Chapter nine hundred and sixty-six South Vietnam Porcelain Classics
To be honest, this is the first time Chen Wenzhe has seen South Vietnamese blue and white porcelain.
However, with his strong memory, he knew very well what this exquisite South Vietnamese blue and white porcelain plate looked like.
This is the benefit of reading more books, being more informed!
If an ordinary Chinese came here and saw such an exquisite blue and white platter, would they know what era and what kind of historical period it was made?
Chen Wenzhe can do it. He even knows that this was made in the fifteenth century.
Just by looking at the outline of the trumpet-shaped lotus petal pattern on it, he knew that it was produced at about the same time as the previously mentioned Topkapi Palace Mingtian Globe Vase in the eighth year of Yamato (1450).
Even the craftsmanship of this plate is better than that of those celestial sphere bottles, and it looks more exquisite.
However, this thing is not without flaws.
For example, there are 11 trumpet-shaped lotus petal patterns on the outside. One of them is slightly cramped and seems forced.
Of course, this also means that you should not draw it after deciding on the composition.
Chen Wenzhe knew that this kind of South Vietnamese blue and white plate can be divided into two major categories, namely round mouth and flower mouth.
The latter is to use bamboo strips or fingers to press out the flower mouth on the edge of the mouth, or to use a mold to make the flower mouth after wheel shaping.
The rim is slightly wavy, which is common in vessels depicting decorative patterns and vessels with straight walls.
The previous blue and white double bird pattern dish was a round mouth dish with a straight rim and a deeper abdomen than other large dishes. This kind of deep belly large dish is extremely rare.
If you look closely, you can see that the edge of the plate mouth and the ring foot of the double-bird pattern plate are exposed. There is no white makeup soil on the bottom, and the transparent glaze is applied directly in the form of a scroll.
South Vietnamese blue and white porcelain is made by applying iron-containing mud inside the circle foot, and then applying a transparent glaze, which is called "chocolate base (rust base)".
There are more cases where iron-containing mud is applied in this swirling form.
There are very few large South Vietnamese blue and white dishes with a diameter of more than 40 centimeters, such as the blue and white double bird pattern dish. Most of them have a diameter between 35 and 40 centimeters. Less than 10 pieces with a diameter of more than 40 centimeters have been found in the world.
Moreover, these works with a diameter of more than 40 centimeters basically have exquisite decorations, and the underglaze red color is also excellent, which is a product of fine workmanship.
As we all know, with the increase in China's exports to the Islamic countries in ancient times, there has been a tendency for ceramic products to become larger in size since the Yuan Dynasty.
Most of the Yuan and Ming blue and white porcelains collected in Topkapi Palace in Turkey, as well as the large plates of Longquan kiln celadon, are 40 to 50 centimeters in diameter.
In addition to large pots, there are also many large-scale vessels that first appeared in the Ming Dynasty, such as Tianqiu bottles.
So far, it is difficult to determine the size and form of the South Vietnamese blue and white plate, and whether it has certain specifications.
But at least as reflected in the Yamato eight-year-old celestial sphere bottle in the Topkapi Palace, it shows that South Vietnam already had a strong awareness at that time and manufactured such products for the purpose of exporting to the Islamic country.
It can be seen that South Vietnam attaches great importance to the production of blue and white porcelain as export trade ceramics.
Looking carefully at the blue and white double-bird plate in his hand, Chen Wenzhe determined that its production year was undoubtedly the 15th century.
However, through the study of the patterns, he discovered that the age of the artifact may be earlier than the previously seen celestial sphere vase with a chronological inscription, probably between 1425 and 1450.
Here we will talk about the historical situation of South Vietnam in the 15th century. From 1407 to 1428, South Vietnam was occupied by the army of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty and entered the territory of the Ming government.
Starting from about 1418, the anti-Ming activities of Le Li and others intensified.
In 1427 (the second year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty), the Ming army retreated from Vietnam, and in 1428, Le Loi established the Le Dynasty (Da Viet Kingdom).
It is still uncertain what impact this political and social background had on the kiln production at that time. Gu
But it is hard to imagine that this was a period when kiln industry production could develop steadily.
The Le Dynasty established diplomatic relations with the Ming government in 1431 (the sixth year of Xuande of the Ming Dynasty). In 1436 (the third year of Taizong Shaoping of the Le Dynasty), Ming Yingzong canonized Le Taizong, the son of Le Li (Le Taizu), as King of Annam. The relationship between the two countries was finally stabilized.
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After the Le Dynasty entered a certain degree of stability, it took less than 20 years to produce the Yamato eight-year-old Mingtian ball bottle.
In terms of the expression of the peony pattern as the main pattern, this work and the celestial sphere vase of Topkapi Palace are generally the same style and similar objects.
Several such artifacts have been found elsewhere.
For example, the peony vase handed down from the Temple of Ardabil is one of them.
There is also Neon Osaka, and I think I have one in my collection.
There must have been a lot of this kind of thing produced back then. For example, among the four large plates in front of you, one of them is a peony pattern plate.
This type of artifacts is earlier than those in the Ardabil Temple and even earlier than the celestial vases in Topkapi Palace.
Chen Wenzhe did not expect that he would discover the representative South Vietnamese porcelain classics just by wandering around.
And when I discovered it, there was not one piece, but six pieces.
Not to mention the celestial sphere bottle and the polygonal bottle, these four plates are very representative.
Even the inconspicuous blue and white fish pattern plate is not simple.
This blue and white fish pattern plate from the 15th century has a diameter of 38.5 cm, which is slightly smaller than the other plates.
But its production process should be passed down from generation to generation.
This large blue and white plate follows the fish and algae pattern of Yuan blue and white porcelain, the revolving composition and brushwork of two carps, the glaze color, and the Tang grass pattern on the inside, which is similar to the double bird pattern plate in the Osaka Museum.
At the same time, there is an arabesque pattern with peonies as the center on the inside. The expression of peonies is somewhat simple, but it is also similar to examples such as Topkapi celestial vases.
Therefore, there should not be much difference in the production dates of objects such as Osaka and Topkapi celestial vases.
Chen Wenzhe took a closer look at the four plates one by one. In addition to the double-bird pattern plate, the four-bird pattern plate, and the double-fish pattern plate, the other one was a peony pattern plate.
These plates are all blue and white, and they are all large plates.
This kind of container is used to hold soup or rice. It was produced to adapt to the eating habits of the Islamic world where everyone sits around and eats from the same plate with their own spoons.
Among the overseas ceramics imported into the world of Yisrael, it is also a particularly popular type.
The Topkapi Palace in Turkey and the Jingzhen blue and white porcelain handed down from Iran, as well as large Chinese porcelains such as Longquan kiln celadon, also confirm this.
Chen Wenzhe is very familiar with blue and white, and he is no stranger to making large plates.
As for peony patterns, he does more, but he has never done blue and white peonies before. He usually makes ruby red peonies or underglaze red peonies.
However, the large blue and white peony pattern plate in front of me is also well made.
This 15th century blue and white peony plate has a diameter of 44 cm.
Such a large plate is beautifully made, which shows that a lot of effort has been put into it.
This also proves that the blue and white porcelain firing technology of South Vietnam at that time was very exquisite.