Chapter 1669: The Wonder of China, the Mystery of Ceramics
Imitation turquoise glaze began to be fired during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and was still fired until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
It also belongs to low-temperature glazed porcelain, and its shape is often like a plume tube.
These are rare porcelains created based on unique glaze colors.
Of course, there are many glazes produced in China, and there are even more special ones.
The blue and white and underglaze red mentioned before are all familiar glazes.
If we talk about more special ones, there are many more, but these glazes are a bit niche.
Being niche does not mean that it is not precious, especially among porcelain, niche products are even more precious.
For example, raindrop glaze is a kind of porcelain that is difficult to fire.
It is named because the glaze is full of metallic luster crystals, which look like splashing raindrops.
Raindrop glaze originated in the Tang Dynasty and matured in the Song Dynasty. Qilu Boshan raindrop glaze is the most famous.
Raindrop glaze is known as "the wonder of China and the mystery of ceramics" by guests at home and abroad for its calm, elegant, dignified and noble artistic style.
The fine raindrop glaze is deep and heavy, the glaze base is black and sub-bright, and the glaze surface is smooth.
The silver star points are plump and well-proportioned, the crystals are round and shiny, and the crystal points are as big as beans and as small as millet, resembling the water circle patterns of raindrops falling into the water. It was also known as "oil drop glaze" in ancient times.
The products produced are elegant and unique, full of interest, and the production technology has reached an unprecedented level. They are regarded as treasures by collectors at home and abroad.
In fact, this glaze color is a special variety of black glaze, which is a crystalline glaze.
Created in the Song Dynasty, it has typical kiln-building characteristics.
Limestone is generally used for glaze, and iron is used as the coloring agent.
The green body is glazed and fired in the kiln to a certain temperature. The iron in the glaze forms crystals and aggregates into new black oil droplets.
After cooling and extinguishing, the crystal particles remain in the glaze layer, giving it a unique decorative effect.
Chen Wenzhe paid attention to raindrop glaze two years ago, and he also asked Li Jinli to help him collect relevant materials.
It is not the relevant raw materials for making raindrop glaze, but everything related to raindrop glaze, or everything related to the production of raindrop glaze porcelain.
For example, he has in his hand a snuff bottle belonging to a master of arts and crafts who can make raindrop glazed porcelain.
This master was an unknown arts and crafts master who was hidden among the people. He passed away in the late 1980s.
The 1960s and 1970s were the peak of his artistic career.
During this period, the red snuff bottle he left behind brought Chen Wenzhe a great surprise.
At first, he thought this snuff bottle was a piece of jade, and it was a very rare red jade, or blood jade.
But after he looked at it carefully, he found that it seemed to be glass, artificially fired, which made people feel very incredible.
Chen Wenzhe knows about "Boshan Liuli" and also knows that this product is very famous in his hometown.
This is made from Boshan's abundant local horse teeth, purple stone, lingzi stone, saltpetre, coal, etc. as raw materials.
Of course, it must be produced using traditional techniques unique to this region.
This kind of colored glaze has Chinese characteristics. It is made of precious colors represented by chicken oil yellow, chicken liver stone, bright red, magenta, etc. and is made of colored glaze products using traditional techniques such as glaze engraving, interior painting, lamp work, and silk laying.
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Boshan colored glaze mainly includes colored glaze vases, furnishings and bouquets, and Qilu Painting School interior painted tobacco bottles.
Others include "chicken liver stone", "chicken fat yellow", golden red, turquoise green, set carving, material bead jewelry, imitation jade, imitation agate glaze and lampwork glaze.
Its production skills are now included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage representative items.
The glass snuff bottle in Chen Wenzhe's hand is not a simple Boshan glass engraving.
It is not easy to open Boshan Glazed Engraving and Painting. This craft uses the blanks of Boshan Glazed Wares and uses traditional techniques such as line engraving, relief carving and color painting to produce glaze products with Chinese characteristics.
From the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China, the technique of glass engraving and painting was passed down in the form of workshops.
After 1951, a cooperative and an art glaze factory were established, bringing together veteran artists from various craft categories in the glaze industry.
Each person of this generation has their own unique skills and are important inheritors of Liuli.
Nowadays, under the training of old artists, the new generation of glazed artists has gradually mastered the traditional skills of glazed carving, and a large number of national and provincial arts and crafts masters and glazed artists have emerged, represented by Xin De Sheng and others.
The blood-red glazed snuff bottle in Chen Wenzhe's hands is the work of an older generation of craftsmen.
Through this snuff bottle, Chen Wenzhe viewed his life.
This old artist is really not simple, he knows many things.
For example, cooking skills, because Chen Wenzhe saw that he was actually a chef most of the time.
In other words, handicrafts are not his main job to support his family.
This old artist's main job is as a chef, and his hobbies include glaze firing, engraving, paper-cutting, and even gongs and drums.
By looking back at the life of this master, Chen Wenzhe really learned a lot of master-level skills.
For example, Boshan's carmine red glaze firing technique, his snuff bottle is a product of the carmine red glaze firing technique.
Carmine first appeared on porcelain and became popular in the Qing Dynasty.
Since this red material was introduced from Europe, it is called "Magenta Red" or "Western Red".
In the West, it is often called "rose red" or "rose red".
This color is quite similar to the color of rouge used by women, so it is also called "rouge".
"Carmine" has been called a "precious color" since the Ming and Qing Dynasties because it is difficult to smelt and its ingredients are expensive.
What is surprising is that the Boshan glaze craftsmen are so skillful that they apply the beautiful carmine red color to the glaze, giving off a different brilliance.
Historically, it was during the Qianlong period that carmine was truly freely used and widely popularized;
It was during the Qianlong period that carmine red glaze became widely popular and in large quantities. At the same time, Boshan Glaze served as the "imperial kiln" to transport glaze products to the palace.
Now Boshan's carmine red glaze firing technique has also been included in the list of representative projects of Qilu Province's intangible cultural heritage.
At the same time, Boshan gongs and drums are also one of the intangible heritages.
Boshan gongs and drums are majestic, changeable in rhythm, bright in tone, cheerful and ups and downs, and are quite distinctive.
It originated from the rural gongs and drums in the Jianghuai region of my country. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it flourished in Jiangsu and Hangzhou and the vast rural areas of northern Jiangsu.
It was introduced in the early Qing Dynasty and was initially called "Lijiayao Gongs and Drums".
By the mid-Qing Dynasty, Boshan City had become an important industrial and commercial town, and the development of commerce and trade had brought cultural prosperity.
At this time, Lijiayao gongs and drums entered the peak period of development, and many new drums came into being.
At the same time, its spread has expanded to central and northern Qilu and other regions, and it has been widely used in activities such as Lantern Festival, harvest celebrations, gatherings, praying for rain, memorial ceremonies, weddings and funerals.
Later it was used in major festivals and opening celebrations.
From then on, the name "Lijiayao Gongs and Drums" was replaced by "Boshan Gongs and Drums".
It's okay if you don't study it carefully. If you really study it, Chen Wenzhe discovers that this master is simply the only inheritor of intangible culture.