Blue and white porcelain
The white glazed blue flowers are formed, and the flowers are clearly distinguished from the glaze.
It can be used to create innate magic, and Wuji is born from Tai Chi.
--Qing Dynasty Gong Shi's Tao Song
Speaking of Chinese porcelain
The first thing that comes to mind is blue and white porcelain
The pen is simple, but there is a kind of luxury from the inside out
The tone is simple, but there is a kind of brilliance that cannot be depicted
The purity and nobility that exudes between blue and white
It's amazingly beautiful, it's so beautiful that it makes people think
The Qianlong Emperor also had poetry
Exquisite and transparent, see the green mountains in the quiet
Qing Jiaqing Qinghua Sanqing Imperial Inscription Poetry Tea Bowl Pair
The emergence of blue and white porcelain is an important symbol in the development stage of Chinese porcelain from white porcelain to colored porcelain, it is the most successful representative of underglaze color, and it is the most prestigious "national porcelain" in China.
The historical development of blue and white porcelain
Blue and white porcelain, also known as white ground blue and white porcelain, often referred to as blue and white, is one of the mainstream varieties of Chinese porcelain, which belongs to underglaze color porcelain.
Blue and white porcelain originated in the Tang Dynasty, the historical value is very high, although the Song Dynasty also had blue and white production, but still returned to the primary stage, the development is slow, there are few artifacts passed down.
Ming Zhengde kiln Blue and white double dragon red cloud bowl , Taipei National Palace Museum collection
Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain materials are more refined, basically using The Persian import of "Su Ma Li Qing", also known as "Su Bo Mud Qing", the process tends to be sophisticated, especially the Jiangxi Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain is the most exquisite, there is a certain number of blue and white porcelain handed down, becoming the treasures of today's major museums and a variety of auctions at the sought-after goods.
Yuanqinghua glaze red skeleton carved lid jar , Hebei Provincial Museum collection
In the Yuan Dynasty, Qinghua ushered in a major development in history, and the biggest feature of Yuanqinghua decoration is that the composition is plump, and the layers are many but not chaotic. The brushwork is mainly based on a stroke of stroke, which is smooth and powerful; the outline rendering is thick and calm, and the theme of the theme decoration includes people, animals, plants, poetry and so on.
It has greatly changed the subtle and restrained style of traditional porcelain, giving people a concise pleasure with a distinct visual effect. With its atmospheric heroism and artistic originality, it pushed the art of blue and white painting to the peak and established the prosperity and longevity of blue and white porcelain in later generations.
Yuan Qinghua Four Love Tu Mei Vase Wuhan Museum Collection
Yuan Qinghua utensils are generally thick carcass, and large utensils are segmented tires, usually have obvious traces of tire repair, and from the Yuan Dynasty Yanyou yuan year onwards to clarify the "double-horned five-clawed dragon pattern" and "qilin, luan phoenix, white rabbit, Ganoderma lucidum", etc., subjects, Shu can not be used, has become one of the basis for archaeological distinction between official kilns and kilns.
Yuanqinghua Fengshou Flat Pot, Beijing Capital Museum Collection
The Ming Dynasty was the peak period of blue and white porcelain, and there were many exquisite masterpieces handed down from generation to generation, whether it was the official kilns in Jingdezhen or the folk kilns in various places.
At this time, blue and white porcelain has always been regarded as a model of Chinese blue and white porcelain, and has been imitated by future generations. In particular, the blue and white porcelain fired in the official kilns of Yongle, Xuande, Chenghua, Jiajing and Wanli during the Wanli period is famous for its precision tire glaze, cyan light elegance, diverse appearance and rich decoration.
Ming Yongle Blue and White Yunlong Flat Pot, Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
In the Qing Dynasty, the three emperors of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong paid great attention to the production process, tire glaze texture and picture decoration of porcelain, and even to the point where everything had to be done, so that the manufacturing technology level of blue and white porcelain in the Qing Dynasty reached a new height. At this time, glaze red, three-color, multi-color, doucai, enamel also competed for development.
Qing Qianlong holly glazed blue and white flower ear bottle
Why blue flowers are blue
Although blue and white porcelain has very obvious Chinese characteristics, an important part of it comes from overseas. An important reason why the blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty can make great progress on the basis of the previous generation is that it uses pigments from overseas, as was the same in the middle and early Ming Dynasty.
Experts call this pigment "Su Ma Li Qing", "Su Bo Ni Qing" and so on. It is a cobalt material with a low manganese content and a high iron content, so it can be fired to produce a beautiful cyan pattern.
Ming Xuande Blue and White Mandarin Duck Play Lotus Jar , Wuhan Museum Collection
Some scholars have said from the pronunciation of "Su Ma Li Qing", this pigment comes from Somalia, and some say that it comes from Sumatra. However, it is generally believed that the "Su Ma Li Qing" came from Persia (present-day Iran) and Syria.
The level of Ming Yongle's blue and white porcelain craftsmanship is very high, which is related to Zheng He's voyage to the West. The smooth flow of maritime trade made it easy for the "Su Ma Li Qing" (referred to as "Su Qing") from the Arab region to be easily transported to China.
Ming Xuande Blue and White Tangled Lotus Pattern Rhombus Mouth Plate , Wuhan Museum Collection
Blue and white porcelain uses this cobalt material as raw material, depicts the ornamentation on the ceramic body, and then covers it with a transparent glaze, which is fired once by high temperature reduction flame. After cobalt firing, it is blue, with the characteristics of strong coloring power, bright color, high firing rate and stable color.
Ming Hongzhi, blue and white garlic head tuan pattern bottle, Wuhan Museum collection
Ten large jars of Yuan Qinghua opera characters
Although blue and white porcelain has flourished in the Yuan Dynasty, but there are very few complete heirs in later generations, according to incomplete statistics, there are no more than 400 pieces of yuan qinghua collections in the world, of which more than 200 pieces have been lost abroad.
There are only 8 yuanqinghua character story jars that have long been recognized as existing in the world, and it is believed that all of them have been lost overseas. The number of folk collections and fragments unearthed in recent years is also quite large, and from the perspective of museums and auctions alone, there are currently 10 large pots of Yuan Qinghua opera characters!
Ghost Valley Down the Hill (Collection of Jewish Antiques Dealer Escanazi)
The original was auctioned for £14 million at Christie's in London, England, in 2005 and acquired by Jewish antique dealer Eskenazzi, with a commission equivalent to about RMB230 million.
Wei Chigong Savior (original now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA)
Sangu Maolu (the original is collected by the Peggers Foundation)
Jinxiang Pavilion (original collection at the Chen Museum in the United States)
At Christie's auction in 2005, Mr. Wang Dingqian of Taiwan auctioned the "Jinxiang Pavilion Jar" for HK$47.16 million, and later settled in the Chen Museum opened by Sunrider Chairman Chen Defu in the United States.
Shuyafu Tun Bing Hosoyanagi Camp (the original is now in the collection of the Anzai Museum of Art, Japan)
Hyakhanatei (original now in the collection of the Mano Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan)
Tales of the West Chamber (the original is now in the possession of a private collector in Asia)
Shōgun Desai (The original is now in the collection of the Izumitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan)
Wei Chigong single riding savior (the original is now in the Guangxi Hengxian Museum)
Unearthed in 1980 in "Siguanling" in Hengxian County, Guangxi, the rare treasure "YuanQinghua Wei Chi Gong Single Riding Savior Picture Jar" was excavated in Hengxian County, Guangxi Province, and was discarded in the corner for 7 years; in 1987, an agronomist accidentally found this treasure and picked it up at home to raise flowers and load seeds; in 1989, cultural relics experts confirmed the identity of the "Picture Jar"; the "Picture Jar" was designated as a national first-class protected cultural relic. Tank straight mouth, shoulders, shin, height 30 cm, caliber 22 cm, bottom diameter 19.5 cm.
Car elephant character pattern (the original object is now in the Xianyang Changwu County Museum)
In 1958, the Changwu County Cultural Relics Unit entered the collection of this jar, and the earliest announcement was in April 2009, which was revealed in the "Xianyang City Cultural Relics" of Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province. The tank is 34 cm high, 15 cm in diameter and 18 cm in diameter.
Blue and white porcelain is extremely elaborate in terms of materials, ornamentation, firing time and production process.
Craftsmen with profound skills quietly kneaded mud, silently made blanks, quietly painted blanks, with a condensed heart, or thickly smeared, or in one go, painted a variety of patterns of wonderful brushes and flowers, glaze layer by layer, layer by layer, to go through more than a dozen processes to complete.
Therefore, although the blue and white porcelain is single in color, it does not feel monotonous.
Every piece of porcelain, stroke by stroke, condenses the painstaking efforts of the craftsmen and has its own unique life.