The dragon pattern of the Chongzhen period has a thin and pointed face, long beard, unkempt hair, claws like crab claws, and a concave belly and waist, just like a dying old dragon.
Therefore, the artistic expression of dragon patterns is also a reflection of the social, political and economic conditions at that time.
After Chongzhen, the dragon pattern came into being in the Qing Dynasty.
The dragon pattern at this time was very good, even in the Shunzhi period of the early Qing Dynasty, it was also very good.
For example, a straight-neck bottle with alum red color and gold cloud and dragon pattern is very beautiful.
After entering the Qing Dynasty, the image of dragon patterns was still inseparable from the legacy of the late Ming Dynasty.
For example, in the Shunzhi cloud dragon pattern vase, the dragon on it has teeth and claws, a thin and round head, long upper and lower jaws, a protruding upper jaw, a wishful-shaped nose, symmetrical long whiskers on both sides of the nose dancing forward, and head hair in a puffy shape upwards.
However, the dragon's index toe and big toe are not as close to each other as the dragon's claws in the Ming Dynasty. Instead, they are farther apart and develop into the shape of a chicken claw.
Therefore, people called the dragon claws in the Qing Dynasty "chicken claws".
Later, more beautiful dragon-patterned utensils appeared, such as Doucaiyun-dragon-patterned jars with lids.
The Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reigns of the early Qing Dynasty were the periods when feudal society was "returning to glory", and the dragon pattern appeared in a new image.
At this time, the dragon's head changed a lot. The long "pig mouth" in the past shrank, making the lower jaw appear longer than the upper jaw.
During the Kangxi period, the shape of the dragon's mouth was slightly rounded.
During the reign of Yongzheng, it was square, with an open mouth, the tongue sticking out along with the lower jaw, and the tip of the tongue curling up.
The dragon at this time does not look like a halberd in the early Ming Dynasty, nor does it look like a dagger in the late Ming Dynasty.
The beards on the upper and lower jaws were serrated in the Kangxi period, and later divided into two sides, or divided into two long and dense bundles of sheep's whiskers.
On both sides of the upper jaw and nose, particularly long and curly whiskers grow.
The horns on the head are long, straight and bifurcated, which are larger than in the past. In the late Yong-Qian period, the bifurcation of the horns formed a mountain shape.
The dragon head hairs of the Ming Dynasty are bunches of sparse hairs, which are upward or backward.
At this time, the hair on the head was fine and dense, and in the Kangxi period, it was tilted backwards. In the later period, it hung backwards or branched to both sides.
In order to be painted in the shape of an old dragon, the lower jaw has fine bristles.
The dragon's eyes are also different. They were slightly longer during the Kangxi period and rounder after the Yongqian period.
The dragon's claws are no longer like the eagle claws of the Ming Dynasty, and the five toes are close together to form a "windmill" shape.
At that time, the distance between the big toe and the index toe of the dragon's claws was relatively large, and the toenails were small and not as sharp as the triangles of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.
Therefore, the dragon claws in the Qing Dynasty give people a sense of physical powerlessness.
However, by this time it was already the third dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, and the overall level of artifacts produced was still very high.
Fine porcelain such as the blue and white glaze celestial vase with red clouds and dragon patterns can also be successfully fired.
In the background cloud patterns painted at this time, the tail clouds of the clouds are not clear, and they are in the shape of long blocks, or there are several large pieces growing out of the tail, with one head and three tails, giving the impression that two tails form two wings.
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Or draw several clouds together to look like a branch of Ganoderma lucidum.
Of course, the artistic styling at this time was worse than before.
In the dynasties after Yongzheng, there were also dragon patterns imitating the Ming Dynasty, but only the dragon's mouth was painted as a pig's mouth, and the others were in the shape of the Qing Dynasty.
The spirit of the dragon pattern in the late Qing Dynasty is not as powerful as that of the previous dynasty. It has become stronger, has a stiff waist, looks old, and has weak limbs.
In the past, the dragon's body was highly coiled, with beautiful twists and turns, but in the late Qing Dynasty, it was less coiled, so it had a stiff waist.
The scales on the body are not painted one by one like the previous ones, but are painted in a mesh shape with small dots added in between.
Some are so rough that they only draw mesh patterns without adding small dots.
The dragon's claws are not like the previous ones, which have bones and flesh, and have clear joints. At this time, the dragon's claws only stretch out straight to the left and right, and there is no sense of movement.
Dragon patterns in the late Qing Dynasty were often lined with fire beads, flame patterns, clouds, flowers, etc.
The clouds also changed from having one head and several tails in the past to two heads and one tail, three heads and one layer;
Or it may have one or two heads in the middle of the tail.
From the decorative design to the depiction, everything seems simple and rough, and the craftsmanship is not as good as before.
The blue and white porcelain of the Qing Dynasty includes both antique works imitating the Ming Dynasty and contemporary innovative styles.
This phenomenon is naturally reflected in the production of dragon patterns.
However, most of the imitation Ming dragon patterns in the Qing Dynasty are tangible and insubstantial, and cannot be compared with the Ming Dynasty dragon patterns.
However, the new dragon pattern designed at that time took on a new look and became a symbol of this era.
The emerging dragon patterns of the Qing Dynasty changed from the simple and hasty appearance of the late Ming Dynasty and appeared with a more powerful and realistic image.
In the late Qing Dynasty and after the Jiaqing period, the dragon patterns of the Qing Dynasty, which were famous for their powerful and realistic images, also began to change.
On the porcelain of that period, there is a dragon pattern with a high forehead and double convex eyes.
His hair was disheveled and his claws were spread out like chicken claws.
The phenomenon of short hair on the joints is a typical feature of dragon patterns in the Qing Dynasty.
However, the scattered hair hangs back, and the scales of the body are outlined with simple lines, and then filled with color in a method similar to flat painting.
This not only lacks the three-dimensionality and realism of the dragon pattern in the early Qing Dynasty, but the spirit of the dragon pattern is not as powerful as in the early period.
The blue and white dragon patterns in ancient China show lively, steady and realistic characteristics under different painting techniques. They not only reflect the different styles of the times, but also serve as the basis for our appreciation of blue and white porcelain through porcelain decoration.
The ancient people, full of wisdom, embodied their belief in dragons in various forms.
Whether it is on ancient buildings, jade, bronze, ceramics, furniture, paintings and other ancient artifacts, we can see a large number of images of dragons.
Ceramics of each period, as products of that era, carry the skills and culture of different periods.
Its patterns also reflect the political, economic, and cultural thoughts of the time.
The dragon pattern culture entrenched in ceramics is also worthy of our careful consideration and taste.
Understanding the evolution of dragon patterns will also be of great help in correctly determining the age of ceramics in the past dynasties.
Of course, it also plays an extremely important role in the production of various dragon pattern porcelains from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
From the Yuan Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, there were many types of dragon-patterned vessels, but the characteristics of the dragon pattern are the above.
As long as you understand it clearly, you can't go wrong.
As for copying them all, it is definitely impossible.
Therefore, Chen Wenzhe just selected some special types of utensils and made some.
For example, among the top ten classic porcelain bottle types, the most important one is vase appreciation, because it is relatively simple to make.
Although the price of the vase is not too high, the dragon pattern vase from the late Qing Dynasty is still very good.
The classics in the bottle are not only from the three dynasties of the Qing Dynasty, but also from the Wanqing Dynasty. This is a very rare and special situation.
Because this classic type of vessel came from Wanqing, it is even more rare.
In the Wanqing period, such exquisite products were not uncommon. For example, during the Xuantong period of the last emperor, there was a very famous vase.
It is a Xuantong blue and white dragon pattern vase. It is quite satisfactory if you really want to count it. The quality cannot be said to be better than the ones from the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties.
But it's not bad either, which is especially rare because it was made during the Xuantong period of the last emperor. It's very rare that it's not bad.