Red and porcelain, one is the color of traditional majesty, prosperity and celebration, and the other is a treasure famous in China and the world. Color is the symbol of state power, the Yuan people are still white, the Han people are still red, the change of color means the change of regime, but red has spread in the land of China for thousands of years, and the sense of national identity is also clearly reflected in the Chinese red glazed porcelain quenched in the kiln fire.
Red glaze was first born in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, with copper as the colorant of the red glaze as a high-temperature glaze, and iron as the colorant of the red glaze as a low-temperature glaze. The jun kiln uses the oxide of copper as a colorant, and in the reduction, it is fired into a copper red glaze and becomes a jun red. But the truly mature, pure, and stable red glaze was only fired in the early Ming Dynasty. The establishment of the Ming Dynasty Royal Kiln Factory is a new peak in the history of Chinese ceramic art, at this time Zhu is the national surname, Zhu is red, in order to meet the emperor's love for red glaze, Jin Dezheng Imperial Kiln Factory craftsmen come to weave, kiln fire. Finally, the Ji red glaze, which has the characteristics of no glaze, no blurt, no slice, no brown eyes, no black spots, and no color spots, was fired. Since then, Ji Hong has become a royal heavy weapon, only for the use of the emperor.
lot 100
Qingqianlong Ji red glazed jade pot spring bottle (official)
Caliber 9.1cm, height 30.2cm
Source: Dulwich Lulli Private Collection, collected in the 1960s, purchased in 1966 at the China-Bohlken art house in Sylt, Germany, and has since been passed down by the family.
Publication reference: Chinesische Keramik: Meisterwerke aus Privatsammlungen, by Ulrich Wiesner , Museum of East Asian Art (Cologne, Germany), 1988, number 110.
This object is accompanied by a catalogue (cover) of the collection auctioned by the German auction house Lempertz.
Ji hong, also known as "sacrifice red", "accumulation red", "ruby red", "bright red", "drunken red", is a precious color glaze made by using copper as a coloring agent and firing at high temperatures. Its glaze color is like the first condensed blood, dazzling but not gorgeous, rich but not losing luster, glazed orange peel pattern, deep and luxurious, with ruby-like luster, the color is extremely moving, so it is known as "the leader in red", the Ming Dynasty collector Xiang Yuanbian praised in the "Atlas of Famous Porcelain of Past Dynasties": "Sacrifice red, its color is as beautiful as Zhu Xia, the first crown of the famous porcelain of the True Ten Thousand Dynasties." "This piece of Qingqianlong Ji red glazed jade pot spring bottle (official), type inherits the Song Dynasty style, trumpet mouth, neck, round drum belly drooping, high circle foot outer skimming, beautiful and elegant shape.
The inner wall and outer sole of the bottle are full of white glaze, the glaze juice is white and moist, the outer wall is full of Ji red glaze, the enamel is rich and fat, the glaze shows orange peel pattern, the color is uniform and pure, there is Yongxuan bright red glaze and Kangxi red glaze charm, and it is not inferior to the previous dynasty. The blue and white book "Qianlong Year of the Great Qing Dynasty" at the bottom of the vessel is a six-character double-line book.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Ji red firing process was lost; by the Qing Dynasty, Kang Yongqian, with the support and participation of the emperor, was able to re-fire the good craftsmen. Ji red glaze is a glaze color that the Yongzheng Emperor attaches great importance to, and in order to improve its color quality, he has repeatedly issued orders to supervise. Qianlong is even more fond of Ji red glazed porcelain, and his poem clouds: "The rain hangs over the feet of the clouds, and when the sunset is lonely and flying, the mud is stained with sand, and this bowl is pottery into a color Xiaozhi." ”
Ji red glazed jade pot spring bottle is a classic variety of Qing Dynasty official kilns, created in the Northern Song Dynasty jade pot spring bottle was originally a wine vessel, and later because of its beautiful lines, "flower arrangement and water storage to raise innocence, dashing wind sign on the seat of Zhen; QingXiao Hu Tong for new extraction, only worry about freezing and jade pot spring", used for decoration appreciation. According to the "Qing Documents", "On December 28, the seventh year of Qianlong, the treasurer Bai Shixiu said that the eunuch Hu Shijie handed over a piece of red jade plum bile bottle... Preach the throne of all the furniture, and admire this. "On June 18, the ninth year of Qianlong, the eunuch Li Fu said that the eunuch Hu Shijie handed over a pair of red yangcai jade plum bile bottles... The instructions were given to the box and loaded into the Qianlong model magnetic enamel vessel of the Qianqing Palace. "We can know the firing of such utensils.
In order to ensure the royal monopoly on Ji red glazed porcelain, the broken and defective products of Ji red glazed porcelain produced by the Royal Kiln Factory were all broken and buried deeply. Unfortunately, after the Qianlong Qing Dynasty, the firing of this red glaze was lost again. The 2021 autumn auction of Yujian will officially open on October 8, and interested Tibetan friends can come to pre-show the hands on the field and appreciate the treasures at close range.