All the porcelain that Chen Wenzhe is firing now is high-quality antique porcelain. It is impossible for him to use a gas kiln.
However, he still needs to know some issues that should be known.
This is also the use of the master porcelain master. Even if there are some things that the porcelain master does not understand, if the porcelain master is experienced, he can detect problems in advance and avoid problems during the firing process as much as possible.
Let’s talk about Yuan blue and white. In order to save labor time, some fakes not only use gas kiln firing, but also connect the plate mouth and jar neck interface at an obvious upper position.
This is obviously against the characteristics of the times.
Of course, it is impossible for the master to help you solve these problems, only the porcelain master can do it himself.
Chen Wenzhe knows very well that from the Yuan, Ming to the early Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, jars were made with internal joints on the belly. Some Yuan blue and white imitation vessels had no joints on the belly and feet.
Yuan blue and white plum vase and jade pot spring must have internal joints on the belly in addition to six or eight edges, so that they are in line with the craftsmanship of that time.
Some imitations have the inside of the vessel filled with glaze to cover up the new work.
The authentic ones only appeared in very few jars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. The bottom of the jar was glazed, and it was very thin and smooth to the touch.
The internal interfaces of some imitation devices have strip-like seams of about 10 mm, and repair burrs remain. They do not have the air-drying characteristics of real device interfaces.
Now in the circulation market, there are imitations of three grades of Yuan blue and white.
Some of them are almost perfectly made, and all the features on the artifacts that have been published with data photos can be artificially made.
Things like "tin light", "glaze tear", "blank joint", "flint red", etc. can be done.
They even mix coarse particles into the fetal soil and mix it with the old soil, mistaking the fake for the real thing.
Therefore, collectors must be particularly careful and handle any questions with caution;
For the same Yuan blue and white piece, two experts came to opposite conclusions. It is best not to touch such artifacts.
Because this shows that this artifact is controversial and needs to be studied and discussed by professional workers.
This kind of debate and discussion is likely to continue for a long time.
No matter what the final conclusion is, such inconclusive artifacts can only be used for research and are not suitable for collection.
In fact, the controversial porcelain is not terrible, the most terrible thing is those works without any objection.
There is no shortage of masters in Jingzhen who can create such fake and authentic collections.
Chen Wenzhe knows that there are at least ten antique masters of this level in Jingzhen.
The Huang Lao I just mentioned is one of them. This master is known as the Porcelain Maniac in the world and is known as the first person in China to imitate antique porcelain.
Graduated from Jingzhen Ceramics Institute and has been engaged in ceramic research and creation for 40 years.
Successfully cracked the formula of mud glaze, blue and white, underglaze red, and overglaze multicolored pigments used behind famous porcelain in the past dynasties.
In terms of creation, Mr. Huang is very good at exploring the natural beauty of ceramic materials. He is well versed in the combination of various vessel shapes and glaze colors, and his works are beautiful.
For such a master, if Chen Wenzhe learns a little bit of his craftsmanship, it will not be difficult to make Yuan blue and white flowers.
Chen Wenzhe himself has almost thoroughly explored the process and formula of reburning Yuan blue and white.
At this level, further research would be a waste of time.
At this time, he didn't mind speeding up the process and directly learning from the experience of the seniors.
Especially the mud glaze formula. This time he not only obtained the formula for the blue and white glaze, but also obtained the formula for the underglaze red and multicolored glaze pigments.
Looking at the formula in his hand, Chen Wenzhe felt a little emotional.
It was very easy for him to obtain these secret recipes, but it was not easy for the seniors to develop these formulas.
For example, Mr. Huang has been on this path for more than 40 years.
On the road of research on antique porcelain, he worked diligently and continuously for decades.
He has been doing what others may consider to be boring, hard work for more than 40 years.
In order to develop a formula, he often conducted experiments dozens and hundreds of times in the laboratory, and fired dozens and hundreds of times in the kiln.
In the past half century, in order to understand the types and proportions of clay, glaze, and materials needed to make ancient porcelain, he has lost count of how many times he slept in the laboratory and next to the kiln entrance, undressed.
If he follows the normal routine, even if Chen Wenzhe has a complete Yuan blue and white production process, it will still take a lot of time for him to try out the formula of Yuan blue and white mud, glaze and materials.
After all, every time you adjust the recipe, you need to do a trial burn.
And it takes a few days to burn a kiln at a time. If you do it several times, a few months will pass.
Now, Chen Wenzhe can get almost any formula he wants by searching inside the Pearl of Sui Hou.
Not to mention the value of these recipes, just the time saved for him is priceless.
This is cheating, but it’s always fun to cheat all the time!
By this time, Chen Wenzhe's mind had become very agile.
The foundation has been laid. As long as a few small joints are opened up, you can directly start firing fine Yuan blue and white.
In this case, how could he endure it?
You know, since he can learn so many secret recipes from Master Huang, do other antique masters also have unique skills?
He knows at least ten famous antique porcelain making masters in Jingzhen.
For example, there is another person among them who is no less generous than Mr. Huang. He is Master Rao Keqin of Keqin Hall.
He is definitely a leading figure in the field of Jingzhen blue and white, and he has devoted his whole life to Yuan blue and white.
In 1981, he joined the leading group for copying Yuan blue and white flowers and was the earliest pioneer in copying Yuan blue and white flowers in China.
He is diligent and diligent, and his copy of the Guiguzi Xiashan Yuan blue and white vase has been collected by the Forbidden City and Christie's.
If someone else learns such a craft, they can be successful and famous for the rest of their lives.
Now Chen Wenzhe is doing it for his hobbies. He is learning the skills of these masters, not competing with these masters for a living.
He does it purely for art and his own hobbies.
He just likes to look at his collection, one by one, one by one, slowly increasing, and constantly increasing.
Therefore, he planned to learn all the skills of the top ten antique porcelain masters in Jingzhen.
According to the inaccurate ranking method, the third place is Master Li Sheng from Juhetang.
Generally, such masters come from porcelain-making families.
Like this one, his ancestors began making porcelain in Jingzhen during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.
When he arrived in Tongzhi, his Zeng Taigong founded Wubentang, which owned more than ten firewood kilns and was one of the few large kilns in the town.
He has been making porcelain for more than 30 years. He is best at the pastel color craftsmanship of official kilns and has reproduced countless treasures passed down from generation to generation.
Pastel porcelain is no worse than Yuan blue and white porcelain. Especially in the market, pastel porcelain is more active than Yuan blue and white porcelain. After all, there are too few Yuan blue and white porcelains.
If you really think about it, even perfectly refired Yuan blue and white porcelain is not as beautiful as pastel porcelain.
Selling now is based on the eyeball economy. At this point, pastel porcelain has an advantage over Yuan blue and white.