Antique craftsmanship can just be imitation craftsmanship.
And imitating antiques, especially imitating ancient official kilns, is not simply learning ancient craftsmanship, but striving to copy ancient craftsmanship in every aspect.
This is particularly difficult when imitating official kilns.
Because through the ages, the craftsmen of each dynasty have their own characteristics, and the preferences of the emperors are also different.
Let's just say that the habits of craftsmen are something that is difficult to determine.
For example, there are several basic consensus points on the official kiln models of the Hongzhi Dynasty.
For example, short horizontal means "big", imbalance means "wide", low water means long bottom means "control", and long waist means "control".
It can be seen from this that the first stroke of the character "大" in Hongzhi Yellow Glaze is shorter, so it has the characteristics of "short and large";
The writing method of the word "Hong" is indeed that the word "Gong" is larger than the word "厶", which can be said to be "unbalanced Hong";
The way of writing "zhi" is completely consistent with the Hongzhi style of low water and long bottom.
That is, the "water" part of the three-point water is significantly lower than the "table" part on the right.
On the right side of the "Tai" part, the last horizontal line of the word "口" below it grows out of the "口";
Finally, the way of writing the word "Zhi" needs to completely match the characteristics of "Long Waist System".
That is to say, the middle horizontal line of the word "Zhi" is obviously longer.
According to Mr. Geng Baochang, the porcelain from the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty was appraised as “the decorative lines are slender and stretched, softer and more elegant than those from the Chenghua period.”
Anyone who has seen porcelain from the Hongzhi period can truly appreciate its delicacy and elegance.
Regarding the painting method of dragon patterns during the Hongzhi period, there is generally a saying of "myopic dragon", which refers to the painting method of dragon eyes, as if wearing a pair of eyes.
[To be honest, I have been using the Huanyuan app recently to read and catch up on updates. It allows me to switch between sources and read aloud with many sounds. .huanyuanapp is available for Android and Apple.]
The decorative patterns are in line with the characteristics of Hongzhi's era, but what about the glaze color?
Mr. Geng Baochang said in the same book: "The Hongzhi yellow glaze is the best. The yellow is delicate and tender, like chicken fat; the glaze surface is bright, like a pool of clear water. The glaze color and surface at this time are compared with the whitish yellow of Chenghua. The glaze appears dark and thick, but is lighter and more moderate than the yellow glaze that came later from Zhengde."
By repeatedly examining the yellow glaze of Hongzhi porcelain, you can understand its "delicate", "deep" and "light and moderate" charm.
It is because of these characteristics of Hongzhi that determines its value.
Even now, the market value of yellow-glazed porcelain is not low.
Of course, the value of yellow glazed porcelain is also determined by grade.
How are the levels divided? In fact, it is based on the ancient levels.
The use of yellow glaze in the royal families of the Ming and Qing dynasties was regulated and not everyone could use it.
According to historical research, in the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty, porcelain with yellow glaze on the inside and outside was the utensils of the empress dowager and empress;
The imperial concubines used utensils with yellow glaze on the inner wall and ordinary transparent glaze on the outer wall.
Imperial concubines use yellow-glazed green dragon vessels, or yellow-ground green dragon vessels;
Concubines use blue ground and yellow dragon ware; nobles are not allowed to use yellow glazed ware.
Therefore, in the process of making or investing in yellow glazed porcelain, it is important to understand the types of yellow glazed porcelain.
Different yellow glazed porcelain represents different grades. Of course, if you are collecting, the rarity of the collection is also very important.
For example, some yellow-glazed porcelains. Among the yellow-glazed porcelains, the price of green-colored porcelain is slightly lower, while the value of other yellow-glazed porcelains is not low.
Even if other yellow-glazed porcelains are of low grade, they are rare in the art market due to their limited existence, and the craftsmanship is complicated and the price is higher.
In the yellow glazed porcelain market, the more common varieties of yellow glazed porcelain in the Ming Dynasty mainly include: single-color glazed yellow glazed dishes, yellow glazed blue and white ware, and yellow glazed green colored porcelain.
Single-color yellow glazed porcelain, first recommended during the Hongzhi Dynasty;
Among the yellow-glazed blue-and-white vessels, the yellow-glazed blue-and-white plate with flower and fruit patterns from the mid-Ming Dynasty is the most representative.
In the Hanhai autumn auction in 1996, a Ming Hongzhi yellow-glazed blue and white flower plate was sold for 2.86 million yuan. According to expert estimates, the current market value is at least 10 million yuan or more;
The yellow-glazed porcelain from the Jiajing period also has high artistic value and is worth investing in.
The most famous ones from this period are the Jiajing yellow-glazed green-color dragon-patterned wares and the yellow-glazed multi-colored cloud-dragon-patterned wares. These wares are full of "imperial aura" and are appreciated by collectors.
For five thousand years, in the history of Chinese civilization, the Chinese nation has been hailed as the descendant of the dragon, and the dragon image has therefore become a symbol of the highest power.
Therefore, utensils with dragon eucalyptus are only for royal use and cannot be used by civilians.
In addition, the supreme ruler also monopolized the color yellow, perhaps because of the homophonic pronunciation of "yellow", "huang" and "wang", or perhaps because the central Wuji soil in the "Five Elements" of Taoism is yellow.
The reason why the royal family is in the center is that they choose to live in splendor, and wear and use gold or yellow. Yellow, like the dragon pattern, has been highly praised by emperors of the past dynasties.
Especially during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, yellow glaze wares were exclusive to the royal family and were used exclusively for royal or sacrificial purposes, and should not be offended by the public.
From the early Ming Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, every emperor ordered the imperial kilns to produce exquisite yellow-glazed porcelain for him.
But the one that deserves to be outstanding should be the "Hongzhi Year System of the Ming Dynasty". Neither the "Chenghua of the Ming Dynasty" nor the Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty can compete with it!
Since Hongzhi's yellow-glazed porcelain is the best, it must be made the most.
Among them, the rare variety, and the more unique one is definitely the Hongzhi yellow glaze green dragon tall bowl.
Among the porcelain handed down, there are some white-glazed plates or bowls carved with dragon patterns from the Hongzhi official kiln.
The production method is to carve the dragon pattern on the carcass first, and then leave the dragon pattern area when applying the transparent glaze.
After firing at high temperature, due to the oxidation of the exposed part, the white glaze flint red dragon pattern appears.
These utensils are most likely semi-finished products of white-glazed green-colored ware.
Among the white glazes of the Hongzhi period, there are also fine products with thin bodies or semi-bodied bodies.
The bottoms of plates and bowls are thinner than those of Yongle and Xuande vessels, but they are still semi-transparent but not fully transparent.
The Hongzhi yellow-glazed green dragon tall bowl is made from a white-glazed bowl with an exposed body and carved dragon patterns.
In addition, the National Palace Museum in Wanwan has a dish plate with a malachite green surface and yellow glaze on the inside, with the official kiln model "Made in the Hongzhi Year of the Ming Dynasty".
It can be confirmed that malachite green glaze was also fired during the Hongzhi Dynasty.
But overall, there are very few Hongzhi colored glazes.
Fewer means more expensive, so the rarer things are more expensive!
Of course, there are also some types that existed long before Hongzhi.
It is possible that a small amount of glazes were fired in the Hongzhi Dynasty, but due to the lack of official kiln residence certificates, some colored glazes can only be inferred based on the characteristics of the artifacts and production.
In fact, during the Hongzhi Dynasty, the production of colored porcelain was not very prosperous. At this stage, there are mainly two types: green colored porcelain and red colored porcelain.
Obviously, the value of green and red colors is lower than that of yellow colors.
White ground green color is the most important type of Hongzhi colored porcelain. The method is to carve out patterned patterns on the body, and when applying a completely transparent glaze, leave the space for the patterned design.
After firing at high temperature for the first time, it becomes the white glaze exposed type.
Then, on the exposed part, green paint is applied and then fired at ultra-low temperature, and the white glaze is engraved and filled with green paint designs.
Most of this kind of porcelain has dragon patterns, and the utensils are mostly plates and bowls.