Chapter 1642: What is an official kiln and why is it an official kiln?
In the Yuan Dynasty, several pieces of porcelain were combined to form a joint porcelain set, which was still very novel at the time.
For merchants, several pieces of porcelain can be sold at one time.
For consumers, when purchasing a porcelain vase stove, they can directly sell the matching base.
It not only attracts customers' attention with new ideas and new designs, but also achieves a new business. It can be said to be a win-win situation.
And this is definitely the result of involution. In the fierce market competition, whoever can innovate better will survive.
Whether in ancient times or in modern times, business competition is so fierce.
Looking at the history of ceramics in my country, the Yuan Dynasty was a turning point, because at this time many kiln entrances disappeared.
The only kiln mouths that are the most competitive are Jingzhen kiln and Longquan kiln.
You can imagine how fierce the competition among kilns at that time was.
Whoever can continuously introduce new products, meet consumer needs, and attract consumers will win a larger market share and gain more development space.
The survival of the kiln farm completely depends on the market. If there is no sensitive response to changes in market demand, it will become the dust of history.
Therefore, being able to see such new forms of modeling not only reflects the usage scenes of the utensils at that time, but also reflects the efforts of Jingzhen and Longquan kilns to constantly find marketable products.
In the Song Dynasty, because this period was the peak of official kilns, there were more porcelain imitations of official kilns.
The most famous one is definitely the Longquan kiln that imitates the official kiln. This raises a problem.
In modern times, how can we tell whether a piece of official kiln wares is a genuine Northern Song Dynasty official kiln or an imitation of Longquan kiln?
In particular, how to identify whether a piece of celadon is a Song Dynasty official kiln or a Longquan imitation official kiln?
This is a problem, and a big one.
In 2022, Wanwan Yuzhen International Auction Company auctioned a "Southern Song Dynasty official kiln long-necked bottle".
The valuation at that time was - New Taiwan dollars, which can be said to be very low.
This Southern Song Dynasty official kiln long-necked vase is not particularly distinguished in terms of origin. There is only one auction record in a small auction house in 1999.
How did the art media at that time promote this auction?
It said: "The glaze color of the long-necked vase is pink and green, as smooth as jade, with criss-crossing patterns on the glaze surface, and reveals the characteristics of a purple mouth and iron feet."
Artificial patterns are called ornamentation, natural openings cannot be called ornamentation; the purple mouth is not obvious either.
For the same celadon, the Ru kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty often fetched sky-high prices. However, the official kiln of the Song Dynasty was so haggard that the market price was less than one-tenth of that of the Ru kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty. What is the reason?
Aesthetically speaking, the beauty of the shapes and glaze colors of the official kilns of the Song Dynasty is only comparable to that of the Ru kilns of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The biggest difference between the two is that Ru Kiln in the Northern Song Dynasty is a super famous brand among ancient porcelains. It is also very rare and naturally sought after by many people;
Of course, another reason is also important.
They were mainly official kilns of the Song Dynasty, but they were also divided into Xiu Nei Si and Jiao Tan Xia.
Then there is the Ge Kiln and Longquan imitating the officials. It is so chaotic that it is difficult to distinguish.
In addition, there are many more surviving products than those of the Ru Kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty, so the market price naturally lags behind that of the Ru Kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty Zhejiang Longquan Kiln imitated the Song Dynasty official kiln, which was based on commercial considerations and was not deliberately deceiving;
Today's auction houses refer to this type of works as Southern Song Dynasty official kilns, which is an attempt to mislead the public.
The official kilns of the Song Dynasty were characterized by thin bodies, thick glazes, purple mouths and iron feet, gray bodies, and flake patterns of different sizes on the glaze.
The glaze colors are mainly pink-green and gray-green, which are bluish and grayish tones, and are not difficult to identify.
The beige glaze Guan kiln of the Song Dynasty is similar to the Ge kiln, so there is no distinction between Guan Ge kiln.
Most official kiln wares of the Song Dynasty are relatively light, which is due to their thin bodies.
The gray tire is made of porcelain stone with a small amount of purple gold soil added. It is the standard tire color of official kilns in the Song Dynasty and is also the reason for the purple mouth and iron feet.
When senior collectors and antique dealers appraise a piece of high-quality ancient porcelain, the first impression is extremely important.
If the shape and glaze color of the vessel do not match a certain type of porcelain that you are familiar with, you will immediately become suspicious and it will be difficult to change it.
The "Southern Song Dynasty Official Kiln Long-neck Vase" does not have a purple mouth, which makes people suspect that it is not a Song Dynasty official kiln, but may be an imitation of Longquan official kiln!
In terms of market value, if the auction item is Song Dynasty official kiln wares, the estimated price is NT$,000, which is a very low price;
For this Longquan imitation official kiln ware, the valuation is very reasonable.
So, how to determine whether it is a Song official kiln ware or a Longquan imitation official kiln ware?
The first step is to compare the auction piece with the remains of the vessel unearthed from the kiln site under the Jiao Tanxia kiln site in Xiu Nei Si, and compare the vessel shape and glaze color;
The second step is to compare the auction items with the Song Dynasty official kiln wares handed down from ancient times in the collection.
It is worth noting that in ancient times, there was no such thing as Longquan imitation official kiln wares.
It is a description deliberately made by some contemporary auction houses and antique dealers in order to increase the selling price of a certain type of Longquan celadon that is similar to Song Dynasty official kiln wares.
In the honest auction industry, antique dealers make a clear distinction between the two.
Song official kiln wares are Song official kiln wares, and Longquan celadon is Longquan celadon. The two should not be confused.
If a piece of celadon does not have all the characteristics of Song official kiln wares, it is a safe bet to regard it as Longquan celadon.
Longquan celadon has a high historical status. Chen Wenzhe has made a lot of celadon before, and he also knows the technology of Longquan kiln very well.
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However, he has never systematically made Longquan kiln porcelain.
This time, he wanted to do a good job on the five famous kilns, and finally studied the Longquan kiln.
He has almost finished all the five famous kilns, except for Ge Kiln and Ding Kiln, which he has not done specially.
Especially Ge Kiln porcelain, he has never made any of it.
The reason why it felt so familiar to him was that he had used his golden finger to study Ge Kiln carefully.
What we are making now is the official kiln, and the imitation of the official kiln is almost complete, so it is time to actually start making official kiln porcelain.
The Song Dynasty was divided into the Southern Song Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty, and the official kiln wares were also divided into the north and the south. Chen Wenzhe first made the official kilns of the Southern Song Dynasty.
According to historical records, after the Southern Song Dynasty established its capital, the imperial court summoned the best porcelain craftsmen in the world to build an official porcelain kiln in Hangzhou, regardless of the cost of work, and was ordered to bake porcelain for the palace.
The production of official kiln porcelain in the Southern Song Dynasty was very meticulous in selecting materials, making clay, making blanks, and sharpening the blanks.
Some special techniques are also added, such as the production of utensil embryos.
After the embryo making of ordinary porcelain is completed, it is the cool embryo and then the sharp embryo.
Next, carving, glazing, and firing began.
The official kilns of the Southern Song Dynasty were different. They also had processes such as digging out the blank, withering the blank, making the blank, sticking the blank, and repairing the blank.
This is not over yet, the next step is to replenish the water, and then to dry the blank.
The next step is to make the original glaze, make the gray glaze, apply the glaze, repair the glaze, touch up the glaze, and dry the glaze.
This glazing process adds a lot of steps, which can be described as striving for excellence.
Do you think this is the end? Firing in official kilns in the Southern Song Dynasty is not simple either.
What is an official kiln and why is it an official kiln? It is because of these complicated processes.
Therefore, in the firing process of the official kiln in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were several processes such as bowl making, bowl sharpening, bowl repairing, bowl drying, and bowl burning.
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