Chapter 1238: Finely carved, unique in the porcelain world
Chen Wenzhe is already very familiar with the printing process.
This technique is to use an engraved mold to imprint the decoration on the ceramic body.
Because carving on a mold can be more in-depth and detailed than carving directly on the porcelain body, the fine patterns on porcelain can only be completed by printing.
The exquisite mold carving skills of Ding kiln in the Song Dynasty brought the artistic effect of printed porcelain to its peak and played a huge role in promoting the development of my country's porcelain industry.
In addition to the engraving of the mold, the difficulty of printing technology is also reflected in the demoulding process.
The more complex and profound the mold engravings are, the more difficult it will be to remove the mold after it is imprinted on the porcelain body.
During the demoulding process, if the handling is slightly improper, it will affect the printing effect of the tire.
Ding kiln's printed peony decoration is unique in the porcelain world in every step of carving, printing and demoulding.
It was also at this time that Chen Wenzhe truly realized the extraordinary nature of printing technology.
This does not mean that porcelain made with printing technology is a modern and shoddy handicraft.
Mold engraving, printing and demoulding are three steps in one. If you do not do any step well, you will not be able to produce high-quality porcelain.
The ancients were different from people today. They made porcelain with great care and would never make it shoddily.
If you want to make something crude, go to a private kiln, not an official kiln.
Since it is an official kiln, we must strive for excellence in every step.
Therefore, Chen Wenzhe was a bit narrow-minded before. He actually thought that porcelain made by printing technology had no art at all?
In Ding kiln printed porcelain, Chen Wenzhe saw technology, craftsmanship and unique art!
The mold is fully carved, making the printed peony decoration more complex and delicate than engraving.
This point alone is worthy of special mention, and this advantage is particularly prominent in the performance of bowls and plates.
Such as the Jinding kiln printed peony pleated plate. Such high-density patterns can only be obtained by printing.
This plate is 2.3 cm high, 21.3 cm in diameter, and 13.4 cm in full diameter.
This plate has a folded edge, an open mouth, and a shallow sloping wall.
The plate is stenciled with peony pictures, with a large peony in the center.
Surrounded by six peonies, the branches are faintly entangled, three are in full bloom toward the center of the plate, and three are in full bloom toward the surroundings.
The flower shapes vary and are lifelike.
The molds are densely carved, with more than a hundred petals and leaves.
The delicate petal folds and leaf veins can also be seen in the micro-carvings, which is breathtaking.
What's even finer is that there are 58 flower openings on the edge of the plate. Corresponding to the flower openings are double petal patterns, and within each petal, there are double lines or dots printed on it.
The wall of the plate is an arc pleat corresponding to the flower mouth. Because there are many arc pleats, it is called "hundred pleats".
Prints such as the Northern Song Dynasty's printed peony, flat and chivalry pattern bowls are also classics.
This bowl is 2.8 cm high, 21.5 cm in diameter, and 13.6 cm in foot diameter.
The wall of the bowl is decorated with a peony pattern, and the center of the bowl is sunken with a pattern of scallops.
Make a pattern on the edge of the plate.
There are four peonies on the branches wrapped around the wall of the bowl.
The branches are wrapped around the bowl, and the layout of the flowers is very regular. Flowers appear on the left and right, and peonies appear on the right, opposite to the center of the bowl.
The peony emerging from the left circled with the branches, and the flowers turned towards the center of the bowl.
The winding branches are smooth and clear.
The petals and leaves are swaying in the spring breeze, and they are graceful and graceful.
The printing is fine, with more than ten veins on one petal.
There are more than ten dots in one stamen, all of which are clearly distinguishable.
This meticulous micro-engraved printing process can only be achieved by Ding Kiln.
The expression of peony decoration printed in Ding kiln is diverse in form and rich in content.
In addition to the peony decoration being expressed alone, it is also combined with people, animals and plants.
This further improves the viewing quality of the printing and also greatly enriches the auspicious meaning of the picture.
For example, the theme of babies playing in the Ding kiln is the most exciting. The Northern Song Dynasty-gold printed peony baby playing pattern flower mouth bowl, the depiction on it is one of the classics.
This bowl is 7.5 cm high, 20.4 cm in diameter, and 8.2 cm in full diameter.
The edge of the bowl is stamped with pattern and the center of the bowl is stamped with cow pattern.
In the limited space on the wall of the bowl, create a pattern of peony and baby playing.
Among the lush flowers and leaves, three children in vests played happily.
Some of these children are lying on the ground, some are jumping up on branches, and some are dangling from their barbs. They are all innocent and lively.
The most important thing is that the decoration layout is full and the knife skills are skillful and sharp.
The shape of the whole device is regular, the thickness of the carcass is moderate, and the artistic appeal is very strong.
This kind of porcelain is not only a fine product of Ding kiln, but also a classic in decoration and craftsmanship among the entire Chinese porcelain world.
Print decoration first appeared in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty and matured in the later period.
The patterns printed in Ding kiln are all layered, clear lines, complex but not chaotic.
The main themes are mainly flowers, mostly peonies and lotus, followed by chrysanthemums.
Peony is known as the "King of Flowers".
For a long time, peonies have been regarded as a symbol of wealth, happiness, beauty, and prosperity, and are deeply loved by people.
In ancient times, it was also expressed in various art forms, and the peony pattern on porcelain was one of them.
Ceramics with peony patterns can be expressed through engraving, printing, painting, etc. The forms include single branches, broken branches, string branches, entwined branches, etc.
The peony pattern of the Song Dynasty is just a representative of a period.
Porcelain decoration has rich themes and extensive content.
However, the output is still limited, so the value of works made by printing technology is not as good as those made by engraving and scratching technology.
Everyone knows that Ding kiln wares from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty have the highest value, and among them, the fine white porcelain and the porcelain with engraving and scratching techniques are even more valuable.
In other words, the value of the same Ding kiln wares from the Northern Song Dynasty is the highest, among which the carved and scratched works are more valuable than the printed ones.
Works made with printing techniques are already classics, so aren’t porcelains made with engraving and scratching techniques the most classic among classics?
Therefore, on top of porcelain with peony patterns, porcelain with scratching and engraving techniques is naturally the best.
In the Ding kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty, early patterns were carved on the porcelain body with bamboo sticks.
The lines drawn are relatively thin, the slope is very small, and the image is natural and bold.
The carving method appeared later than the scratching method.
The carvings are carved on the fetal bones with a knife, using the "one side slope" knife technique.
The engraving lines made in this way are wider, the slope is large, and the image is strong and powerful.
Sometimes, scratched and carved flowers often appear on the same object.
The carved patterns in the early stage include lotus petal pattern, twining chrysanthemum pattern, banana leaf pattern, back pattern, etc.
Later, decorations such as flowers and fruits, lotuses and ducks, fish and water, clouds and dragons appeared.
And a thin line is often drawn on one side of the pattern to highlight the three-dimensionality of the image.
At that time, the Ding kiln and Yaozhou kiln had products carved with peony patterns, while the Cizhou kiln had products with black flowers on a white ground.
Not only new patterns are produced, but also combinations of plant patterns, animal patterns or human patterns appear.
The decorative techniques include not only engraving, but also painting, which makes the flowers appear more natural and lively.
At the same time, the composition methods include suitable type, symmetrical type, balanced type, etc.