After entering the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there was another huge breakthrough in the production of porcelain.
At that time, due to the advancement of glaze production technology, ceramics gradually appeared in a variety of colors.
For example, the yellow, green, and blue colors on Tang Sancai, the red, green, and brown colors on Sha Chang Kiln underglaze porcelain, etc.
The colors on ceramics made a big breakthrough in the Tang Dynasty.
Especially yellow, became one of the six main colors of Tang Sancai.
The six main colors of Tang Dynasty are generally yellow, green, white, brown, blue and black.
The successful firing of glazes in so many colors has swept away the green tones of ceramics that were mainly green in the past.
The most familiar ones to us are definitely Tang Sancai, and among the Tang Sancai glazed pottery, the most famous ones are definitely the camel-carrying music figurines.
If you can successfully complete the firing of this ceramic, you will definitely be able to make great strides in mastering various glaze colors.
The Tang Sancai camel carrying music figurine is not simple. This Tang Sancai is 58 cm high and 43 cm long.
It is covered with blue, green, yellow and other single-color glazes.
The camel stood upright on the rectangular seat with its head raised and its mouth open as if neighing.
The camel's back is covered with a circular mat with lace, a platform is placed on it, and it is covered with a carved blanket.
There are seven male musical figurines on it, sitting cross-legged and facing outwards around the platform.
They were holding shengs, pipas, panpipes, clappers, harps, flutes, and Xiao were playing, and in the middle stood a plump woman singing and dancing.
The three-color glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty is novel in shape, with large shapes, strong camels, rich expressions and lifelike figures.
In addition to the exquisite ceramic sculpture art and bright colors, it is known as the masterpiece among the three-color figurines of the Tang Dynasty.
It can be said that on this pottery figurine, whether it is the shape, decoration, or glaze color, it has reached its peak.
This Tang Sancai camel carrying music figurine is exquisitely conceived, exaggerated in shape, and meticulous in workmanship. It is full of artistic imagination and romantic atmosphere.
Artists in the Tang Dynasty used a romantic technique to set the stage on the back of a camel, which can be described as unique ingenuity.
The characters in the whole work are all vivid and lively, and even the camels appear calm, as if they are moving slowly to the rhythm of music.
The brows and eyes of the Jiyue figurines are clearly carved, with different postures and focused expressions.
Especially the clapper-holding figurine, listening intently, seems to be intoxicated by the wonderful music, so lifelike.
Then there is the glaze color. The glaze color of this figurine is bright, harmonious and natural, making it the best among Tang Sancai.
Although the glaze on the work is now peeling off bits and pieces, its vivid and realistic shape and harmonious proportions are still vivid.
The slightly dark glaze color is natural and soft, and the flakes in the glaze are thin and even.
The protruding and curling feeling of the glaze is like the delicate lines on new leaves in early spring, which is both light and thin, and very clean.
It is because of this exquisite work that a large number of Tang Sancai were fired during this period, which promoted the development of glazes of various colors.
The yellow glaze wares of this period also began to differentiate.
One type is low-temperature lead-glazed yellow-glazed pottery represented by Tang Sancai, and the other type is high-temperature lime-glazed yellow-glazed porcelain represented by Shouzhou kiln.
The production process of yellow glazed porcelain can be said to be complicated or simple, but for someone like Chen Wenzhe, it is really simple.
Taking the Shouzhou kiln as an example, a layer of white cosmetic clay is first applied to the body and then fired into the kiln to become a plain body;
Then the plain body is covered with yellow glaze and fired in the kiln again to make yellow glaze porcelain.
Shouzhou kiln is a famous yellow porcelain production area in the Tang Dynasty. Its biggest feature is that the porcelain is yellow in color.
The more classic porcelain is the yellow-ground pastel-colored covered bowl with a hundred butterflies and gold characters "Xi", which was made during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty and is now in the National Museum.
Of course, this piece of porcelain is more beautiful than that of the Tang Dynasty, but it is also a classic masterpiece of Shouzhou Kiln.
By the Song Dynasty, yellow porcelain was obviously not favored by the mainstream of society.
Because the emperor's temperament was noble and he preferred beautiful and pure colors, there were Ru kilns, official kiln porcelain, etc. with colors such as "the rain breaks the sky and the blue clouds break the virginity".
Colors like this bright yellow and explosive green are regarded as vulgar and unappreciated by literati and officials.
Therefore, although yellow porcelain did not disappear in the Song Dynasty, it was at best a song and dance program on the Spring Festival Gala. It was a variety that only supported the scene, and was not worthy of the mainstream.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the fate of yellow-glazed porcelain was not much better than that in the Song Dynasty. The reason was also because the emperor was good.
Emperor Yuan Meng was born into a nomadic nation and admired blue sky and white clouds. Therefore, blue and white porcelain quickly became the mainstream color of porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty.
As for yellow glazed porcelain, it still has no sense of existence.
Despite this, yellow glazed porcelain did not give up on itself, but waited in obscurity for the opportunity to explode.
Entering the Ming Dynasty, yellow glazed porcelain finally ushered in the opportunity for the explosion of the small universe.
In the Ming Dynasty, Yongle, Xuande, Chenghua and other dynasties all produced yellow-glazed porcelain, but the best quality was Hongzhi yellow-glazed porcelain.
Hongzhi yellow glaze has a pure color, like the color of a newly bloomed sunflower, bright and delicate, and has reached the highest level of yellow glaze in history.
There are many masterpieces handed down from generation to generation, such as the plate with green and cloud patterns on a yellow ground, which was produced during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty and is now stored in the National Museum.
There is also a yellow glaze plate, which was made during the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty and is now in the Capital Museum.
The level of firing can be seen from this plate. This period was definitely the peak period of yellow glazed porcelain.
The shapes of Hongzhi yellow glaze are very rich, with bowls, plates, statues and jars being common shapes.
Among them, the animal-headed statue is a representative object, and the shoulders of the statue are usually decorated with two animal heads.
The entire object is covered with yellow glaze, and the glaze color is very pure.
This was a very famous sacrificial vessel during the Hongzhi period, and was also fired even in the Qing Dynasty.
Or should we say that the delicate yellow glaze plate handed down from the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty is a typical utensil.
Its glaze color is delicate and pleasant, as bright as chicken fat, elegant and pleasant.
In addition to the transparent glaze on the bottom, the entire body is covered with yellow glaze, showing the highest production level of low-temperature yellow glaze porcelain.
Judging from the large number of handed down products, the glaze color of the yellow-glazed porcelain of the Hongzhi Dynasty was almost the same, indicating that the firing technology of yellow-glazed porcelain was quite mature at that time.
Since we are talking about the yellow glazed porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, we naturally have to mention Chenghua.
After all, yellow-glazed porcelain was the exclusive porcelain of ancient kings, and it was also the most strictly controlled glaze color.
When talking about yellow glaze, Shouzhou kiln cannot be mentioned.
The earliest low-temperature yellow glaze appeared as early as the Han Dynasty, and the earliest high-temperature yellow glaze appeared as early as the Tang Dynasty.
The main workshops for these yellow-glazed porcelain are the porcelain kilns represented by Shouzhou kiln.
Shouzhou Kiln, located in Huainan, my country, is a very famous ancient porcelain kiln in the Tang Dynasty.
Shouzhou kiln was also mentioned in Lu Yu's "Tea Classic".
Shouzhou kiln is famous for its yellow glaze porcelain.
The porcelain fired at the entrance of this kiln has a thick body and a fine texture.
Especially the yellow glaze porcelain has a very elegant color and is transparent and smooth.
The glaze has tiny openings, the shape is dignified and the craftsmanship is exquisite.
This glaze color was used by emperors precisely because of its true yellow color.