Beauty drunk porcelain is called "peach blossom glaze-pea" in the West.
All mainstream Western Chinese porcelain collections include cowpea red ware as an indispensable item.
In 2016, Christie's New York auctioned several pieces of Kangxi cowpea red porcelain from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which caused a sensation.
One of the pieces, Lai Fu Zun, was made with cowpea red glaze and sold for a high price of US$2.045 million.
Just one piece of porcelain is worth more than 14 million yuan.
This shows how popular this kind of red glazed porcelain is.
Therefore, if you want to collect various types of utensils in the eight major sizes, it is always hard to find.
But it’s not too difficult to get cowpea red porcelain.
For example, Chen Wenzhe and Yi Niantang Ceramics Factory can satisfy them.
There is nothing we can do about it. Now Chen Wenzhe is not hungry when one person is full.
Therefore, no matter what he does, he must find some way out for his subordinates.
Like the Eight Big Numbers, it obviously allows his masters from all walks of life to show off their magical powers.
There were several world-famous copper red glazes in the Qing Dynasty, such as Langyao red. In addition, the high-temperature "copper red" glazes of the Qing Dynasty also included cowpea red and Jihong.
Cowpea red has a color like cooked red cowpea skin and has a pink texture.
It is named for its elegant and pleasant color tone, uneven pink color, like red cowpea, and light and beautiful shape.
Due to different firing temperature conditions, there are several colors. The bright red one is called "Dahongpao", the light pink one is called "cowpea red", and the fresh and delicate one is called "Beauty Drunk".
Just hearing the name is beautiful enough, and Jihong is a product imitating the Xuande sacrifice red glaze of the Ming Dynasty. It is a deep red color, the glaze does not flow or crack, and orange peel lines are visible.
There were also low-temperature red glazes in the Qing Dynasty, one was coral red using iron as the coloring agent, and the other was carmine red using gold as the coloring agent.
Coral red is the alum red of the Ming Dynasty. Because the firing temperature was higher than that of the Ming Dynasty, the red color is yellowish like red coral.
There are two types of carmine: thick and bland. The thick one is called "rouge purple" and the bland one is called "rouge water".
The latter reds have all been fired by Chen Wenzhe before, but the cowpea red has not been fired.
If it is fired now, then it must be all eight sizes.
Since we want to imitate this kind of porcelain, we must have someone to imitate.
Here Chen Wenzhe feels heartbroken again, because there are still the most famous porcelains of this level abroad.
For example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was previously auctioned by Fu Zun, has a collection of Chinese cowpea red "eight large size" porcelain.
Like the Panlong vase, there is one in the museum's collection.
This type of vessel is extremely rare and is the most outstanding piece of Kangxi "cowpea red" in the Metropolitan Collection. It is also an important work in the study of Kangxi's high-temperature copper-red glaze porcelain technology.
The glaze color of this bottle is bright and unique, with red and green contrasting with each other, just like what is said in the poem, "green is like blue water at the beginning of the day, and red is like the dawn of dawn."
Then there are chrysanthemum vases. There are 9 pieces of Kangxi "cowpea red" chrysanthemum vases in the Metropolitan Collection.
Two of them were severely damaged, with their necks cut off, and one was ground and encrusted with silver ornaments.
This bottle is coated with cowpea red glaze, making it delicate and pink.
This kind of bottle has a red color like cowpea, but also gradually changes to deep red among the uniform pink.
Especially in the pink color, there are faint green spots, which are even and translucent, and it is very gorgeous.
There are also willow leaf vases that were auctioned before. There are 13 Kangxi "cowpea red" willow leaf vases in the Metropolitan Collection, one of which has a cut-off neck.
The willow leaf vase is a unique bottle style created by the official kiln in Jingzhen during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty.
Its characteristics are: extravagant mouth, thin neck, plump shoulders, the lower part of the shoulders is thin to the foot, the feet are concave, and the body of the vessel is as slender as a willow leaf, hence its name.
Because of its graceful and graceful shape, it is like a graceful beauty, so it is also known as the "beauty shoulder" and is a precious palace ornament.
Then there are the Laifu bottles. There are 2 Kangxi "cowpea red" Laifu bottles in the Metropolitan Collection.
Fortunately, there is also a bottle in the Forbidden City in China. This kind of bottle has a round mouth, a long neck, broad shoulders, a long belly, and shallow round feet.
The outer wall is coated with cowpea red glaze, and the whole body is plain. Only the neck is decorated with a few convex string patterns. The white body can be seen where the string starts due to the thin glaze layer.
The inner wall is covered with transparent glaze, which is slightly green.
The outer bottom is glazed with white glaze, and the blue and white inscription "Kangxi Year of the Qing Dynasty" is written in three lines and six characters in regular script.
The copper red glaze on the outer wall of the cowpea red glaze vessel is blown into the glaze several times and then fired at high temperature.
Since the glaze contains a trace amount of copper, it will be oxidized during the firing process and produce green spots, commonly known as moss spots, which are mixed with the red glaze to create an interesting contrast.
Among the innovative bottles created during the Kangxi Dynasty, cowpea red glaze was the best.
The glaze color of this vase is uniform and elegant, with only green spots on the mouth, which is very attractive.
There are also Taibai statues. There are 22 Kangxi "cowpea red" Taibai statues in the Metropolitan Collection.
Among them, the cutouts of 5 pieces have been modified into water injection. It is not ruled out that they are complete pieces, which are water injection shapes.
There are three other types, such as boring, gong and washing.
There are 7 Kangxi "cowpea red" boring gongs and washers in the Metropolitan Collection, one of which has a large punch and one has an open glaze surface.
The boring gong washer is small in appearance and has a pleasant glaze color. It has the reputation of "moistening the sand glaze and painting with Zhu Ming".
It was generally used as a royal eucalyptus by Emperor Kangxi and is difficult to find among the people.
At present, all the items handed down from generation to generation are rewards and leaked from the palace.
In the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, a large number of imitations were made.
But no matter the shape or color, it cannot be compared with the Kangxi original.
The Metropolitan Museum also has 18 Kangxi "cowpea red" ink pad boxes.
The ink pad box, also known as the ink box, is a stationery item that holds ink pads. It is mostly oblate in shape.
The shapes are smaller, including porcelain, copper, agate, jade, etc.
Porcelain is the best. There is a saying in the past that "porcelain is the most suitable for printing color pools".
Finally, there is the Apple Zun. The "cowpea red" Apple Zun in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is not from the Kangxi dynasty, but a 19th century imitation.
The mouth of the Apple Zun is concave, the feet are rounded, and the belly is bulging. Because it looks like an apple, it is called the Apple Zun.
The Apple Zun is one of the classic utensils from the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. It is an innovative stationery utensil from the Kangxi kiln.
There are more imitations like this in major museums abroad.
The slightly better ones belong to the folk kiln system, such as bowls. There is only one Kangxi "cowpea red" bowl in the Metropolitan Collection.
The bottom of this bowl is signed with the inscription "Kangxi Year of the Qing Dynasty".
This kind of work should be outside the official kiln system.
But in terms of collection value, it is more precious than the five styles in the "Eight Big Codes".
There are only a few "cowpea red" bowls in existence. There are four types of bowls: small pier bowl, small skimmer bowl, large pier bowl and large skimmer bowl.
The small-style pier bowl is hidden in the Dawei De Foundation, and the bottom is signed with the "Xuande Year of the Ming Dynasty" as a deposit.
Large-style pier bowls are also very rare. The only one currently known is signed with the inscription "Made in the Kangxi Year of the Qing Dynasty" on the bottom and is on display in the "Extension of Beautiful Colors - Special Exhibition of Kangxi Porcelain and Palace Art Treasures".
Therefore, the better something is, the more imitations it will have, especially the imitations made during the Republic of China period, which are even more difficult to identify.
Of course, for an expert like Chen Wenzhe, there is no problem in identifying these works.
There is still a little bit of skill involved, and this comes from his porcelain making technology.
No matter what type of red glazed porcelain it is, there are a few simple tips to identify its authenticity. This website: