Chapter 1,244 A strange flower in the history of porcelain
Chen Wenzhe had learned about peonies before, and he knew that there are many types of peonies.
Generally, there are four types of peony flower shapes: the petals are in full bloom, the first bloom is divided into multiple petals, the first bloom is in the shape of a ball, and the flower is on the back.
This seemingly ordinary Yuan blue and white peony jar has entwined branches. The petals in the decoration are all formed by incising and painting with blue and white.
That is to say, before painting the peony, a needle-like tool is first used to inscribe the outline of the flowers and leaves, highlighting the leaf veins, and then the painting is done with a smudged dye. The green material is accumulated in the outline to make it thick and deep.
Therefore, after firing, a strong three-dimensional effect is achieved.
At this time, the peonies have different postures, looking up and down, full and beautiful.
This is a typical decoration of the Yuan Dynasty. It can be sold for 12 to 3 million, and the price is definitely not very high.
In fact, needless to say these large vessels, even a large blue and white bowl from the Yuan Dynasty, the current market price is not low.
It's like a Yuan blue and white unicorn with lotus pattern on it. It's 29.5cm in diameter. It's an absolutely big bowl, almost 30cm in diameter.
The transaction price in 2019 was RMB 13.8 million.
Just one big bowl sold for nearly 14 million, there must be a reason.
This large bowl has a deep mouth and a deep belly. It is huge in size and dignified in shape.
The whole body is decorated with blue and white materials, giving it a rich color.
The thick part has black crystal spots.
The decoration on the outer wall is divided into upper and lower layers, with lotus flowers on the upper part and lotus petals on the shins.
The inner edge of the mouth is also painted with a lotus pattern around it. The blue wreath at the bottom is decorated with a unicorn pattern, and the whole body is lined with lotus patterns.
Here I want to focus on this large bowl. The reason why it sells for such a high price must be because this bowl is well cooked.
The second is the identity of the representative, such as blue and white, big bowl, and then the unicorn.
Kirin is an auspicious beast in ancient legends. Like the phoenix, it is also divided into male and female.
The male is called Qilin, and the female is called Lin. Most people use the conventional collective name "Qilin".
The ancients believed that Qilin has aggressive horns but a docile temperament, and is a "virtuous" mythical beast.
"Song Shu Zhi No. 18 Fu Rui Zhi Zhong" records: "Qilin is also a benevolent beast. The male is called Qilin, and the female is called Lin. If the fetus is not cut off, the eggs will be born. The body of the Qilin has the tail of an ox, the neck of a wolf has one horn, and the yellow color has the feet of a horse."
The center of the bowl is painted with a unicorn pattern, with a small head, like a deer or a dragon, with a single horn on the top of the head and a whisker-like mane on the chin.
The body is graceful and light, covered with scales, the limbs are slender but powerful, and the tail is more like a ponytail.
Why can a Kirin be sold at a high price just because it exists?
The regulations and systems of the Yuan Dynasty strictly stipulated the different classes who used decorations.
"Yuan Shi Yu Fu Zhi" records that in the second year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1265), the Yuan court ordered: "It is forbidden to wear linlin, luanfeng, white rabbit, Ganoderma lucidum, double-horned five-clawed dragon, eight dragons, nine dragons, Wanshou, Fushou, He
Huang et al."
This means that only the emperor and nobles have the right to use the above-mentioned special decorations.
This is like using the cloud dragon pattern. The unicorn pattern on it directly represents the rank and identity of this big bowl.
Such porcelain, no matter what type it is, as long as it has some of the above-mentioned decorations, is of high value.
Of course, this is also determined by the characteristics of Yuan blue and white, because as long as it is such a high-grade porcelain, it must be made of high-quality maocang soil and sumali green materials.
In addition, Yuan blue and white porcelain is represented by Jingzhen. It is exquisitely made and rarely handed down, so it is extremely precious.
According to the time, it can be roughly divided into three stages: Yanyou period, Zhizheng period and late Yuan period, among which "Zhizheng type" is the best.
Yuan blue and white porcelain opened up a new era of transition from plain porcelain to colored porcelain.
It is rich and powerful, with bold painting style and many levels of painting.
This is very different from the traditional aesthetic taste of the Chinese nation, and is really a wonder in the history of Chinese ceramics.
This time, don't look at the many Yuan blue and white porcelain made by Chen Wenzhe. In fact, you have to count them. Such fine Yuan blue and white porcelain is definitely rare.
This time Chen Wenzhe made porcelain with peony patterns, and Yuan blue and white porcelain with real peony patterns is even rarer.
Therefore, Chen Wenzhe gradually began to imitate the peony pattern porcelain since its creation.
Not to mention Yuan blue and white, there are definitely more peony pattern works from other eras that have been handed down through the ages.
The Song Dynasty said it, and the Yuan Dynasty also did it, so what are the other representative periods?
Whether it is celadon, white porcelain, or colored porcelain, they are all inseparable from the Tang Dynasty.
If you want to imitate a series, you absolutely cannot do without the Tang Dynasty.
Chen Wenzhe plans to imitate some classic peony pattern porcelain from the Tang Dynasty, to the Song Dynasty, Jin, Liao, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
At the beginning, it must start from the period of great development of porcelain, which is the Tang Dynasty.
The prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty is really not an exaggeration.
In the Tang Dynasty, the manufacturing technology of gold and silverware was developed, and because peony had a better meaning, a large number of gold and silverware were decorated with peony patterns.
For example, the more classic large silver box with double phoenix pattern is gilded. This box has four lotus petals. The cover pattern is mainly composed of two flying phoenixes holding grass in their hands. The edge is surrounded by eight pairs of flying geese facing each other, and intertwined lotuses and fish roe are interspersed.
Patterned ground.
There is also the relatively famous Tang Sancai Phoenix Head Pot, which Chen Wenzhe had imitated before when he was making teapots.
Since most of the porcelain of the Tang Dynasty imitated gold and silverware, a large number of ceramics were often decorated with painted peony patterns.
The peony patterns on porcelain in the Tang Dynasty were mainly peony patterns with broken branches and peony branches with entangled branches.
Peony decorations are often influenced by the shape of the utensils, and change with the curvature of the utensils. The deformed peony pattern becomes their characteristic, with bright and rich colors.
However, peony decorations are common on ceramic products, mainly in the Song Dynasty.
Since the Tang Dynasty, peonies have been regarded as a symbol of prosperity, beauty and happiness, and have been widely used as decorations in various handicrafts.
The peonies decorated on Song Dynasty pottery have large flowers and bright colors.
The flower shape is crown-shaped, and the petals are divided into upper and lower parts.
The upper layer is composed of more petals, and the lower layer of petals is wider and decorated with several green leaves.
Making this kind of Song porcelain is not difficult at all for Chen Wenzhe.
Because there were only a few prosperous dynasties in China, Chen Wenzhe had imitated porcelain from almost every dynasty before.
For example, Tang Sancai from the Tang Dynasty, Secret Color Porcelain from the Five Dynasties, Ding Kiln Porcelain, Ru Kiln Porcelain, and Yingqing Porcelain from the Song Dynasty.
Then there are the special children's pillows, porcelain pillows, and beauty pillows, which involve the entrances of Cizhou Kiln, Yaozhou Kiln and other kilns.
For example, the porcelain pillow with white ground and black flowers and peony pattern from Cizhou Kiln was copied by Chen Wenzhe before.
Chen Wenzhe has made a lot of Ding kiln porcelain, but this time he changed his direction and wanted to make more porcelain from other kilns. After all, this was also a famous kiln in the Song Dynasty.
Cizhou kiln, for example, had outstanding achievements in the Song Dynasty and was a kiln system rich in folk characteristics. The most common content was peonies.
The most basic feature is to apply a layer of cosmetic soil on the carcass, which is not very white and relatively rough, to achieve the effect of coarse porcelain and fine workmanship.
Then patterns are painted on this layer of cosmetic soil, thus forming the unique style of Cizhou kiln.