Chapter 1835: Magnificent, a treasure passed down from generation to generation
"In the end, the mirrors from the Ming and Qing dynasties turned out to be the best."
Chen Wenzhe felt a little emotional. Generally speaking, the older the bronzes, the more valuable they are, but this time the bronze mirror he saw in the cellar was an exception.
Because the last two mirrors he saw were both enamel mirrors.
These two enamel mirrors should be cloisonné enamel imperial mirrors.
The one I have is from the Ming Dynasty. This mirror is a cloisonné enamel grape-pattern court mirror of the Ming Dynasty.
It has a diameter of 44 cm, a weight of 9040 grams, a round shape and a moiré pattern.
The mirror body is cast as a whole, and the edge of the mirror back is cast and connected to the mirror body. The copper is precise and the mirror body is thick.
The moiré button in the middle of the mirror's back is made of welded flowers, and the back is made of turquoise green enamel material that first appeared in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, there is also a cloisonné enamel grapevine leaf pattern, the composition is delicate and vivid, and the enamel color filling is classical and elegant.
The edge of the mirror back is decorated with lotus patterns, the patterns are regular and detailed, and the colors are rich and rich.
The mirror was originally gilded, but with the passage of time, much of the gilding has worn off, but it still retains its former glory.
The moiré buttons and the gilt decoration on the edge of the mirror are still well preserved.
Such imperial mirrors are very rare because of the enamel craftsmanship on them.
To date, only two similar cloisonné enamel mirrors are known to exist.
Chen Wenzhe knows these two pieces, one is hidden in the Palace Museum and the other is in the hands of a private collector in Switzerland.
However, the size, preservation state, and mirror decoration are far from the two sides that Chen Wenzhe saw.
These two sides can be said to be the most magnificent and magnificent, and can be called rare treasures passed down from generation to generation.
With such two mirrors, Chen Wenzhe can easily distinguish which one is from the Ming Dynasty and which one is from the Qing Dynasty.
Because the current practice of filigree enamel in our country is a new technology brought back to the Central Plains by the Mongolian Yuan people after they conquered Central Asia.
However, the cloisonné enamel wares that can be confirmed today probably only date back to the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and it is difficult to see products from the early Yuan Dynasty.
The copper-embedded filigree enamel wares of the Ming Dynasty are quite different from the filigree enamel wares of the Qing Dynasty and modern times in terms of technological testing.
Of course, the most important thing is the difference in the carcass manufacturing process.
The copper tire blanks in the Ming Dynasty were all made of thin copper sheets that were beaten or embedded.
Only the rim, base or ear accessories are cast.
In the Qing Dynasty, except for the gold and silver bodies, which were hammered and joined together, most of the copper bodies were molded, so they appeared thicker.
The material and method of filigree are different, and they are also different.
The filigree material used in the Ming Dynasty was mainly flat bronze.
This kind of copper wire used to pinch patterns is made of beaten flat copper wire.
Because bronze wire is relatively brittle and hard, cracks in the filigree lines that have been lightly beaten can often be seen under a microscope.
The filigree in the Qing Dynasty was first pressed into very thin copper sheets, and then the filigree was cut out one by one just like cutting noodles.
Therefore, under the microscope, no cracks can be seen on the filigree of the finished product.
That Qing Dynasty mirror is a Qing Dynasty filigree enamel Kui dragon pattern mirror.
It is 2.0 cm thick and has a lens diameter of 13.1 cm.
Such a mirror must have been used by the royal family.
The decoration on the back of the cloisonné mirror is centered on a raised round button with a Tai Chi diagram, and spreads out from four precious flowers.
Eight flower-tailed Kui dragons surround the edge of the mirror, and the smooth filigree lines make the Kui dragons appear vivid.
The front of the Kuilong pattern mirror is inlaid with a glass mirror, which is different from the ancient traditional bronze mirror.
The Qing Dynasty filigree enamel Kui dragon pattern mirror has a copper body, a chrysanthemum-shaped mirror rim, a glass mirror on the surface, a blue ground on the back decorated with Kui dragon and Baoxiang flowers, and a protruding round button in the center, decorated with Tai Chi diagrams.
There is also a rosewood frame attached to it. This kind of mirror should be a cultural relic from the late 18th century.
The last two mirrors are definitely the most precious among the several bronze mirrors in the cellar.
Chen Wenzhe was naturally very satisfied when he saw this, and he also knew that this must be a cellar from the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.
It's impossible for a small cellar to hide just a few mirrors, right?
"I wonder if there are other things?" Chen Wenzhe thought a little greedily.
After all, it is a cellar, and it must be the cellar of a knowledgeable collector. Anything that appears in such a cellar should be genuine.
"Hey, is there really one? Is it a black plate?"
"It looks a little wrong. Is this a black enamel?"
After looking carefully for a while, Chen Wenzhe finally discovered that what was pressed under a mirror was a small plate.
Moreover, this small dish is very special. It is actually black, and it is also enamel on black ground. This is not simple.
Chen Wenzhe thought about it carefully, and it seems that this kind of enamel color has really been unearthed, but the one that was unearthed was a remnant.
Thinking of that piece, Chen Wenzhe looked back a little and saw the money left on this small plate. It was indeed made in the Yongzheng year.
This corresponds to the fact that the remnant found in China was also made in the Yongzheng year.
Enamel-colored porcelain is the top quality of official kiln wares, and the reason for this is the high cost of enamel-colored glaze;
The exquisite craftsmanship, the emperor's attention, and the low yield rate all contributed to the preciousness of enamel.
Generally, when making enamel porcelain, a layer of transparent glaze is first applied to the inside and outside of a plain body that is as white as snow and as thin as paper.
Then, use ground glaze to outline the pattern on the surface of the object.
Taking yellow ground glaze enamel as an example, first use yellow glaze to outline the pattern to be painted, and then paint other colors in the pattern.
Then the yellow glaze is applied outside the pattern. After the finished product is combined with the painted decoration and the shape of the object, it is named "Yellow Ground Enamel xxxxx".
Enamel-colored porcelain began in the Kangxi period, became popular during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, and slowly declined in the late Qianlong period.
In the enamel-colored porcelain that was abundant during the Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties and has been passed down to this day, the base materials used are mostly bright colors.
For example, yellow ground enamel represents the royal family, while blue ground enamel is favored by the Qing Palace.
Others include pink ground enamel, purple ground, purple red, carmine red enamel, etc.
There are even transparent glazes that are directly applied with a white body. It is rare to see enamel porcelain with a darker color as a base, such as black ground enamel.
However, during the 2014 archaeological excavation of the Nandaku of the Forbidden City, some rare fragments of black-ground enamel colored porcelain were discovered in the pits dug inside the palace to bury and dispose of waste materials at that time.
Later, it was pieced together into an open small plate with only the bottom balance of "Zheng, Year, Made".
The entire small plate is white with transparent glaze, and the outer wall is painted with black paint.
There are plum and bamboo patterns painted on it, and the patterns are filled with green, yellow, white, red and other color materials.
Although the color material on the base has completely fallen off, there are three characters on it, "Zheng, Nian, Zhi", which makes it easy to identify it as a Qing Palace colored porcelain made in the Yongzheng year.
The most important thing is that this small plate is made of similar materials to those used in the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty.
In addition to the structure of the base and color material layers consistent with the enamel color porcelain process, archaeologists also analyzed the chemical composition of each color material and concluded that the color materials on the color porcelain, except for the white material, are all low-temperature lead glazes, which is consistent with the enamel color porcelain process.
The enamel color materials of the Qing Dynasty were similar.