The porcelain of Yaozhou Kiln in the Song Dynasty mainly includes daily utensils such as plates, bowls, washbasins, bottles, and pots, as well as a small amount of incense burners, printing boxes, porcelain sculptures, etc.
The utensils are generally made in a relatively regular and delicate manner. Their superb pattern decoration craftsmanship and rich decorative themes make Yaozhou kiln porcelain uniquely charming.
At that time, the celadon-glazed porcelain was produced by the Yaozhou kiln in the north and the Longquan kiln in the south. The pattern patterns embellished on the porcelain of the Yaozhou kiln were mainly completed by engraving, molding, molding and other craftsmanship.
The so-called carved patterns are made by using knives and pointed instruments to carve various pattern patterns on the porcelain body, and then applying glaze and firing. The patterns are decorated with lines that are concave and lower than the tread.
This kind of decoration was created in the early Northern Song Dynasty. Its technique inherited the tradition of the Tang Dynasty and was developed under the influence of Yue kiln. The decoration on the two celadon three-legged incense burners in the hands of Han Peacock is exactly in line with the characteristics of Yaozhou kiln.
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Another reason why it is said to be in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty is that the carved patterns in the early Northern Song Dynasty are usually relatively simple and sloppy, and they become more sophisticated in the middle period. The patterns are decorated with skilled knife skills, smooth lines, and the pattern patterns are extremely vivid.
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In its heyday, the products of the Yaozhou kiln were mainly celadon. Due to the mutual influence between the kilns at that time, the celadon of the Yaozhou kiln was similar to the porcelain of the Yue kiln, Longquan kiln and other kilns in many aspects.
"Is this really porcelain from the Yaozhou kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty? I heard that even in the Northern Song Dynasty, the output of incense burners and other things was not high?" Fat Liu looked at the pair of three-legged incense burners with bright eyes. Two of them appeared here at once.
! To be able to compete with the porcelain from the five famous kilns, two pieces appeared at one time. What kind of luck is this?
Han Kongque said with a smile: "There are many characteristics that can prove that it is the Yaozhou kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty. To distinguish whether it is a celadon from Yaozhou kiln or another kiln, the characteristics of the glaze are very important. The glaze of Yaozhou kiln porcelain is emerald green, and the glaze is fine and moist.
The glaze is also thin and the glaze color varies in shades.
Some are slightly greener, and some are slightly yellower, but they are all green with flashing yellow. Regardless of the depth of the glaze, it is rich in yellow components, otherwise it would not be the celadon product of Yaozhou kiln but other kilns.
The later the era, the greater the degree of yellow flash. By the Yuan Dynasty, the bluish-yellow component of Yaozhou kiln was even greater, and it almost looked like yellow-glazed porcelain. Look at these two pieces of porcelain, do they look a bit yellowish?
Yellowing? Although it is yellowing, it is not that conspicuous. This can also prove that this is an early work of Yaozhou Kiln, so it should be from the Northern Song Dynasty."
Seeing that Fat Liu was confused, Han Kongque didn't say much. In fact, although the identification of this three-legged incense burner was troublesome, it was only based on the glaze color, porcelain body, etc. In addition to the characteristics of the glaze color that Han Kongque just mentioned,
The characteristics of the porcelain body are also an important basis for judging a piece of porcelain.
Song Yaozhou kiln celadon has a thin fetal bone and a dark gray color. Because the glaze application process was still insufficient at that time, glaze often leaked from the back of the object, near the feet and bottom.
These exposed parts of the glaze leakage show some small patches caused by caramel-colored iron oxide. Because the iron content in the tire soil is relatively high, there are often some faint glazes in the lower glaze outside the body.
Light brown, these features cannot be imitated by later imitations.
Imitations of Yaozhou kiln porcelain from the Song Dynasty were rarely seen during the Republic of China and previous periods. Most of those seen now are imitations made in recent years.
The new imitation Yaozhou kiln celadon has slightly thicker fetal bones and low iron content, so the fetal color is grayish-white and lighter than the original color. There are no small sauce-colored patches due to leakage of glaze, and there is no brown color in places where the glaze is thin.
In addition, the composition of the ring feet is also different. The imitation ring feet are smoother, which is very different from the authentic ring feet that are cut evenly and regularly.
These characteristics are clearly reflected in these two incense burners, so Han Peacock is very lucky. Fortunately, Jiang Lin came out to find someone in the ghost market today, and also brought a policeman from the city bureau.
Perhaps it was because of this that all the hardcore collectors on this antique street shunned, allowing Han Peacock to take advantage.
Otherwise, in the eyes of experts, this kind of thing is a big door opener, and it is absolutely impossible for Han Peacock to get it so cheaply.
In the final analysis, this was Han Peacock's good luck. The celadon glaze was originally very beautiful, and even after thousands of years, it still looked as new as before. This was why ignorant people like Hou San, Fat Liu, and Jiang Lin took it away.
Han Kongque had already identified these two incense burners as celadon-glazed three-legged incense burners from the Yaozhou kiln of the Song Dynasty, so he did not put all his attention on these two incense burners, but on the crudely made copper bowl.
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Han Kongque was confused when he saw this clumsy copper bowl, because it was too big and heavy. Who would make such a cumbersome copper bowl to use when they are full.
The copper bowl is a tool used by monks to make alms. Because such a thing is carried with you, the ordinary copper bowl is like the one Jiang Lin took with him, which is very thin.
Moreover, before the Qing Dynasty, copper was a precious metal and was used to make coins. No one would waste a lot of copper to make a heavy copper bowl to attract thieves.
Originally, Han Kongque was just doubtful, but when he held it in his hand, he was no longer doubtful, but convinced.
The weight of this bronze bowl is wrong. At first, Han Peacock guessed that the bronze bowl weighed four or five kilograms, but when he actually held it in his hand, he felt that it was lighter. Although not much, this bronze bowl was definitely not everything.
Made of copper.
"Is this copper bowl also a good thing?" Fat Liu saw Han Peacock's gaze, finally staring at the rough copper bowl, and directly asked his question.
"There is something wrong with this copper bowl. The outer layer of copper should have been wrapped later, and the inside is partially hollow. I don't know what is hidden inside." Han Peacock replied.
"How did you know?" Fat Liu asked in surprise.
Han Kongque said: "The weight is wrong. A copper bowl of this size should weigh about four or five kilograms, but now it is lighter. This can only mean that there is either a hollow inside, or the inside of the copper bowl is not made of copper."
"Is this okay? I thought you had clairvoyance and could directly see the inside of the copper bowl." Fat Liu said pretending to be regretful.
"I think you have read too many novels. We should believe in science." As he said this, Han Kongque got up and prepared some things, hoping to accurately measure the volume and weight of the copper bowl.
Han Kongque weighed the copper bowl and put the copper bowl into a basin to measure the volume. In this way, the density of copper can be calculated. Although the copper in this copper bowl is not pure, the difference should not be very big.
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By the time Han Kongque calculated it, his conjecture had been completely proven. There was something really wrong with this copper bowl. Its calculated density was too different from the density of real copper.
"It's really wrong. I don't know what's inside?" Fat Liu said in surprise.
Han Peacock smiled and said: "As long as it's not hollow."
Han Peacock found a pair of scissors and carefully pierced the copper bowl. Sure enough, there was a gap inside. Han Peacock easily peeled off the outer layer of copper skin. Inside was some filler, which seemed to be high-temperature resistant for making molds.
Material.
Han Peacock cleaned out the fillings, and a trace of golden light leaked out.
"Is it a golden bowl?" Fat Liu opened his mouth wide and didn't know what to say. Isn't Han Peacock's luck too bad? Can he still pick things up like this?
"It should be a golden bowl. It looks quite small." Han Peacock was also a little excited. No wonder it was so heavy with so many things inside. It turned out to be a golden bowl wrapped inside.
"It can't be fake, right?" Fat Liu asked casually.
"Is it possible? Who has nothing to do and hides a fake golden bowl here?" Han Kongque rolled his eyes at him.
"Is that real gold? Maybe it's gilded!" Fat Liu was a little jealous of Han Peacock's good luck, so he blamed it.
But he really said it, and now Han Peacock is also worried about this. In ancient times, it was not that there were no fakes, and there were gilding and other techniques.
Due to the high value of gold itself, counterfeiters often use copper, copper-based alloys, imitation gold materials such as rare gold, sub-gold, imitation gold, gilt, gold plating, gold coating, etc. for counterfeiting.
Han Peacock took out the golden bowl and cleaned it. He first measured the data of the bowl. The golden bowl was 7.2 cm high, 21.2 cm in diameter, 0.12 cm in wall thickness, 17.2 cm in abdominal diameter, 7.1 cm in abdominal depth, and weighed 573
gram.
This golden bowl has an open mouth, a bulging belly, a trumpet-shaped ring foot, and is decorated with flat chisels. The whole body is covered with fish roe patterns, and two layers of upward lotus petals are chiseled on the outer abdomen, with ten petals on each layer.
The upper lotus petals are carved with foxes, rabbits, deer, deer, parrots, mandarin ducks and other rare birds and animals, and the animals are surrounded by symmetrical flowers and plants.
The lower lotus petals are decorated with honeysuckle patterns. The inner circle of the foot is engraved with a circle of mandarin ducks and a circle of honeysuckle cloud patterns. The circle of the foot is decorated with a square pattern. The sole of the foot is decorated with spherical beads. The inner bottom is engraved with a rose-shaped flower.
There is a chiseled inscription on the edge of the mouth, "On March 23, the 14th year of Xiantong, the Wensi Academy ordered to make a gold bowl with mandarin duck and lotus petal patterns, weighing fourteen taels and three coins. It was made for Liu Weizhao, the magistrate of Xiaodu, and the magistrate awarded him a purple gold fish.
All the kings of the pockets were captured, and the deputy minister enshrined the palace minister Qianyi envoy General Hongqi, the guard of the left prison."
"Is there any engraving? The Wensi Academy was a department of the Tang Dynasty court, right?" Although Fat Liu didn't know much about it, he still had some impression of the Wensi Academy.
Han Peacock looked at the golden bowl carefully, and after looking at it for a long time, he said: "This golden bowl is made of sheet metal, that is, the hammering method. The craftsman first uses a hammer to beat the pure gold nugget into gold pieces.
, then place it in a mold to make a bowl, and then carve text on the rim. It seems simple but reflects extraordinary production skills.
From the chisel inscriptions, we learned that this golden bowl with mandarin duck and lotus petal patterns was made by Wensi Yuan, a gold and silverware workshop of the Tang Dynasty. Wensi Yuan should represent the highest level of gold and silverware production at that time."
The Tang Dynasty was the most powerful and glorious period in Chinese history, and its gold and silverware production represented the highest level of metal craftsmanship.
The processing technology of gold products in the Tang Dynasty was more sophisticated than before, not only the production was exquisite, but also the methods were diverse.
"You were a thing of the Tang Dynasty court, how could your luck be so good?" Although Fat Liu is a typical representative of a broad-minded person and a fat body, now he is also jealous of Han Peacock.