How to identify authentic calligraphy and painting
Identifying the authenticity of calligraphy and painting is both a profound knowledge and a complex technology. In order to distinguish between true and false, the discriminator must not only be well-educated and knowledgeable, but also must know a variety of subject knowledge, listen more and see more, and increase his or her eyesight. This subject is endlessly sophisticated, and experts who have been engaged in appraisal for a lifetime often make mistakes sometimes, but they know some simple methods to identify obvious fakes when buying.
Of course the authenticity of calligraphy and painting should be determined clearly, but there is no need to be too demanding. The general principle is to regard the good as true and the bad as bad. It is not necessary to regard the true as good and the false as bad, because it is difficult to determine the difference between true and false. We should also regard those who are reasonable as true and those who are unreasonable as false. Historically, famous calligraphers and painters have had ghostwriters. Even I cannot tell the difference between the ghostwriters and the good ghostwriters, let alone outsiders, and hundreds of decades have passed. There are also ghostwritten works that are better than my own. For example, Qianlong's calligraphy works were written by Zhang Detian, and Lu Runchi's calligraphy works were mostly ghostwritten by Zhu Kongyang. Both of them were higher than me, but one was not the emperor, and the other was not the top scholar. Therefore, when distinguishing authenticity, we should pay attention to the principle of treating exquisite and reasonable as true, and treating crude and unreasonable as false.
Using some technical means to determine authenticity is more accurate and does not require any tools. Here is some basic common sense.
1. Look at silk
Silk was invented very early and was used as a calligraphy and painting tool very early. However, the durability of silk is relatively short and it is not as easy to preserve as paper. No matter how hard you collect it, the natural erosion of air alone can make it brittle. After being stored for hundreds of years, silk loses its flexibility completely. Silk in the early Song Dynasty was made of single thread horizontally and vertically, but the horizontal thread was slightly wider and looked like double thread. By the middle of the Song Dynasty, it was the same horizontally and vertically, but the silk was slightly thicker than before, and the color was similar to dark Tibetan scripture paper. In the Yuan Dynasty, technology improved slightly, but it was still monofilament, with thin wire and sparse texture. In the early Ming Dynasty, the vertical wire was single wire, while the horizontal wire was changed to double wire. The silk quality was uniform in thickness and density, which was a great improvement over the previous generation. By the early Qing Dynasty, both horizontal and vertical wires had become double wires, and the previous single wires were no longer used.
The silk from before the Ming Dynasty has been handed down to this day, but its surface has absolutely no luster. The fluff on the silk has completely faded due to years of use, and its color is the same inside and outside. If the counterfeiter uses new silk, you can tell from the single and double horizontal and vertical threads. If the silk is particularly single and double, it looks similar from a distance, but the brightness on the surface and the fluff on the silk cannot be removed no matter what method is used, and it becomes the same as the old silk. , and the colors are different inside and outside. These are the characteristics of silk. If mastered well, the authenticity will be clear at a glance.
2. Look at paper
Paper is more complicated than silk. There were many kinds of paper before the Song Dynasty, but the main ones seen today are cotton paper and linen paper. Cotton paper is similar to current rice paper, with hemp paper having a rough texture. The most common raw material component of the two types of paper is still silk. The silk of cotton paper is short, while the silk of linen paper is long and uniform. It is not as impurity-rich as later papermaking. To identify it from the paper, the method is also very simple. Take a piece of old paper, dip it in water, and pick it with a needle. If it is Song Dynasty paper, there will be a lot of velvet, and no matter how broken it is, it can be framed. Paper after the Song Dynasty is broken. It is impossible to frame it. If you use a microscope to distinguish, it will be easier. In fact, the surface is uneven, as if a layer of membrane has been peeled off, like insect erosion, and there is a looming layer of white ash. No matter how deep or light the color is, all thickness, inside and outside, are uniform. for consistency. Because forged paper is dyed, the thicker parts of the paper are darker and the thinner parts are lighter; the inside is light and the outside is dark, the convex part is dark and the concave part is colorless. Due to different textures, the degree of coloring must be different, and flaws will be found at a glance with a microscope.
3. Look at the ink color
The ink color will have some characteristics due to its long time. In the works of the Song Dynasty and before the Song Dynasty, there will be a layer of white frost on the ink color. If you look closely, there will be no white frost. It doesn't come off even if you shave it. There is a layer of berry moss within the ink color, which seems to be hidden and rational, and will not retreat when peeled off. The forgery is made by blowing incense ash to adhere to the ink color. Once wiped, the ink color will appear black and bright, which is very different from the natural one. As for the color, it cannot be imitated. The colors of the paintings of the Song Dynasty and before the Song Dynasty are uniform. It has been secreted into the paper and silk, completely dyeing the fibers. Although the paintings of the Yuan and Ming dynasties were inferior to those of the Song dynasty, they were also profound. The ink marks or colors of new paintings or imitations are all on the surface. They are light but not calm, bright but not heavy. Although they are processed by fumigation, traces of new paintings will still be exposed. When the old and new are compared together, the authenticity will be obvious. .
4. Look at the stamps
The stamp may seem inconspicuous, but it can distinguish the authenticity of calligraphy and painting.
Very few works in the Tang and Song dynasties were stamped, unlike later works, which were not considered complete without stamps. Before the Song Dynasty, bronze seals were used, and occasionally ivory and rhinoceros horn were used as seals. In the early Ming Dynasty, Wang Mian began to use flower milk stones to make famous seals. After the middle Ming Dynasty, various stone seals such as Qingtian, Shoushan, and Changhua were produced. Forgers don't know this, so they always use stone seals to make it easier to engrave. Due to the different materials used for seals, the imprints will be different, from which the authenticity can be distinguished