China has produced many alternative porcelains for 5,000 years. Among them, the most commemorative one must be the last emperor of the feudal dynasty. It was also the last emperor of China for 5,000 years, leading to the Republic of Xuantong.
Not to mention that Xuantong was the last emperor, but he only reigned for 3 years.
He is also the last emperor of China who is closest to the present, so Xuantong can be said to be an emperor that everyone is very familiar with.
Xuantong, also known as Puyi, lived a short life at the age of 61.
Classifying him as a "short-lived emperor" means that his official time as emperor was extremely short, only 3 years.
But he still produced chronological porcelain of this dynasty, just like the ones Chen Wenzhe mentioned before.
There is also a Xuantong pastel vase with golden clouds and bat patterns, which is still hidden in the Palace Museum.
The characteristics of the times on the artifacts are indelible.
Although the porcelain of this period followed the old Guangxu style, its fine white texture and exquisite body were closer to modern exquisite porcelain.
The same is true for his master Puyi. Although the emperor has big braids on the back of his head, he wears glasses on the bridge of his nose and rides a bicycle.
Puyi liked riding bicycles in the palace very much and bought more than 20 bicycles in total.
This is such a special period, so the people and objects on some porcelains from the Xuantong period show a special state of a mixture of East and West, and the coexistence of modernity and classics.
There is a saying in the ceramic circle: "Xianfeng and Xuantong are as good as Qianlong."
The official kiln wares fired by Xuantong were quite sophisticated. The imperial wares at this time were exquisite in craftsmanship, regular in shape, pure in glaze, and neatly decorated.
In the palace at that time, these imperial porcelain and Western self-ringing bells were placed in the same room as Puyi's tennis racket. They were shining brightly under the newly installed electric lights.
This is a spectacle in a specific history. In the first year of Xuantong, Empress Dowager Longyu issued an edict to install electric lights in Changchun Palace, Jianfu Palace, Imperial Garden Palaces, and Long Street.
The late Qing Dynasty was in a period of great change, and various artifacts from this period were unique.
Coupled with the quality of Xuantong, the value of porcelain from this short period soared.
This point is particularly important. Although the porcelain produced during the Xuantong period was smaller in quantity, it was more delicately painted and painted than during the Guangxu period.
The tire material is of high quality, the tire body is thin, but the tire wall thickness is even, the tire quality is fine, the degree of sintering is high, and it can make a pleasant metallic sound when struck.
The craftsmanship of Xuantong blue and white porcelain is the most exquisite among the official kiln porcelain of the late Qing Dynasty.
The characteristics are that the carcass is relatively light and thin, the carcass is delicate and white, the white glaze is extremely smooth, the glass texture is strong, and the feet are polished and smooth.
Of course, there are also flaws, such as the blue and white hair color, which is purple and has no sense of hierarchy.
The Xuantong porcelain has the blue and white six-character two-line regular script pattern "made in the Xuantong year of the Qing Dynasty", as well as the seal script pattern with red color, ocher color, and ink color.
The writing is regular and arranged, the strokes are round and powerful, and the blue and white material is deep, bright and not blurry.
These Xuantong porcelain varieties were all produced in the previous dynasties. Most of them were must-fired varieties in every dynasty, and some even showed gorgeous decorative styles.
For example, white glaze plates are traditional products that must be fired in official kilns of all dynasties. The unique white glaze plates of the Xuantong Dynasty have gold rims on the rim.
As long as porcelain like this appears, it will never cost less than one million.
For example, a Xuantong pastel crane and deer vase with spring patterns was sold for 1.344 million yuan in the spring auction of 2013.
There is also a Xuantong pastel Magu longevity vase, an old collection of Yangzhitang, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong 2010 spring auction for HK$1.22 million.
Geng Baochang discusses Xuantong ceramics in his book "Identification of Ming and Qing Porcelain".
Since the Guangxu period in the Qing Dynasty, porcelain production has developed from manual workshops since the Ming and Qing Dynasties to large-scale mechanized production, making the porcelain of the Xuantong period show the characteristics of modern new porcelain.
The shape of the mechanism is more regular;
The changes in texture, high-quality porcelain, and glaze make the surface of the object full of fire;
Partial seal stamping replaces labor-intensive handwriting;
A large number of colorful prints have emerged, replacing some manual paintings.
All of these are the inevitable result of the continuous development of human society and the continuous improvement of porcelain production.
In the Xuantong period, when the old and new eras alternated, the transitional characteristics of porcelain were more obvious, and many characteristics of old porcelain and new porcelain were combined.
By observing the local details of the high-definition large-scale images of Xuantong porcelain, you can feel the characteristics of modern new porcelain such as "fire" and "high-quality porcelain" as mentioned by Geng Baochang.
To sum up, the porcelain body of the Xuandi Dynasty was fine and smooth, the porcelain making style was serious, the sintering degree of modern porcelain was high, and the surface of the porcelain was full of fire.
These are its unique characteristics, so currently in the market auction records, the price of Xuantong official kiln is about one million yuan, while the price of folk kiln works ranges from several hundred thousand yuan.
This is difficult to see in other historical periods, especially at the end of the dynasty.
For example, recently, some dilapidated official kiln utensils from the late Qing Dynasty have been fetching high prices.
Xuantong, as the last emperor, has a very special historical status, and his official kiln wares and fine folk kiln wares are of great collection value.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, in addition to Xuantong, there was another very representative emperor, and that should be Xianfeng, the Xianfeng who came to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
This person's reign was only 11 years, which was not long, so porcelain with the Xianfeng chronology is extremely rare.
It is said that Emperor Xianfeng reigned for 11 years, which is not a very long time among previous emperors, but it is not too short either.
For example, the famous Yongzheng only reigned for 13 years.
However, the reason for the scarcity of official kilns in this dynasty was the war caused by the Taiping Rebellion, which caused huge damage to Jingzhen's porcelain industry.
In the early years of Xianfeng, Jingzhen Imperial Kiln Factory also produced limited official kilns and sacrificial vessels.
In the fifth year of Xianfeng's reign, the Jingzhen Royal Kiln Factory was destroyed by fire, and has basically ceased operations since then.
In addition to the various locations in the south of the Yangtze River, in the military hinterland where the Taiping Army and the Qing Army fought, the porcelain making industry in Jingzhen was greatly affected by it.
During that period, not only did the number of porcelain produced in Jingzhen decrease, but the level of craftsmanship also declined, and folk kilns were no exception.
The overall impression is that porcelain from the Xianfeng Dynasty is generally rough.
In fact, although not many of the Xianfeng official kilns have been handed down from generation to generation, there are still some remarkable features.
The decorations on blue and white vessels such as jade pots and admiring vases are still delicate and rigorous.
Some experts believe that if the production of Xianfeng official kilns had not been disrupted by the war, it might have brought many new surprises.
For example, even though the Xianfeng Dynasty was very difficult, Xianfeng Ceramics also took the lead in taking the lead.
For example, the trend of using regular script to sign inscriptions has emerged again, and most official kilns have six-character regular script inscriptions of "Xianfeng Year System of the Qing Dynasty".
The popularity of seal script in the Qianlong, Jiaqing, and Daoguang dynasties decreased greatly.
This method of writing in regular script became the standard for official kilns in the late Qing Dynasty and lasted until the end of Xuantong Imperial Kiln Factory.
On the other hand, the porcelain of the Xianfeng Dynasty also played the role of a terminator on some levels. Some varieties that originally had complicated craftsmanship procedures were transformed into simple ones. This is not a simple matter.