Don't mistake it: this is the real Su Ma Li Qing

At the 2020 autumn auction of China Guardian, a porcelain treasure, Ming Yongle Blue and White Folded Branches and Fruit Pattern Plum Vases, started at 8.8 million yuan, and after a fierce competition, it was finally sold for 25.3 million yuan, and its market performance was good.

This Ming Yongle blue and white plum vase represents the highest level of Ming and Qing Jingdezhen royal kiln porcelain, its shape is exquisite, the tone is dignified and elegant, gorgeous and bright, the posture is beautiful and handsome, compared with the same kind of Yongle blue and white plum vase, its glaze color is more moist and clean, "Su Ma Li Qing" tin spots The blending effect is just right, reflecting the highest level of ming and qing Jingdezhen royal kiln blue and white porcelain.

Ming Yongle blue and white folded branches flower and fruit pattern plum bottle

H 29 cm

Realized price: RMB 25,300,000

China Guardian Autumn Auction 2020

Su Ma Liqing promoted the golden age of Yongxuan Qinghua

During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, the production of Jingdezhen imperial kilns on the basis of the previous dynasty made unprecedented development, creating the first peak of the Ming and Qing imperial kiln porcelain industry. Yongle blue and white porcelain is a model of the Ming and Qing dynasty imperial kilns and has been highly copied. Collectors and researchers are proud to have Yongle porcelain. Yongle Qinghua is also known as "the most beautiful blue flower". The reason is that on the one hand, this benefits from the attention of the emperor, on the other hand, it also benefits from the re-introduction of high-quality blue and white raw materials "Su Ma Li Qing", compared with domestic green materials, Su Ma Li Qing is calm and calm, the hair color is strong, and the quality is extremely high.

Ming Yongle Blue and white wheel flower ribbon with ear gourd flat bottle

H 25 cm

Realized price: RMB 6,670,000

China Guardian Spring Auction 2020

What is Su Ma Li Qing?

Su Ma Li Qing, also known as Su Ni Ma Qing, Su Bo Ni Qing, Su Ni Bo Qing, etc., referred to as "Su Qing", is a dye painted when burning porcelain, popularly speaking, it is a dye. Its main ingredient is cobalt oxide, native to Persia, introduced to China in the Yuan Dynasty, gradually used in the firing of Yuan Qinghua, the Ming Dynasty due to Zheng He's seven trips to the West brought back a large amount of Su Ma Liqing ore, so a large number of it was used in the firing of Qinghua official kiln porcelain in the Yongle and Xuande dynasties.

Ming Yongle Blue and white seawater grape pattern fold along a large plate

D 37.8 cm

Realized price: RMB 8,625,000

China Guardian Spring Auction 2012

Chen Jiru, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, wrote in his "NiguLu": "Xuanmiao kiln ware, material selection, sample making, painting utensils, and inscriptions are all exquisite. Blue flowers with Subo mud green. "This shows the preciousness of Su Ma Liqing.

Because Su Ma Liqing has the characteristics of high iron content and low manganese content, it is often attracted by its blue and white hair color similar to sapphire in the firing process, and the so-called "thick verdant, stable color" is an important feature of Yongxuan blue and white porcelain.

Ming Xuande blue and white plucked white curly grass pattern fish basket style zun

H 13.5 cm

Realized price: RMB 11,500,000

China Guardian Autumn Auction 2017

Because at high temperatures, the iron element in Su Ma Li Qing will produce black triferro oxide crystal spots, so the use of Su Ma Li Qing glaze blue and white porcelain, the pattern will produce some intermittent black dot crystal spots, that is, "rust spots", commonly known as "tin light". This has also become a unique feature of blue and white porcelain fired in Su Ma Li Qing.

Su Ma Liqing also produced a phenomenon similar to the smudging effect of Chinese ink paintings, especially the Yongle Dynasty blue and white porcelain, which is deeply loved by the majority of Chinese porcelain lovers and literati.

Su Ma Liqing of the short-lived C position and the successor of the later generations

At present, the consensus of scholars at home and abroad is that the dyes used in the firing of blue and white porcelain from the middle and late Yuan Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty (Ming Yongle, Xuande to Chenghua) are all Su Ma Liqing, and the collectors are mainly in the Yongxuan and Xuan dynasties. In the middle and late Xuande period, blue and white porcelain has gradually begun to use domestic green materials, and in the "blank period" of the three dynasties, due to the "change of Tumu Fort" led to excessive political instability, Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain has not had a new development, imported materials and domestic materials are mixed and used, and there is a great trend of domestic materials to prevail.

During the Chenghua years, the status of domestic materials has been further improved, and by the Zhengde Dynasty, the use of imported materials has declined to the extreme, and it is almost absent in official kilns, mainly using domestic materials such as "Pingping Qing" and "Shi Zi Qing". In the later period of Jiajing, the qinghua official kiln began to use "Huiqing", and until the Qing Dynasty Kang Yongqian flourished, the zhejiang material came to the fore, becoming an important green material for the blue and white official kiln porcelain of the Kang Yongqian dynasty.

Ming Chenghua blue and white lion hydrangea pattern bowl

D 19 cm

Realized price: RMB 2,310,000

China Guardian Spring Auction 2005

The blue and white porcelain in the picture above is used as "equal blue", and the blue and white hair color presented is light and elegant, which is very different from the bright and bright Su Ma Li Qing color style.

"Pingping Qing" is produced in Leping, Jiangxi, also known as "Pitang Qing", is the main pigment used in Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the blue and white porcelain of this period is light and elegant, which is very different from the rich green material of Su Ma in the early Ming Dynasty. The "Great Chronicle of Jiangxi Province" has a record that "the old Pitang Qing was produced on the side of Leping in the province, and the Jiajing ZhonglePingge killed Suisai", from which it is known that the "Pingping Qing" was used around the time of Chenghua to the middle of Jiajing.

Another kind of domestic material that is widely used in the blue and white porcelain system in the middle of the Ming Dynasty is called "Shi Zi Qing", also known as "Shi Qing", produced in Various places in Ruizhou, that is, today's Gao'an, Yifeng and Shanggao areas in Jiangxi, with its fired blue and white hair color gray and light, and the previous bright and bright Su Ma Li Qing and light elegant ping Qing have more obvious differences, but the Ming and Qing Dynasties folk kiln blue flowers are generally used this green material, so in the market, Shi Qing fired blue and white kiln utensils are very common.

Ming Zhengde blue and white dragon pattern plate

D 24.5 cm

Realized price: RMB 575,000

China Guardian Autumn Auction 2012

The blue and white hair color of this blue and white porcelain in the picture above is slightly gray-blue, which is a typical domestic green material "Shizi Qing", and the color corresponding to the brush strokes of the painting is corresponding to the painting, and it has received a good artistic effect.

In the later period of Jiajing, "Huiqing" began to prevail, and the "Turpan" article of the Wanli "Minghui Canon" had a record of "Jiajing's thirty-three years of tribute to Huiqing 310 pounds and eighty-two". In terms of heirloom observation, the blue and white porcelain fired by the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln with "Huiqing" began in MingJiajing, and Longqing and Wanli continued to use it. This material is pure and one color, blue and purple, which is different from the hue of Su Ma Li Qing and Ping Qing.

Ming Jiajing Blue and white dragon pattern large jar

H 62 cm

Realized price: RMB 2,645,000

China Guardian Autumn Auction 2011

Jiajing and Wanli two dynasties, blue and white porcelain firing more use huiqing, to the late Ming Dynasty, the two dynasties of tianqi Chongzhen, the use of green materials to ordinary stone qing, huiqing has been very little, gray hair color, innovation is also less, from the green material and porcelain firing can be seen that the Ming Dynasty is in turmoil, the decline has arrived.

Qing Dynasty official kiln porcelain in the three generations of Kang Yongqian has made great progress, Jingdezhen official kiln showed signs of revival, the Qing dynasty three generations of blue and white official kiln porcelain firing technology reached its peak, blue and white porcelain firing of green materials are mostly domestic Zhejiang materials. Zhejiang material is produced in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, Jinhua area, also known as "Zhejiang Qing", pure blue, bright green hair color.

Qing Kangxi Blue and white pine bamboo plum pattern bucket bowl

D 22 cm

Realized price: RMB 3,450,000

China Guardian Spring Auction 2013

During the Kangxi period, The Jingdezhen porcelain craftsmen skillfully mastered the coloring technology of pearl and Zhejiang materials, and at the same time finely refined and roasted the tire glaze raw materials, and burned the Kangxi blue flowers known as "cui mao blue" and "sapphire blue", which is a creation of updated technology and should be listed as an important page in the history of blue and white ware production.

Qing Kangxi Blue and white longevity pen holder

H 19.4 cm

Realized price: RMB 3,220,000

China Guardian Spring Auction 2012

In the Yongzheng period, the court utensils had the principle of "imitating the old Suzong Yaze, and Zhaoxin also had a source", and the Yongzheng Emperor had a high taste and good antiquities, so whether it was antique or innovative, the artistic standard was extremely high. The majestic character of Yongxuan porcelain was most favored by the Yongzheng Emperor.

Qing Yongzheng Blue and white tangled branches floral pattern holding moon bottle

H 53.3 cm

Realized price: RMB 6,900,000

China Guardian Spring Auction 2020

Qing Dynasty official kiln porcelain in the shape, pattern, green materials and other aspects of the effort to imitate Yongle's works, with emphasis on dyeing to imitate the crystallization spot effect of Su Ma Liqing, but too uniform, only to resemble, can not be similar, Qing ren Lanpu lamented in the "Jingdezhen Pottery Record", "Yong kiln ... The soil is fine, the quality is still thick, the blue flowers are deep and green, and the style is exquisite, if the later imitators are very poor!"

Qingqianlong Blue and White Dragon Godson Double Ant Ear Flat Pot

H 29.8 cm

Realized price: RMB 28,000,000

China Guardian Autumn Auction 2010

The cobalt material (green material) used in qinghuaguan kiln porcelain in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties and dynasties has changed in stages to present different styles of blue and white hair color in each period. Although the official kiln porcelain of the Qing Dynasty once again created the peak of ancient Chinese porcelain technology, the unique quiet and noble temperament brought by Su Ma Liqing to Yongle Qinghua was beyond the reach of future generations.