The blue and white porcelain of the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty is famous for its simple and elegant shape, crystal bright glaze color, and colorful patterns. The number of firings is also unprecedented. According to the "Da Ming Huidian", in the eighth year of Xuande (1433), the imperial court issued a task of firing 443,500 pieces of dragon and phoenix porcelain in Jingdezhen. Among them, blue and white porcelain accounts for the majority, which shows the large scale and quantity of its firing. The products not only provided for the daily needs of the palace, but were also sold in large quantities overseas as commodities and as gifts to foreign tribute payers, becoming witnesses of cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
Among them, the blue and white porcelain of folk kilns is mostly concise and summarized, slightly inferior to the official kiln in terms of strength and quality. The glaze is not moist, the painting method is unrestrained and free, the brushwork is more careless, the picture composition is very particular about artistic conception, and is full of folk Breath of life, lively and interesting.
The Xuande blue and white porcelain in the Xuande kiln, "Notes on Nan Kiln" written in the Qing Dynasty, is said to be "a type of Xuan kiln, extremely elegant and simple, with materials of varying shades, thick and solemn ink, and blue and white seeping into it. Rusty Man". "Guangzhi Yi" written by King Shixing of the Ming Dynasty records: "In this dynasty, the two kilns of Xuan (Xuande) and Cheng (Chenghua) are better. The Xuan kiln is better with blue and white, and the Cheng kiln is better with five colors." Zhang Yingwen of the Ming Dynasty "Secret Collection of the Qing Dynasty" On the Kiln Ware, it is described that "the Xuanmiao kiln wares of my dynasty are made of thin and thick materials, with faint orange peel lines and ice-cracked eel blood lines, which are almost the same as those of the official and Ru kilns. Those with dark flowers, red flowers, blue and white flowers, etc." Unprecedented in ancient times, it is a unique product of a generation." During the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, Zhu Yan's "Tao Shuo" talked about the Xuande kiln, "According to this, when the Ming Xuan kiln was at its peak, the selection of materials, sample making, painting utensils, and inscriptions were all exquisite."
Xuande official kiln blue and white porcelain occupies a very important position in the development history of Chinese ceramics. It reflects the society, economy, culture, art and even ideological concepts at that time. As a porcelain used in the palace and a fine work of art, it has unique artistic charm, which is closely related to the completeness of the system and the maturity of technology at that time. The work has always been praised by future generations as a model of blue and white porcelain craftsmanship.
The Xuande blue and white carcass is thicker than Yongle, and its texture is precise, delicate, white and hard. Most of the plum vases, large plates and large pots have unglazed white fine sand bottoms, which are very smooth when touched by hand, with flint red spots on the edges. Small and medium-sized objects have a glaze base.
The glaze is thick and moist, with a soft and non-dazzling luster. It is mostly white with a bluish tint, and is commonly known as "bright cyan glaze". The glaze is not smooth, like orange peel, commonly known as "orange peel glaze", and very few have cracks. If observed under a high-power magnifying glass, the glaze surface is full of large and small bubbles, and even small bubbles rub into large bubbles. No matter what kind of porcelain was produced in the Xuande Dynasty, almost all had this kind of glaze.
The body of folk kiln wares is made of porcelain stone and kaolin. It is white and has a good degree of porcelain. Compared with Yongle folk kiln wares, the carcass is thinner. The color is mostly light egg blue, the enamel is plump and shiny, and there are bubbles and orange peel brown eyes on the glaze.
There are two types of blue and white materials: imported and domestic. The imported Sumali blue material is the main one. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Shimao's "Guitian Waicheng" records: "Our dynasty was specially set up in Jingdezhen, Fuliang County. During the Yongle and Xuande periods, the inner palace was fired. It is still the most expensive. At that time, it was common to have sweet and white eyes, and Su Ma Liqing as decoration." It was also mentioned in "Jingdezhen Taolu" written by Lan Pu in the Qing Dynasty. When drawing decorations, they can be used alone or mixed. It is often decided according to the different decorations which cobalt material to use to depict the decoration of that part. When drawing, domestic materials are often used to outline the lines and imported materials are used for rendering.
Suma Liqing, an imported green material, has a particularly high iron content and low manganese content, so it is called "high iron and low manganese" material. The hair color of Suma Liqing is deep and rich, and can produce a gem-like color when the fire atmosphere is good. The high iron content can easily make the hair color appear dark blue, and dark brown crystal spots will be formed in thick areas where the pigment is condensed. Under certain light, it has a tin-colored color, and the crystals are triangular, and the glaze surface is uneven when you touch it with your hands. If the glaze layer here is thin, it will appear dry and dull; the domestic cobalt material will have a blue color with a hint of gray, without dark brown rust crystal spots; the other color will be light, haloed, and elegant in color; When the imported and domestic pigments are mixed, the color will be bright, rich and elegant, and have the characteristics of the two cobalt materials.
Xuande blue and white has rich shapes, diverse shapes and is very changeable.
For example, bottles, pots, jars, bowls, plates, basins, washbasins, jars, etc. are all available.
He is especially successful with his patterns. The patterns are drawn very regularly and never go out of line. There are two types of brushes: solid brushes and outline renderings. Solid brushes are mostly fine lines, while outline renderings are mostly thick lines and patterns. The lines are smooth, the textures are clear, and there is a sense of coherence. The patterns are rough and dotted randomly without outlines, commonly known as "one-stroke stippling".
The range of decorative patterns is relatively broad, including flowers, birds, fish, insects, figures and landscapes. In the pattern painting, a small pen is used to render and fill the color. Since the small pen has limited dipping material, it needs to be re-dipped constantly, which leaves many deep and light stroke marks on the pattern. Its composition achieves generalization, exaggeration and selection, enhancing the decorative nature. In addition, Xuande blue and white is also used in combination with stenciling, engraving and other methods in decoration. In summary, Xuande's blue and white patterns draw from a wide range of materials, have innovative compositions, rich decorative techniques, and are magnificent in painting, and have strong artistic appeal.
The main patterns are twining and broken branches of flowers, including twining peony, twining lotus, twining chrysanthemum, twining Ganoderma lucidum, twining morning glory, pine bamboo regret, Baoxiang flower, gardenia, Ganoderma lucidum , lily, lotus, camellia, loquat, daylily, lotus algae, bamboo stone plantain. The most common ones are composed of camellias, chrysanthemums, peonies, and lotus flowers. And often several kinds of flowers are used alternately and repeatedly. The lotus with twining branches is also more common in Xuande blue and white porcelain, mostly with double lotus petals. The depiction is very smooth, the lines are rough, free and lively, and the layout of the painting method changes according to the shape of the vessel. It is flexible and has strong regularity, which shows the superb decorative art and proficiency of painting skills at that time.
There are writings on the abdomen. In the early days, it was written in four-character seal script, and others were written in regular script. There are six-character models and four-character models. The six-character style includes the "Xuande Year System of the Ming Dynasty" double-circle and double-line regular script style, six-character horizontal style, and six-character vertical style. The four-character style includes double lines and double circles in regular script, four-character horizontal style, four-character vertical style, and four-character seal script style. Mainly, the blue and white double-circle six-character double-line regular script in the center of the foot of the artifact is mostly "Xuande Year of the Ming Dynasty", and some are "made", and the four-character "Xuande Year" is rarely used. Most of the folk kilns have the words "Fu", "Shou" and Sanskrit written on them.
Blue and white double circles with six characters and two lines are written on the bottoms of bottles, jars, bowls, washbasins, pots, plates and other utensils. The six-character horizontal inscription is often written on jars, bowls, bird food jars, string pattern stoves, skimming plates, tall bowls and other utensils. The six-character vertical inscription is usually written on the incense burner, the center of the bowl and the handle of the pot. The four-character inscription is usually written on the bottom of bowls, goblets and the shoulders of plum vases. The name of a tall bowl is usually in the center of the bowl, usually with six characters in a double circle. The plate has a glaze bottom with regular inscriptions on the bottom, and the plate has a sand bottom with inscriptions on the shoulders, sides or under the folded edges.
The structure and layout of Xuande blue and white fonts are very regular, with moderate distance between characters and moderate thickness of strokes. It imitates the brushwork of Jin and Tang small regular scripts and has the charm of Yan style calligraphy. The brushwork is strong and powerful, the writing is neat, the structure is dignified, the font is clear, thick and simple. Mr. Sun Yingzhou, an expert on ancient ceramics, summarized the Xuande style and wrote a poem: "The Xuande year mark is all over the body of the vessel, the regular script seals are dark yang and yin, the horizontal and vertical flowers are in four pairs and single gardens, and the small regular script of the Jin and Tang Dynasties is the most outstanding." The character "大" in regular script is often shortened and long. There is no horizontal line on the word "心" for "德", which is the ancient writing method used in Han steles. The left and right parts of "De" are very close together, which seems uncoordinated. The horizontal edge of "clothes" in the word "Zhi" does not exceed the "knife", and the hook of the fourth stroke of the word "clothes" does not connect with the left stroke of the fifth stroke. There is very little writing in the seal script, and the double circles often have different shades. Some of the six characters are of different sizes. The font is clear and round, and the strokes are pointed. There is a horizontal line above the "heart" of the character "德" and a little more to the left of the character "Xuan". It is not horizontal, the hook on the right is drooping, and the horizontal line of the word "衣" at the bottom of the character "Zhi" is shorter.
Compiled and written by Liu Sheng, Hong Kong Gibran International Collection Office