Chapter 1,230 Art integrates ancient and modern times
As early as 1981, Mr. Geng Baochang, the master of ancient porcelain in the Forbidden City, paid 3,900 yuan for a Yuan blue and white plum vase with entangled branches and peony patterns that Mr. Huang participated in imitating at the Ceramics Museum.
At that time, it was equivalent to 10 years' salary of an ordinary worker, which was higher than the price of ordinary cultural relics. Can you believe this?
Today, the price of Huang Lao's antique porcelain works has increased dozens of times compared to the 1990s.
In 2017, the auction price of his antique works exceeded 800,000 yuan.
In 2006, the large jar with "Yuan blue and white Guiguzi descending the mountain" pattern painted by Master Huang and issued in limited edition has soared from 29,000 yuan at the time of release to 400,000 yuan.
But even so, it is still difficult to purchase, so his works have a lot of room for appreciation every year.
You must know that this is a modern handicraft for sale, not a high imitation.
The reason why the price of high-quality imitations is high is because they had an impure purpose when they first bought them, so the prices given were high.
Modern artworks that cannot be faked can be sold for a higher price than high imitations, or even higher than the price of some ordinary cultural relics. From this we can see the problem.
Previously, Chen Wenzhe wanted to imitate the Yuan blue and white Guiguzi Descending Mountain vase because he knew that such a master existed.
Moreover, his imitation of the Guiguzi Descending Mountain Pot has reached its pinnacle.
It can be said that the antique porcelain he makes blends ancient and modern art and can be called the crystallization of contemporary technology and traditional formulas and techniques.
Based on the scientific testing and analysis of ancient porcelain clay, glaze, and material formulas from past dynasties, as well as in-depth research and understanding of traditional production techniques, patterns, and brushstrokes, Huang's ancient porcelain replicas are exquisite in shape.
The blue and white are rich in color, the glaze is clear, the cobalt blue glaze is pure, the color is clean and moist, the five colors are bright and even in level.
The pattern carving and painting are vivid and smooth, lifelike and almost perfect.
And the foundation for all this has been laid since Huang Lao was young.
Because he was so hungry for knowledge about ancient porcelain, he took the initiative to be assigned to work at the Jingzhen Ceramics Museum after graduating from university.
Having been influenced by ancient porcelain culture for a long time and diligent in learning, he happened to be inspired when he was encouraging employees to actively generate income in a ceramics museum.
Based on the blue and white porcelain in the museum, we make high imitations and sell them to the outside world.
In 1981, he copied Jingzhen's first "Yuan blue and white" and was bought by a neon tour group for a high price of 3,800 yuan. At that time, his monthly salary was only 60 yuan.
It is equivalent to more than fifty months of his salary. Just one piece of work is worth this price. How much is the added value of the quilt?
The first taste of the benefits convinced him to use craftsmanship to reproduce ancient porcelain.
He said: "Back then, I followed clues and traveled around Europe to find the formula in a small town in France. After hundreds of experiments, I finally succeeded in replicating the Qing Kangxi enamel color that had been lost for more than 300 years.
In the past half century, I have lost count of the number of times I have slept in the laboratory and kilns undressed in order to figure out the types and proportions of clay, glaze, and materials needed to make ancient porcelain."
"The highest state of imitating antiques is that the imitator has no ego, and the more the work resembles the person being imitated, the better. As far as the imitator itself is concerned, what he imitates is the style of others, and what he sees is the second vision of others.
When the skill reaches a certain level, the antique person should jump out of other people's vision and form his own style. When he is engaged in antique porcelain, he prefers to use blue and white on the ceramics and red under the glaze, and creates with mandarin fish, plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, pine, etc.
Works with landscape as the theme.”
From these few paragraphs, we can see a lot of things.
Let’s talk about enamel color first. We all know that enamel color was first spread abroad, so Mr. Huang went abroad to look for it.
So what about Suma Liqing? Because there are too many people in China who imitate Yuanqinghua, and most of them are imitating it with the idea of getting a profit.
Therefore, he never mentioned the research on Suma Liqing material. However, just from the research on enamel, it can be seen that the road to researching Suma Liqing must have gone through many hardships.
The most important thing is that Mr. Huang has a wide range of hobbies, which is very similar to Chen Wenzhe.
As long as I see good porcelain, I want it. If I can't get the real thing, I can't help but want to imitate it.
Not everyone can have such interests and hobbies.
And Mr. Huang has it, he imitated Yuanqinghua in 1981, that is, more than 40 years ago!
Also, the mandarin fish series created by Huang Lao have changeable postures and full body shapes without being bloated.
In addition to these, there are also Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum series.
He pursues the realm of "no polish, no polish, no craftsmanship, no vulgarity". These works are pure and vivid.
Especially plum blossoms, which changed the habit of the predecessors of being sparse and lonely, preferring to have dense flowers without losing their elegance.
In the landscape series, we either choose the majestic ones, or write the deep and remote meanings, transforming the ink landscapes into blue and white landscapes, with smooth charm, so there is something extraordinary about them.
"If I want to create something, it must surpass all the official kiln porcelain of the past dynasties. I can't do it without complete certainty."
Regarding the prospect of originality, Master Huang made astonishing remarks.
His 50 years have not only witnessed the rise and revival of my country's porcelain industry, but also witnessed the growth and blooming of a generation of craftsmen from a great country!
Among them, the greatest achievement should be the establishment of the Imperial Kiln and the inheritance of porcelain charm!
In 2015, the Huang family invested 120 million yuan and took a loan of 50 million yuan to establish the Huangyao Scenic Spot.
The scenic spot covers an area of more than 210 acres. It is a national intangible cultural heritage (handmade porcelain) productive protection demonstration base, a national cultural industry demonstration base, a national industrial tourism demonstration site, and a national 4a tourist attraction.
Knock on the majestic palace-style gate of the imperial kiln, and visitors can transform into a potter in ancient costumes and make ancient porcelain in the workshop;
Walk around the museum to admire ancient porcelain treasures and specimens of ancient porcelain fragments;
In the appraisal consultation department, you can find a piece of dusty history through clues...
The Imperial Kiln Scenic Area can be called a reproduced version of JDZ Imperial Kiln's "Ceramic Picture", a condensed version of the millennium porcelain making technology in the porcelain capital, and an innovative version of the industrialization of the Imperial Kiln ceramic culture..
Being able to become the "first person" does not rely on bragging, but requires high recognition from the market and authorities.
In 1981, after imitating the first "Yuan Qinghua" in Jingzhen, he made another amazing innovation in 1996.
During that period, an orphan piece collected in the Shendu Museum, a Qianlong pastel hollowed-out flower-patterned elephant-ear heart-turning vase from the Qing Dynasty, unexpectedly appeared in the Tokyo cultural relics market.
After several rounds of verification, it was discovered that it was a high imitation created by Huang Yunpeng.
In 2013, it was already the stage for "Imitating Yuan Dynasty Blue and White Ghost Valley Descending the Mountain".
Guiguzi blue and white jar, 27.5cm in height, 33cm in diameter and width, with a plain bottom, wide ring foot, straight mouth and short neck.
The lips are slightly thicker, the shoulders are rounded, and the abdomen is gradually widened below the shoulders, gradually narrowed under the abdomen, and slightly tilted at the bottom.
Imported cobalt materials are used to draw blue and white patterns, which are divided into four layers.
The neck on the first floor is decorated with water ripples, and the shoulders on the second floor are decorated with peonies.
The third layer of the abdomen is decorated with the theme of "Guiguzi goes down the mountain", and the lower part of the fourth layer is decorated with deformed lotus petals and painted with Chen Bao, commonly known as the "Eight Big Codes".