Archaeological excavations unveiled Jingdezhen's "blank period" porcelain
The middle of the fifteenth century mainly refers to the Zhengzheng, Jingtai, and Tianshun periods of the Ming Dynasty (1436-1464).
The three dynasties lasted 29 years, during which the throne changed and the politics were chaotic and turbulent.
At this time, the official kiln porcelain produced by Jingdezhen Imperial Ware Factory was also undated due to the lack of a clear date of the ware, its appearance has been blurred, and the relevant research work has not been able to go deeper, which is called the "blank period" or "dark period" in the history of Chinese ceramics.
Mid-fifteenth century, Doucai Mandarin Duck Lotus Pond Pattern Bowl, Collection of the Palace Museum
Blue and white red color sea water Rui animal pattern high foot bowl
In the seventies and eighties of the last century, some experts began to pay attention to this aspect of the problem, and found out some porcelain that may belong to this period.
However, it is not very clear, and there are many private kilns and few official kilns, so the research progress is very slow.
In recent decades, significant progress has been made in the study of porcelain in the "blank period", mainly due to the major discoveries of field archaeology.
So far, whether it is unearthed from archaeological excavations, or in the collections of public museums, or in the antique art market, there are few porcelains from the Orthodox, Jingtai and Tianshun dynasties that can clearly determine the date and write the chronology. This kind of Ming Dynasty blank period porcelain, which has the significance of a specific historical era, will naturally attract the attention of the academic and collecting circles.
At one time, many people in the industry thought that most of the porcelain fired in the "blank period" of the Three Dynasties was a private kiln product, and there was no official kiln ware. Those who hold this argument are mainly based on the fact that there are not many regular types of porcelain in the "blank period" of both excavation and survival. Moreover, the blue and white or glaze red painted porcelain skills of this period are not as fine as those in the Yongle and Xuande periods, and the fetal quality is not delicate enough.
Ming orthodox bucket color full of pool Jiaotu bowl
In fact, during this period, the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Factory was still firing porcelain, but because of years of war, change of dynasty and other reasons, the quality and quantity were greatly reduced compared with the Yong and Xuan periods.
This is recorded in the "Ming Yingzong Record", "Ming Huidian", "Ming History", "Fuliang County Chronicles", "Jiangxi Dazhi Taoshu" and other documents. Therefore, the author believes that the blank period is not without official kiln porcelain, and there are still those with fine craftsmanship, but the vast majority of them do not have an age.
However, from the perspective of systematic collection and research of ancient ceramics, the author believes that this cannot be easily defined as the blank period of porcelain, to be precise, it should be the blank period of the official kiln year.
Curium porcelain Ming orthodox blue and white peacock pattern large jar, height 40cm, diameter 20cm, foot diameter 18.5cm
Ming Dynasty orthodoxy, Jingtai, Tianshun, during this period of domestic politics and economy are relatively turbulent, so Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Factory is in a relatively low period, the painting work is relatively sloppy, and the craftsmanship is not too fine.
The identification of the blue and white porcelain of these three dynasties is naturally not as easy to identify as Yongle, Xuande and Chenghua, and it is still in the exploration stage.
Since the porcelain of the Orthodox Dynasty is close to the late Xuande period, and the Tianshun porcelain is closer to the early Chenghua period, the stylistic characteristics of the Jingtai Dynasty porcelain in the middle should be in between.
Therefore, it should be compared with each other, and the characteristics of Xuande and Chenghua porcelain should be compared with each other, and appreciation and research should be carried out.
Ming Dynasty Jingtai, blue and white eight treasures hook lotus pot, 43cm high, 23cm mouth, 24cm foot
The identification of blue and white porcelain from the Orthodox, Jingtai and Tianshun periods is not an easy task.
Because we don't see much porcelain from this period in official museums or art auction markets, we don't usually have much contact with the folk cultural relics circulation market or collectors.
Therefore, when studying the porcelain of this period, we can only compare, measure, and further deduce according to some common ornaments and vessel types.
Therefore, we can not just look at one or two aspects of the same or similar to say that it is this period, we must be patient, meticulous, comprehensive comparison, not only to look at the type, glaze, blue and white materials, production technology, ornamentation, etc., but also to try to find out the characteristics of the times.
Ming Jingtai blue and white eight immortals celebration pattern jar
The porcelain glaze and tire of the "blank period" are relatively rough in the production process, the carcass is relatively thick and heavy, the cutting foot is irregular, the bottom of the cutter is generally unglazed, and the bottom of the bowl and plate is more obvious.
The glaze color is mostly white in the flash blue, bright and transparent, the degree of vitrification is higher, some of the bottom foot is applied with white glaze, the mouth is glazed with sauce, the blue and white hair color is strong, there are also gray in the blue, and the bright is the cobalt material stored in Xuande, and there are rust spots.
The glaze cutting phenomenon is often seen along the mouth of bottles and cans, and the foot wall is wide and deep, which is also a common feature of this period.
The carcass of these three dynasties is relatively thick and heavy, and the mouths of bottles, zun, and jars, and orthodox porcelain are the same as those of Xuande, which is a straight neck. The Jingtai and Tianshun are similar to the Chenghua of the Later Dynasty, and most of them are wide from the top to the bottom.
The bottom foot is not carefully repaired, most of them are thick shallow and wide circle feet or slightly concave flat sand bottom, with flint red spots and some scattered kiln slag sticking to the bottom.
Ming Dynasty Tianshun blue and white with the piano to visit friends picture plum vase
Most of the painting methods of this period adopted the early Ming Dynasty dot painting technique, and the brushwork was extensive, especially the central stroke, which had the characteristics of the times. The picture is concise, the layout is sparse, and the space is large.
Since the Jingtai Dynasty, the geometric patterns have decreased, while the painting components have gradually increased, most of them are the themes of character stories, and the other uses tangled branches and floral patterns, and the paintings are not meticulous, but relatively smooth.
In the pattern ornamentation, more is used for the folded branch flower and grass pattern and the twig pattern, in addition to the dragon and phoenix pattern in the animal pattern, it is also commonly used to decorate the unicorn and peacock and other wild beasts, and the use of astrological charts is also relatively common.
Kowloon Jiufeng blue and white vat, orthodox 12 years and promulgated the ban on the private kiln is not allowed to privately make yellow, green, purple, red, blue, blue, white ground blue and white porcelain.
In the fifth year of Jingtai and the third year of Tianshun, there are records of reducing porcelain. From these records, it can be determined that during this period, both official and private kilns were still firing, although there were records of bans and reductions in firing.
Ming Dynasty orthodox blue and white dragon pattern vat, unearthed in Jingdezhen
Ming orthodox blue and white cloud dragon pattern vat, 65.5 cm high, 56.5 cm diameter Shanghai Museum collection
From the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Factory unearthed from the physical objects and fragments of this period, there are also some original artifacts, but the number is not much. In fact, it is not difficult to find the main reasons for this phenomenon:
First, frequent wars, court power struggles, social turmoil, and economic recession;
The second is the transfer of imperial interests and hobbies.
In the Jingtai period, the copper enamel ware was particularly popular, which was the earliest "cloisonne". The process is to make a copper tire, then inlay copper wire or gold and silver wire on the outline of the pattern, then apply enamel color to it, and finally fire it in a kiln.
It is rumored that Emperor Jingtai was particularly fond of this cloisonne ware and ordered the court furnishings to be changed to cloisonne products. Its varieties are numerous, innumerable, all the types of porcelain are fired into cloisonné.
Ming Dynasty cloisonne entwined flower pattern pitcher
Since the 50s of the 20th century, people have noticed the porcelain materials of the tombs of the Ming Dynasty, and unearthed a number of blue and white porcelain from the folk kilns in the tombs of the Three Dynasties, especially the Jingdezhen Ceramics Research Institute in the west of Jingdezhen Zhushan in the west of the Ming Imperial Factory outside the west wall of the Ming Imperial Factory, a large number of Ming Dynasty orthodox official kiln porcelain, varieties of blue and white and bucket color, etc., showing a different style from Xuande and Chenghua.
With the deepening of scientific research, especially the further scientific excavation of the remains of the Ming Dynasty official kiln in Jingdezhen, the true face of porcelain in the blank period will become clearer.
Ming orthodox blue and white dragon and phoenix pattern plum bottle
Key points of blue and white porcelain identification in the blank period of the Ming Dynasty
Let's start with ornamentation. Its general characteristics are the transition from the density of Xuande to the sparseness of Chenghua.
The pattern pattern is mostly seen in the flowers and plants of entwined branches and broken branches, and the common ones are entwined branch lotus, entwined branch chrysanthemum, broken branch peony, pine plum bamboo, etc.
The banana leaf patterns in this period are mostly arc-shaped with wide edges, the main veins are blank, and the branch veins are drawn in parallel thin diagonal lines.
Pine needles are round in the early stage and oval in the later period.
In the early stage, the plum blossom has many buds and half-blooming small flowers, and in the later stage, several large flowers are painted.
In the early days of bamboo, the bamboo pole was hollow hooked, and later it was changed to a solid line drawing.
The willow strips of this period are drawn in straight lines, like intermittent raindrops.
Mid-15th century Ming Dynasty Doucai Mandarin Duck Lotus Pond Pattern Bowl, Collection of the Palace Museum
In the middle of the 15th century of the Ming Dynasty, the pattern plate of the mandarin duck lotus pond was collected by the Tianjin Museum
Among the animal patterns, unicorns, peacocks, rhinoceros, lions and fish algae patterns are common.
Astrological charts are also common.
There are many images of characters in the pavilions, calligraphy and painting of the piano, visiting friends with the piano, and the guidance of the immortals.
Moreover, most of the characters are active in the cloud and mist fantasy, and the tips of the characters' faces and noses are prominent.
The clouds often cover the sky, or rise from the ground, swirling between the pavilions, creating an atmosphere of fairy and fantasy.
The contour line of the moire is very wide, and along the inner side of the thick line, several layers of arc-shaped moire or vortex cloud are drawn with fine brushes, and this kind of large-scale flowing moire painting method has evolved into a spring-like shape after Jingtai, and the brushwork is also more vigorous and wanton, and the number of layers is more.
This method of painting is called "Yundo hand" by the Japanese ceramic community, and it is unique to the three dynasties. In addition to the streamer-like ruyi moire, there are also three-eyed tadpole moire, "Ren" shaped Ganoderma lucidum moire, and the combination of "Ren" word cloud and tadpole cloud arranged into the word "instrument".
Bowls and plates are often seen along the edges of curly flowers and grasses, like threads, which is also a typical pattern of blue and white decoration in the folk kilns of the Three Dynasties.
The orthodox period of the Ming Dynasty "blue and white seawater white dragon pattern plate"
Since most of them are folk kilns, the tire and glaze are made coarsely, and the foot cutting is not very regular. In terms of the general tendency, the bottom foot of the utensils has a tendency to widen, and the width and depth of the feet are the general characteristics of the folk kilns in this period.
The early bottom of bottles and cans is unglazed. In the later period, the round ware is mostly glazed and the sand bottom is rare. Bowls and plates have obvious knife marks on the bottom of the foot.
The orthodox stage of the carcass is thick and heavy, and the fetal bones are fine and white. The glaze color is blue and white, the glaze layer is shiny, a few glaze colors are yellow, and the glaze surface has an open piece.
To Jingtai tire quality has both thickness and thinness. The color of the tire changes from white to gray. The glaze color is white and blue, and the glaze layer is as thick as fat.
To the day, the tire color is in white or gray, the green taste is reduced, the whiteness is increased, and the glaze is smooth and smooth. The tone-tone of the surface, inside and bottom glaze of the utensils is relatively consistent.
The Forbidden City Exhibition Orthodox, Jingtai, Tianshun Porcelain Exhibition
Unveil the "blank period" of the imperial kiln of the Ming Dynasty
Since the archaeological excavation work was carried out in the 80s of the 20th century at the site of the imperial kiln in Jingdezhen, tons of porcelain specimens of the imperial kiln have been unearthed so far. Among them, the archaeological discoveries of the imperial kiln porcelain of the Orthodox, Jingtai and Tianshun dynasties are the most important.
The first time was in 1988, when stratigraphic accumulations with fragments of blue and white cloud dragon pattern vat as the main inclusions were found on the west wall of the imperial kiln site, near Dongsiling Lane.
Judging from the stratigraphic lamination relationship and the literature records, the firing age of these blue and white cloud dragon pattern vats is the orthodox period. This is the first archaeological confirmation of orthodoxy
The remains of porcelain from the imperial kiln during this period have rewritten the previous understanding that the imperial kiln of the orthodox dynasty has stopped firing.
The second time was in 2014, at the northern foot of Zhushan Mountain in the Imperial Ware Factory, stratigraphic accumulations from Xuande in the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty were discovered, including porcelain plaque accumulations that were superimposed on top of the Xuande Formation and stacked by the Chenghua Formation.
The porcelain unearthed in this stratum is not signed with the date, from the fact that some of the porcelain has the style of Xuande imperial kiln porcelain, and the other part of the porcelain has the characteristics of Chenghua imperial kiln porcelain, its firing age should be orthodox to Tianshun period.
Compared with 1988, the archaeological discovery unearthed a larger number and richer types of porcelain, which shows that the porcelain firing of the imperial kilns of the Orthodox, Jingtai and Tianshun dynasties is not only not blank, but also has achieved high achievements.
This discovery not only rewrites people's perception of "blank period" porcelain, but also rewrites the understanding of some of the unsigned porcelain of the Xuande or Chenghua imperial kilns, which can enrich and improve the production chain of the imperial kilns of the Ming Dynasty from Hongwu to Wanli, which is of great academic significance.
Blue and white cloud dragon pattern flower pot (large) Unearthed at the northern foot of Zhushan in 2014
There are a lot of exhibits in the exhibition that are refreshing.
For example, a group of blue and white cloud dragon pattern vat fragments, after the restoration of the dragon vat diameter of more than 70 centimeters, more than 80 centimeters high, the shape of the large, in the Ming Dynasty unique. The excavation of this blue and white cloud dragon pattern dragon jar confirms the relevant documents.
In April of the 19th year of Yongle (1421), the Beijing palace had just been completed for a year, and the three major halls of Fengtian, Huagai and Jinshen were burned down by thunder and fire. It was not until February 19 years later, in the fifth year of Orthodoxy (1440), that the reconstruction began, and it was completed in September of the sixth year of Orthodoxy.
According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", at that time, "the order to build nine dragons, nine phoenix food case utensils, and also make green dragon white ground flower pot." Wang Zhen thought that there was a Xuan, and sent Jinyi to command the staff to the governor and the lieutenant official to the governor. At that time, it was ordered to build this kind of blue and white dragon tank to store water and fight fires, but because it was difficult to burn, it was changed to copper cylinders and iron cylinders.
Fragments of carcasses of large artifacts unearthed
Another example: in 2014, Jingdezhen Ming and Qing Dynasty imperial kiln ruins unearthed six pieces of blue and white large flower pots, the outer wall is painted with cloud dragon pattern, sea beasts, unicorns, etc., the body is huge, quite imposing, even in the Ming Dynasty imperial kiln porcelain firing achieved the highest achievements in Yongle, Xuande period did not see similar works.
In addition, the fragments of blue and white embroidery piers with different ornaments unearthed in the same period are also unique in the porcelain of the imperial kiln of the Ming Dynasty.
The blue and white embroidered pier pedestal depicts the double lion playing ball, Fangsheng streamers, pine, bamboo and plum and other ornaments. Embroidered pier is also known as stool, the porcelain embroidered pier of the Ming Dynasty in the heirloom is mostly the works of Zhengde, Jiajing, Wanli Dynasty, and it is very rare before Zhengde Dynasty.
The blue and white double lion play ball picture embroidered pier was unearthed at the northern foot of Zhushan in 2014
Among the exhibits is also the "Tianshun Nianzhi" blue and white cloud dragon pattern bowl borrowed from the Wuhan Museum, which was unearthed in 2007 in the Ming Dynasty royal family cemetery in Liufangling, Jiangxia District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province.
Orthodox, Jingtai, Tianshun porcelain are not signed regular year, this blue and white bowl unearthed information is clear, although the signed date is not an official year, but can still be regarded as the standard of Tianshun imperial kiln porcelain, has important academic value.
"Tianshun year" inscription blue and white cloud dragon pattern bowl
This exhibition is of great academic value for the study of Ming Dynasty imperial kiln porcelain.
In the past, people were limited by the limitations of archaeological data, and some of the hand-me-down porcelain with Xuande and Chenghua imperial kiln porcelain styles without signing the year were designated as Xuande and Chenghua respectively.
Today, a large number of Orthodox, Jingtai, and Tianshun imperial kiln porcelains are exhibited, providing new information for re-understanding these imperial kiln porcelain.