This is an extremely rare Ming Yongle blue and white dark carved dragon pattern wave plate: in the background of the deep blue sea, there is a vivid white dragon, as if playing between thousands of waves. The green and cascading blue-and-white waves contrast sharply with the whiteness of the dragon, and the dragon's whiskers, dragon scales and dragon's toes and claws are expressed in a dark way, which is even more delicate.
Li Qianzhou, artistic director of Chinese antiques and rare plays at Beijing Poly Auctions, regards it as "the pinnacle of blue and white".
It was originally the old collection of the famous Danish architect Salomon Sörensen (1856-1937), so it is also known as the "Cerensen Dragon Disk". After a hundred years of secret storage in Europe, this summer returned to China for the first time to meet the world in the special exhibition "The Story of Blue and White".
Showroom scene
Showroom scene
Ultra-difficulty blanking process
As the star exhibits of the exhibition, "Ming Yongle Blue and White Left White Dark Engraved Dragon Pattern Wave Plate" and three other pieces of Ming Xuande's blue and white utensils: "Ming Xuande Blue and White Cloud Dragon Pattern Ten Ridge Sunflower Petal Wash", "Ming Xuan De Blue and White Sanskrit Seawater Exotic Animal Pattern Goblet", "Ming Xuande Imperial Blue Flower 'Song of Eternal Peace' High Foot Bowl" are presented in the same independent space of the exhibition hall, baking the clouds and the moon, so that the audience can have a glimpse of the unique aesthetics of Yongxuan Blue and White.
This "Ming Yongle Blue and White Left White Dark Carved Dragon Pattern Wave Plate" has a regular shape, which is a classic shape of the large-scale plate in the early Ming Dynasty.
Ming Yongle Blue and white dark engraved dragon pattern wave plate Partial view Diameter: 40cm Note: Salomon Sörensen (Salomon Sörensen, 1856-1937) old collection
Panxin blue and white double circle painted rushing seawater as the ground, and then with the blank technique to show a side of the dragon, only the eyes of the dragon eye with blue and white dots, the lower limbs of the dragon body facing the right side of the picture, the middle of the body is twisted backwards, so that the upper limbs and the dragon head face the left side of the picture, the upper limbs of the two front paws one after the other, the dragon's mouth is open, the mane behind the dragon horn is raised, the momentum is mighty, and the flames around the side are also expressed in the white space, under the background of the blue and white seawater, making the dragon shape seem to stand on the waves, which is very artistically expressive.
In addition, the plate is painted along the inner and outer lines for a week, and the inner wall is painted with twelve entangled flowers, including camellia, lotus, moon, flat chrysanthemum, etc.; The outer wall depicts four dragons running forward, the dragon's mouth is half open, the hair on the back of the head is erected forward, and the dragon's whiskers fly to the sides, separated by nongzi cloud patterns.
"The White Dragon originated in the Yuan Dynasty. Yuan Qinghua is still white and blue, with a blue glaze to symbolize the 'Immortal Heaven', and a white dragon as a symbol of blessing the emperor. The Yongle Emperor inherited the practice of contrasting blue and white in the Yuan Dynasty, with a distinct theme and full of movement. Li Qianzhou said.
The image of the three-clawed white dragon was once presented on the plum vase of Yuan Qinghua. Li Qianzhou pointed out that the Ming Yongle Blue And White White Engraved Dragon Pattern Wave Plate on display "inherits the characteristics of the Song and Yuan Dragon Patterns through the three-clawed dragon, and the dragon shape is more regular than the Yuan Qinghua, which has the charm of the Inner Court Palace of the Ming Dynasty Court, and the back decoration is also very wonderful." ”
According to reports, this kind of blank process is extremely difficult, very test the craftsman's skill in planning the layout, the production must be on the plain tire on the bottom of the manuscript, the outline of the part that needs to be left blank is outlined with blue and white, and then the part that needs to be expressed in blue and white is depicted in cobalt blue, and the drawing also needs to be doubly careful, and must not be written in the blank area.
The most impressive thing is that the scales, minions and whiskers of the dragon are expressed in a dark engraving process, and the decoration after glazing is also very clear, delicate and exposed, with a three-dimensional effect. Yongxuan Qinghua uses the "Su Ma Li Qing" imported from Central and West Asia, and the whole body blue flower has a dark and beautiful hair color, especially in the places with strong color, the obvious iron spot deposition effect can be seen.
Ming Chengzu Zhu Di statue axis Collection of the Palace Museum
The most interesting thing is that some scholars have conducted pictorial examination of this white dragon and compared it with the portrait of Zhu Di of Ming Chengzu in the National Palace museum in Taipei, believing that the two have a similarity with gods. The beard style in Chengzu's imperial appearance is quite unique, divided into five strands, and the two long whiskers on both sides of the beard and the lower jaw should be deliberately shaped and stretched in all directions, just like the five whiskers of the white dragon. "There was indeed some delicate relationship between the emperor and the imperial porcelain at that time." Wang Lan, an adviser to the Jingdezhen Royal Kiln Museum, told Nandu reporters. However, he also said that this is only a way to understand porcelain.
Rare "Blue Earth White Dragon Pattern"
In order to examine the historical and aesthetic value of "Ming Yongle Blue and White Left White Dark Carved Dragon Pattern Wave Plate" and put it back into the context of the history of the development of Blue and White to interpret it, the exhibition specially selects porcelain specimens collected by the Jingdezhen Museum for comparative display.
Showroom scene
In 1993, the "Ming Yongle Blue and White Sea Cone White Dragon Pattern Disk" excavated in the Imperial Kiln Zhushan Mountain, with a bottom diameter of 20 centimeters, now only some broken porcelain pieces are left, but through splicing restoration, it can be seen that it is a dragon disk with the same pattern as the "Ming Yongle Blue and White White Engraved Dragon Pattern Wave Plate" and a slightly smaller shape. Li Qianzhou said: "At that time, the yongxuan official kiln selection system was very strict. Like this specimen plate, its blue and white color was relatively gray, it was eliminated, smashed in the ruins of the Imperial Kiln Factory, and finally buried. ”
According to him, there is a case of porcelain similar to the "Ming Yongle Blue and White Left White Dark Carved Dragon Pattern Wave Plate" and is now in the Shanghai Museum, with the outer mouth along the book "Daming Xuande Year System" in one-line calligraphy, and the other two cases originally stored in the Adebil Mosque in Iran and now in the National Museum of Iran. The "Ming Yongle Blue and White Left White Dark Engraved Dragon Pattern Wave Plate" exhibited this time is the only isolated product that can be circulated in the market at present.
Yuan Blue Land White Dragon Pattern Brick Box Bottom Diameter: 29.5cm Jingdezhen Royal Kiln Museum Collection
The "Yuan Blue Land White Dragon Pattern Brick Box" excavated in 1988 on the scenic road on the north side of the Royal Kiln Zhushan Mountain proves that such a special pattern as "Blue Earth White Dragon" has appeared as early as the Yuan Dynasty and is regarded as the mother of the blue and white seawater white dragon pattern. Wang Lan, an adviser to the Jingdezhen Royal Kiln Museum, told Nandu reporters: "Some scholars have studied that the blue-ground white dragon pattern was borrowed from a dyeing fabric technique that was preferred by the upper nobles of the Yuan Dynasty at that time. Using a more abstract, background pattern, through different weaving methods, the main body ornament is highlighted. ”
Most of the blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty is white ground blue flowers, and the main body of the ornamentation is painted with cobalt material, and blue ground white flowers are relatively rare. The "Yuan Blue Land White Dragon Pattern Brick Box" on display is a blue glaze white flower, Wang Lan said: "It is to add a certain proportion of cobalt to the glaze, and then cover the cobalt blue glaze in the part outside the ornament, and the main part of the ornament is actually biased towards the egg white glaze." The Yuan Dynasty specifically had a white glaze called egg white. It represents the sea with cobalt blue glaze, and the dragon pattern swims in the sea, and it seems to be driving the fog in the clouds, which has a strong artistic expression. ”
The dragon pattern drawn by the "Yuan Blue Land White Dragon Pattern Brick Box" is almost all five-clawed dragon pattern, and there are individual gold depictions on its peacock green glaze. Since the "YuanDian Chapter" explicitly prohibits the use of depiction gold and gold, and the "History of the Yuan" also prohibits the use of double-horned five-clawed dragon patterns, Wang Lan said that this brick box and a batch of cultural relics with the same characteristics excavated at the same time should be the porcelain produced by the Yuan Dynasty official kiln "Floating Beam Magnetic Bureau" and burned by the imperial family.
The blue-earth white dragon pattern artifacts are also very rare. According to Wang Lan, the Yangzhou Museum's largest surviving "Yuan Ji Blue Glazed White Dragon Pattern Plum Bottle" represents the highest level of jingdezhen firing in the Yuan Dynasty, and is designated as the treasure of the town museum by the Yangzhou Museum. In addition, the Summer Palace and the French Jimei Museum each have a slightly smaller blue-ground white dragon pattern plum vase. In Turkey's Topkapi Palace, the Palace Museum and other public and private collections, there are also plates with blue and white dragon patterns, but the number is extremely rare.
Exchange and mutual learning among civilizations
"The blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty can be described as 'mutation' in the history of the development of Chinese ceramics. Although there were fragments of the Tang Dynasty before, the blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty seemed to appear suddenly, and it reached a very high level. Therefore, some scholars later said that it was the result of the joint integration and mutual reference of Han culture, Islamic culture and Mongolian yuan culture. Wang Lan said.
Showroom scene
Showroom scene
Islamic culture uses blue as the noble color, and in Chinese history, "only in the Tang Sancai, or in the blue flowers of the Tang Dynasty, there is a blue color." But it was definitely not the mainstream of the period. ”
By the time of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, in addition to the territory directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains, the Yuan Dynasty also had four major khanates in Western Asia and Xinjiang. Hulagu, the founder of the Ilkhanate, was the younger brother of Kublai Khan and later converted to Islam. Wang Lan believes that this huge country has made the communication and integration between various ethnic groups and cultures in the territory particularly convenient, and the "mutation" in the history of porcelain is produced in the context of close interaction with the cultures of West Asia and Central Asia.
Blue and white porcelain uses cobalt ore containing cobalt oxide as raw material, depicts ornamentation on the ceramic body, and then covers it with a transparent glaze, which is fired at a time at a high temperature. Yuan Qinghua uses Su Ma Li Qing material imported from the Western Regions, and since the Ming Dynasty, it has gradually begun to use domestic green materials such as Shi Zi Qing, Ping Ping Qing, Zhejiang Material, Yunnan ZhuMing Material.
The ornamentation of blue and white porcelain was also influenced by Islamic aesthetics. Taking the "Ming Yongle Blue and White Left White Dark Carved Dragon Pattern Wave Plate" as an example, the tangled flowers on the inner wall of the plate have the characteristics of Islamic culture. Since Idolatry is forbidden in Islam, plant ornaments and geometric ornaments are heavily used in Islamic architecture and painting. "We also found a few discoveries of this kind of ornamentation in the previous Northern Dynasty stone carvings, but they were not as popular and developed as in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties." Wang Lan told Nandu reporters.
Because Islam believes that "blank space is where the devil exists", their pictures and ornaments are airtight, which is very different from the aesthetics of the Song Dynasty and the previous Chinese white space. Wang Lan said that due to the influence of Islamic culture after the Yuan Dynasty, "the huge porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty hidden in the Topkapi Palace in Turkey and the Adbir Mosque in Iran is almost all full of dense ornaments." ”
Exhibition hall scene Ming Yongle blue and white dark carved dragon pattern wave plate
Li Qianzhou believes that although the 12 tangled flowers on the inner wall of the "Ming Yongle Blue Flower White Dark Carved Dragon Pattern Wave Plate" have Islamic characteristics, they also reflect the characteristics of Chinese culture. Camellias, lotuses, chrysanthemums, and peonies are all flowers that Chinese like, and the picture is deliberately left white, the composition is comfortable, and there is a literati brush and ink interest. Li Qianzhou said: "The time of Yongle coincided with the era of China's great navigation, and during Zheng He's voyage to the West, this vivid white dragon also reflects the openness and inclusiveness of Chinese culture. ”
The panorama recreates the history of Chinese blue and white porcelain for more than 1,000 years
The special exhibition "The Story of Blue and White" compares the site of the Jingdezhen Royal Kiln with the rare Yuanming blue and white porcelain at home and abroad, and many objects reproduce the evolution process of Chinese blue and white porcelain for more than a thousand years.
The earliest traceable blue and white porcelain can be seen in the blue color porcelain pieces excavated from the Tang Dynasty strata of Yangzhou in 1975 and the white glazed blue color vessel of the kiln kiln in Gong County, Henan Province, which was exported from the black stone, which was painted for the cobalt blue material imported from Persia. The ornamentation on the "Black Stone" blue and white plate and the Tang Qinghua fragments excavated in Yangzhou are represented by scattered leaf sandwich diamond patterns, similar to Persian Islamic ornaments, full of exotic styles. The Specimen of the Tang Qinghua Flower and Leaf Pattern Pot in this exhibition is also a similar style work.
In the mid-14th century and the Yuan Dynasty, the traffic between the Central Plains and the Western Regions and even West Asia was opened again, so that the blue and white porcelain once again had a profound exchange with Persian culture and Islamic civilization, and since then the blue and white porcelain has embarked on the road to glory.
Yuan blue and white phoenix peony pattern phoenix head flat pot
Yuan Qinghua water wave cloud dragon tangled branches lotus pattern large jar
Yuan Qinghua has a variety of shapes, including plum vases, jade pot spring vases, large jars, round mouth or flower mouth folding plates, goblets, Tibetan grass vases, flat pots, military holdings, imitation yurts, etc., and so on. The ornamentation is rich in themes, such as dragons and phoenixes, figures, birds, animals, grass worms, flowers, geometric patterns, etc., all-encompassing. There are both the inheritance of Chinese traditions and the imitation and innovation of works deeply influenced by Islamic culture.
Yuan-Ming Hongwu Blue and white peacock peony pattern large plum bottle
In the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial court of Hongwu formally established the "Pottery Factory" in Jingdezhen, and in the fourth year of Jianwen (1402), it was renamed the "Imperial Instrument Factory". The official establishment of the Royal Kiln Factory laid the foundation for the entire Chinese ceramic art of the Ming Dynasty and even the Qing Dynasty. During this period, blue and white porcelain clearly showed a characteristic of the transition from blue and white in the Yuan Dynasty to typical blue and white porcelain in the Ming Dynasty. The green material used has been analyzed and tested, mainly imported green material, but due to the limitation of firing technology, it is more gray and dark, and there are also glazed fat and deep blue and white works.
Yongle and Xuande Qinghua completely got rid of the style of blue and white porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty and Hongwu periods, and opened a new chapter in the development of blue and white porcelain in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Yongle and Xuande qinghua ware not only have traditional Chinese shapes, but also have utensils that are deeply influenced by Islamic culture and originate from or imitate pottery, copper, gold, silver, glass and other materials in West Asia and North Africa.
Ming Xuande Blue and White Sanskrit Seawater Strange Pattern Goblet
Ming Xuande Blue and white cloud dragon pattern ten-edged sunflower petal wash
Ming Xuande Blue and white folded branches and fruit pattern large bowl
The green materials used in the Xuande Dynasty are imported Su Ma Li Qing materials and domestic green materials, which are used alone and combined, and the color is either thick and heavy or dark and light. In addition, the writing specifications of the official kiln porcelain year number in the Xuande period were established, and the imperial kiln porcelain of the Ming and Qing dynasties was followed.
Qingqianlong imitation Xuan kiln blue and white flower pattern style zun
The three emperors of the Qing Dynasty especially loved ancient artifacts, so the firing of antique artifacts has always been popular in the Qing court, and blue and white antique porcelain is no exception. Because it is made of pearl materials from Yunnan, the dot dyeing technique is used to pursue the rust spot effect of Su Ma LiQing. Although the inspiration for the pattern is derived from the Ming Dynasty, the painting has obvious differences, with the charm of the Qingguan kiln, reflecting the difference between the aesthetics of the two dynasties.
Near the end of the exhibition, a section was specially set up to present "Export and Exchange of Yuan and Ming Porcelain". Yuanqinghua is widely popular in West Asia and the Middle East. After the Ming Dynasty, due to Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, creating an unprecedented era of great navigation, Chinese porcelain not only continued to sell well in Asian countries, but also sold in large quantities to Europe, highly sought after by the upper nobility, becoming the main means of showing off its wealth.
The pair of large jars of blue and white flowers on display in this section are huge and imposing, which is very eye-catching. Li Jiawei, general manager of the Chinese Antiques and Rare Porcelain Statue Crafts Department of Beijing Poly Auction, said: "At that time, Augustus II of the Holy Roman Empire was very obsessed with Chinese porcelain, and exchanged 600 soldiers for 151 pieces of Kangxi porcelain. The shape of the blue and white jar is very close to the size and volume of the 'dragoon bottle' he exchanged, especially the ornamentation on the lower side is exactly the same as the collection of the Dresden Museum, and may also be a work specially exported to the European royal family during the Kangxi period. ”
Showroom scene
Showroom scene
Wang Lan said that in this special period, it is not easy for the Jingdezhen Royal Kiln Museum and the Poly Art Museum to jointly overcome many difficulties to hold this exhibition. He said: "I hope that everyone can forget the current troubles in the special period of the epidemic, understand the source, context and profound impact of the development of Chinese blue and white porcelain on the world, especially in the 15th century, the great navigation era of blue and white porcelain on Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan." Through blue and white porcelain, we can see many interesting stories of the world's economy, politics and culture that happened between the 15th and 17th and 18th centuries. ”
It is on display until 9 July.
Nandu reporter Huang Qian