In order for the baby pillow to reach the level of reality, that is, the level of vividness, it must have the craftsmanship comparable to the craftsmen of the Song Dynasty.
However, this kind of top-notch craftsmanship is really beyond the reach of ordinary people, otherwise the Dingyao children's pillow would not have become a national treasure.
In fact, the design of this porcelain pillow has great merits.
So why is it designed in a lying position? Because if you come forward, the belly will face up first, which will affect the appearance.
Secondly, if the belly bulges, there is no way to form a depression and become like a pillow.
So it is usually in a lying position, but what about the child's face? It is designed to look up, so that it looks innocent.
In the shape of porcelain pillows, we often see ladies and children, but we have never seen those of old men.
After all, if I sleep on my pillow every day, I think many people will not be able to sleep!
So why did the ancients love to use porcelain as pillows? In fact, before the advent of porcelain pillows, the ancients also used jade pillows.
But the price of jade is not low, and not everyone can afford it.
So when porcelain pillows appeared, they quickly became popular!
Why?? Comparing the pillows of these two textures, beauty is a common feature, but in addition, there is another thing in common, that is, "coolness".
Jade pillows and porcelain pillows are warm and cool in texture, which can take away the "fire" from the brain.
Especially in the hot summer, the ancients did not have air conditioning, so they relied on jade pillows to cool down. The head was cool and the body did not heat up due to self-heating.
Over time, jade pillows and porcelain pillows not only take away the "fire" from the body, but also play a role in improving eyesight and have a good effect on improving vision.
But as for issues such as "hard" and "uncomfortable", it actually varies from person to person.
Just like some people like to sleep on Simmons, while others like to sleep on hard beds.
Chen Wenzhe also likes baby pillows, but he doesn't like them enough to use them as pillows. Of course, he is more reluctant to part with them.
After all, making a baby pillow requires a lot of effort from the very beginning of the design.
Don't think that it's an imitation, so you don't need to design it carefully, because the patterns on each child's pillow are very complex and delicate.
You know, the carving craftsmanship of children's pillows is very skillful, otherwise it would not be able to carve out the charm of a child.
Therefore, if you don’t design it carefully and know it well, the carved pattern will definitely not be lifelike.
The quality of a child's pillow has a lot to do with the child carved on it.
Besides, there is more than just one child pillow. Although they are generally the same, there are still some slight differences.
When firing children's pillows, or even Ding kiln porcelain, one kiln must not only be able to fire just one.
If you make more than one, you can't just follow one template.
Therefore, Chen Wenzhe did a search and found that there was actually a lot of information about porcelain pillows inside the Sui Marquis Pearl.
Not only the Ding kiln children's pillow, but also the porcelain pillows produced by all kilns throughout ancient times.
So now Chen Wenzhe already knows that there is more than one copy of this Ding kiln porcelain doll pillow in existence.
There are currently three known complete vessels, which are collected in the Wanwan Palace Museum and the Shendu Palace Museum.
This child's pillow in the Palace Museum is said to be "the only one left in the country" and is one of the nine national treasures.
It is now in the Palace Museum and on display in the Wenhua Hall (Ceramics Hall).
It is not only a witness to the customs of the Song Dynasty, but also a precious material for studying the culture and ceramic art of the Song Dynasty.
It has a yellow glaze and is made with exquisite craftsmanship. It is first fired into a mold and then finely carved, making the child look lifelike.
The expression and appearance are just right and full of interest. In addition, the porcelain body is delicate, the glaze is white and warm, and evenly moist like ivory. The whole thing gives people a soft and warm aesthetic feeling.
It is particularly worth mentioning that in order to prevent the child's pillow from exploding in high temperatures, the child's pillow in the Shendu Palace Museum does not have air vents at the bottom, but uses the child's ear holes as air vents. It can be said to be unique and superior.
.
Then there is Wanwan Museum, they are more lucky because they have two "little guys" in their collection.
Although the two Ding kiln children's pillows from the Northern Song Dynasty now in the Wanwan Forbidden City are almost identical in shape to those stored in the Forbidden City Museum, the detailed design is also very clever:
The child is dressed in an embroidered silk gown, waistcoat, trousers and soft-soled cloth shoes. The clothes are very elegant and fully demonstrate the characteristics of Song Dynasty clothing.
The pillow is oblong, with Chilong and Ruyi patterns stenciled around it.
The pillow body is glazed with white glaze, which is white and warm, even and soft like ivory.
The pillow bottom is plain and there is a ventilation hole at the foot.
The child's hair is combed into a baby bun, the sky is full, the ears are like ingots, the eyes are round and bright, and the face is smiling.
His expression was leisurely and contented, exuding a sense of aura.
This is really endearing, otherwise Emperor Qianlong would not have appreciated it so much and even engraved an imperial poem on it.
The three children's pillows can be said to be facing each other from across the river, each with its own merits.
Many people know the similarities between these three intact Ding kiln white-glazed children's pillows facing each other across the river.
But the difference is definitely not known to those who don’t care much about this information.
There are only about four such national treasures left in existence today, including the remaining artifacts.
There are two pieces each in Shendu Forbidden City and Wanwan Forbidden City, one of which is damaged;
Among the two curved pieces, one was fired later, has a rougher texture, and is smaller in size.
What’s different again is the pattern on it.
It turns out that these three complete national treasure-level children's pillows have been handed down. The two porcelain pillows with printed patterns were taken to the Palace Museum in Wanwan, and the ones without printed patterns were left in Shendu.
The porcelain pillow with patterns on the clothes on the left is hidden in the Palace Museum in Wanwan, and the one on the right without patterns is in the Palace Museum.
One of them has a poem inscribed by the emperor, we all know this!
The other one has ink writing, but few people know about it!
As for the child's pillow left in the Forbidden City in Shendu, although there is no writing on it, there is written information on another incomplete child's pillow holding a lotus.
The scarcity of things makes up for this shortcoming.
The three children's pillows all represent the unique ingenuity of our country's Ding Kiln masters and represent the famous products of ancient Chinese porcelain.
It's a pity that such a treasure was inevitably poisoned by Qianlong.
You must know that before these three baby pillows were separated, they were all precious "toys" of Emperor Qianlong.
As we all know, Emperor Qianlong was a big collector. He loved to collect all kinds of calligraphy, painting and porcelain. He was also very keen to attach a poem to his favorite collections and stamp them with the emperor's seal.
According to the archives of the Qing Palace Manufacturing Office, from the 38th to the 40th year of Qianlong's reign, Qianlong mentioned the "Ding porcelain doll cooling pillow" many times.
He even wrote four poems, which shows that this Ding kiln child pillow was very attractive to Qianlong.
So, what is so special about this baby pillow that made Qianlong like it so much?
Let’s start with its birth, because the most important one is the child-giving doll.