Chapter 1565: What is good at the top will be worse at the bottom
By the late Qing Dynasty, the level of firing blue-glazed porcelain had declined.
In particular, the carcass and glaze cannot be compared with the early Qing Dynasty utensils.
Therefore, from the perspective of collection, the blue-glazed porcelain of the Qing Dynasty is still the best from the Kang, Yong, and Qian periods.
There is nothing we can do about this. On the one hand, the national power of the three Qing dynasties was strong, and on the other hand, the emperor liked it.
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For example, because Emperor Kangxi loved ancient porcelain very much, he felt that it was a pity that the simple and exquisite blue-glazed porcelain craftsmanship was lost, so he asked the jdz imperial kiln factory to develop red-fired blue-glazed porcelain...
What is good at the top will be bad at the bottom!
That's why there were blue-glazed porcelain handed down from Qing Dynasty.
For example, there are bowls with gold and auspicious animal patterns, Kangxi's three-color fish-dragon transformation Guanyin statue under the blue glaze, a blue-glazed plum vase, a blue-glazed gall bladder with a dragon pattern, and a blue-glazed plate with a white cloud and dragon pattern.
Later, it was also fired during the Guangxu period, and some bowls were sprinkled with blue glaze and left with white dragon patterns.
Of course, blue-glazed porcelain is still the best from the Ming Dynasty.
The blue glaze technology of the Ming Dynasty was not only the pinnacle of porcelain fired at that time, but also the crystallization of the hard work and wisdom of the ancient working people, making it highly praised by future generations.
After Xuande, Hongzhi products were slightly inferior, almost lotus color or blue.
When the blue glaze is applied at this time, the glaze surface is not even and the tones are different in shades.
However, the dark dragon pattern plate made has a white glaze on the inside, a lapis lazuli blue glaze on the outside, and a pale malachite green color on the dragon body, which is quite exquisite.
In fact, it can be seen from these porcelain that ancient craftsmen's understanding of cyan, blue, and green is really not so absolute.
I can't say I don't know him, but I'm a bit confused.
Therefore, during the Jiajing period, celadon-glazed porcelain was also created and fired.
Both celadon glaze and indigo glaze are high-temperature glazes using cobalt oxide as the coloring agent.
It’s just that the green material used was a blend of Huiqing that was unique at that time and domestic Shi Ziqing.
This is similar to Buddha's head green glaze, so the color of this kind of green glaze is similar to that of Ji blue glaze.
However, Huiqing glaze is not as deep and rich as Jiblue glaze, but is light blue.
The whole body is coated with high-temperature blue glaze, and the area near the bottom is purple-black due to the thick glaze accumulation.
Generally, Ji-blue glazed porcelain has no glaze inside the feet and exposes the body.
The porcelain fired in this way has a dignified and simple shape, a thick, uniform and deep glaze color, and a shiny surface. Each piece is a fine product among blue-glazed porcelain.
Some characteristics of such blue-glazed porcelain can also be seen from the bottom of the body.
For example, some glazes on the bottom tire have small flakes, some have brown spots, and the glaze area near the sole is black.
Unfortunately, after the Wanli Dynasty, blue-glazed porcelain was almost extinct.
It was only in the Qing Dynasty that blue glaze was fired again because of the liking of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong.
After nearly half a century of silence in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, it flourished again during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty.
Since then, fine products have been handed down in all dynasties, and the number of surviving blue-glazed porcelains is much greater than that of the Ming Dynasty blue-glazed porcelain.
After Kangxi, porcelain with blue glaze was produced in all dynasties, and there were many imitations of Kangxi blue glaze.
When appraising, attention should be paid to the modeling glazes produced in each era. The blue and gold glazes imitated by Kangxi are easy to fall off, and there are often cases where the gold glaze of later generations falls off and is repainted with gold.
Therefore, be sure to use a magnifying glass to carefully observe the traces of gold tracing.
The modern imitation gold color is fired with gold water, and its color is brighter than the Kangxi gold color. Please pay attention to the difference between the two.
During the Yongzheng period, the blue glaze porcelain of the Qing Dynasty was crowned by the Yongzheng blue glaze.
During the Yongzheng period, Tang Ying was appointed as the pottery supervisor of the imperial kiln factory, and all kinds of glazes produced were fired with great success.
The Ji-blue glazed porcelain of this period has the most symmetrical proportions and the most elegant lines.
There are many varieties of Yongzheng olive bottles, including blue and white, pastel, monochromatic glaze, etc. Ji-blue glaze is a very rare one.
It is characterized by thin body and light body, regular shape, uniform and moist glaze color, and the glaze is blue with purple in it. Because of its bright glaze color, it is unique in the Qing Dynasty.
During the Qianlong period, blue-glazed porcelain was mainly made of Ji-blue glaze and sky-blue glaze, and was mostly used as displayware and some sacrificial vessels.
During this period, blue glaze gold decoration appeared in large numbers, and the blue glaze gold decoration technique remained popular until the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.
The characteristics of Ji Blue in the Qing Dynasty are that it has a deep color, the glaze does not flow or crack, the tone is thick and even, and the color is relatively stable.
In addition to the single-color glaze, Jilan wares are often decorated with gold color, and some are engraved or printed with dark flowers.
To sum up, Jilan during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty was also very successful. Its thin glaze had no cracks and the glaze color was darker.
Some are engraved with dark patterns, and some are painted with gold.
It was at its peak during the Yongzheng period, but by the Qianlong period it felt like it was at the end of its rope.
The identification and identification of Ji-blue glazed porcelain is similar to that of other palace and official kiln porcelain, and it is even very simple.
Let’s look at it from several aspects. The first thing is to look at the glaze.
In the Yuan Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty, it was a high-end glaze type with a smaller quantity than other glaze types.
High-quality Ji-blue glaze is the best Buddha's head blue extracted from the green material, which is blue with purple in it.
This kind of glaze is a high-temperature glaze, that is, a proper amount of natural cobalt material is mixed into the stone and gray alkali glaze as a colorant, and the glaze is successfully fired together with the blank in the kiln at about 1280-1300 degrees Celsius.
At this time, the glaze color was deep, the glaze surface did not flow or crack, the tone was thick and even, and the color was relatively stable. It was monopolized by official kilns at that time.
Of course, although they are all high-temperature glazes, the color of blue glaze in the Yuan Dynasty was unstable and varied in color.
This was caused by the kiln workers at that time not having adequate control over the fire temperature and washing and refining techniques.
In the later period, the refining technology improved, and the highest quality blue material, namely "Buddha's Head Blue", could be extracted from imported materials.
Combined with the fire temperature control technology, the blue glaze is finally fired with a deep and stable blue color that does not flow or crack, with purple in the blue.
The blue color of the Yuan Dynasty is deep, beautiful and full of nobility.
In fact, the high-temperature blue glaze in the early Yuan Dynasty also belongs to the category of Ji blue glaze.
If we look at the glaze color, or rather the surface of the porcelain, we can see that there are many features of Yuan Dynasty porcelain.
For example, the characteristic of orange peel glaze is also a common characteristic of all porcelain fired in wood kilns.
There is also the white glaze of the Yuan Dynasty that is bluish-green, which is one of the common characteristics of blue and white porcelain in the early Yuan and Ming dynasties.
Then there is the style recognition. Before the Yuan Dynasty, there was basically no style recognition.
But it can be distinguished from the glaze and the bottom of the tire.
Both Yongle and Xuande of the Ming Dynasty were aware of the style, and the production of Ji-blue glazed porcelain in the Qing Dynasty continued throughout the generations, with high-quality products handed down from generation to generation.
Some are engraved with dark patterns, and some are painted with gold.
The common shapes are still porcelain used for palace sacrificial vessels and furnishings. Ji-blue glazed porcelain from official kilns often has official models and is very fine in workmanship.
There are also Ji-blue glazed porcelain in folk kilns, but most of them are sacrificial vessels used in temples, with furnaces and bottles being the most common. None of them have official inscriptions, but some have year-end inscriptions.
Generally speaking, the surface of ancient porcelain is basically "damaged".
This damage is what is now called soft damage, which is the "cow hair pattern" mark caused by natural wear and tear.
This kind of aging trace is difficult to imitate, but that doesn't mean it can't be imitated.
If you want to say that it is really difficult to imitate the traces, bubbles are naturally indispensable.
It is easy to tell the age of porcelain by observing the bubbles.
It is basically impossible to say that all the bubbles in a collection are intact, so we can use the bubbles to determine whether it is an old item.