them reflect the life interests, philosophies of the ancients, and aesthetic interests.
04
Part IV of the exhibition: "Pleasant Hanmo Wen play yayi"
Through the introduction of pen holders, water injections, pen holders, washing, pen holders, stoves and other stationery supplies, it reflects the characteristics of Dehua white porcelain varieties, rich shapes, and lively images. Stationery supplies have both practical functions and artistic appreciation value, not only are the necessities of the literati, but also add interest to the boring reading life because of the rich shape, and are an important supplement to the home furnishings.
Ingenuity and inheritance - the achievement of the beauty of Dehua white porcelain
Chinese sculpture art is a traditional art with a long history, and ceramic sculpture is one of the important classifications. Dehua ceramic production has been passed down from generation to generation, and successive generations of Dehua porcelain craftsmen have not only inherited the excellent traditional culture of combining Dehua kiln production and development economy since the Song Dynasty, but also creatively formed a systematic porcelain sculpture technology and cultural category in the Ming Dynasty. Dehua porcelain craftsmen are widely learned, set the strengths of hundreds of families, dare to blaze new trails, among which famous porcelain sculpture masters such as He Chaochun and He Chaozong have emerged. A generation of porcelain saints He Chaozong, when creating, they were more attentive and affectionate, and injected soul into the characters while shaping them. His work "Crossing the Sea guanyin" is known as the "Venus of the East" and has become a model for porcelain sculpture in later generations of Dehua.
The fire is endless, and the innovation is not stopped. In 2015, Dehua was awarded the title of "World Ceramic Capital" by the United Nations. Today's Dehua, a new generation of craftsmen in the inheritance of the spirit of the ancients at the same time, constantly explore the innovation and development of Dehua white porcelain, in the inheritance and development of porcelain art on the road, for the "Chinese white" to give a new era of light!
Beijing Winter Olympics mascot "Ice Pier", "Snow Rongrong"
(White porcelain plate from Dehua, Fujian)
Kiln firing
Dehua white porcelain "Wenjun bottle"
(High-level official gifts of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games and the International Paralympic Committee)
-Above image source network-
Appreciation of the best
A flowing culture, a touch of white that penetrates time. Get close to Dehua white porcelain together and appreciate its unique artistic value and humanistic charm.
Dehua kiln white glazed porcelain send zi Guanyin statue ming dynasty
The Sending Son Guanyin is one of the many forms of Guanyin statues, and the folk worship of the Sending Son Kannon stems from the prayer for many children and many blessings. This figure sits on a high stool, with a long scarf over his head, a kind look, and a quiet and plump face. A child sits on his lap, well-behaved, with a scroll on one side. Sending Zi Guanyin is a typical Chinese guanyin image, after the Ming Dynasty, sending Zi Guanyin porcelain to shape the image of Jingdehua kiln to promote popularity.
Dehua kiln white glaze stacked porcelain cover cup Qingqianlong
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Dehua white porcelain was rich in varieties, and bowls, plates, plates, pots and other utensils that were closely related to daily life were still bulk products. Ancient ceramics often used stacking techniques, mostly using plum blossoms, magnolias, lotuses, eight immortals, dragons and phoenixes and other auspicious allegorical patterns and traditional Chinese allusions, becoming the carrier of spreading Chinese culture. This Piece of Dehua Kiln White Glaze Plastic Porcelain Lid Cup, the body is stacked around different allegorical patterns, namely Qingjie Buchang (Songyue Diagram), HouFeng Baishi (Monkey Diagram), Lan Gui Qi Xiang (Osmanthus Orchid Diagram) and Lu Xiang Wan Variety (Songlu Diagram), while the lid box has the inscription "Magpie Contests Plum, Shi Yu Tang", and is stacked with magpies and plum branch ornaments.
Dehua kiln white glazed appliqué porcelain tree head cup Qing Dynasty
The tree head cup is a unique variety in Dehua porcelain, because the cup shape resembles the head of an old tree, so it is called a tree head cup. This Dehua kiln white glazed appliqué porcelain tree head cup is shaped like a shallow foot, flared petal-shaped mouth, large and small. The body of the cup is covered with thick and winding trunks, and the cup body resembles the head of the tree and is commonly known as the head of the tree. The shape is shallow, flared flap-shaped mouth, large and small. The cup body is piled with ornaments such as plums and deer.
Dehua kiln white glazed porcelain lamp stove Qing Dynasty
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, society was stable, the economy was developed, and culture and education flourished. During this period, Dehua porcelain craftsmen keenly grasped the market demand and fired a large number of stationery supplies with a wide variety, rich shape and lively image. This Dehua kiln white glazed porcelain lamp stove has a beautiful shape and is engraved with the poem "A Glimpse of the Sun and Moon in the Water", which makes it both practical and artistic appreciation.
Supporting social education activities in advance spoilers
Around the exhibition content, Guangzhou Museum has planned vivid and diverse online and offline social education activities. Launched a series of short videos and themed comics on "Porcelain Talk" online. During the exhibition, the original children's stage play "China Pride: A Generation of Porcelain Saint He Chaozong" will also be staged, and a number of experience activities will be launched. Please pay attention to the latest information on the WeChat public account of guangzhou museum.
Source: Guangzhou Museum