1。 Many beautiful patterns are actually "stickers": printed in advance, pasted on porcelain, and then burned. This is an excellent distinction: if there is no difference between two porcelains, it is a sticker (technical term, I'm not sure. This is the popular explanation of my husband's classmates. He is the director of the largest porcelain factory in Jingdezhen. ) This price is lower. The price of hand painting is higher.
2。 Hand-painted porcelain: Generally, only an old master who has worked for many years can have superb skills and draw fine products. In other words, young people's painting and calligraphy level is not good. So those who really do well are generally over forty. Corresponding to the grade certificates of all walks of life, the ceramic industry also has grade certificates. A good work will have an author's certificate, and it is an unrepeatable work.
3。 Calligraphy and painting are only the beginning to ensure the success of porcelain. Glazing, firing, etc. Are well controlled to make good things. Sometimes even the works of the same kiln are not all fine works. Authors who cherish fame usually attach their own certificates to their good works. Although sometimes you can get a work with the author's seal but no certificate by luck, amateurs like you and me who don't know porcelain, it's best not to buy it either, so as not to make mistakes and lose money.
The following are the methods I have found to identify porcelain:
The simplest and best way to identify porcelain is to pick it up and tap it gently to see if the sound is crisp, loud and pleasant. If so, it means that it is high-quality porcelain made of high-quality porcelain clay; If the sound is heavy or even hoarse when knocking on porcelain, it is porcelain made of inferior porcelain clay, with poor quality and even cracks.
Another method is to observe porcelain under strong light or sunlight to see whether the texture is fine and even and whether there are cracks.
The appearance of porcelain can be glazed or painted. Glazing of porcelain painting can be divided into "over-glaze color" and "over-glaze color" and "under-glaze color". The so-called "over-glaze color" is to draw a color pattern on the surface of porcelain fired at high temperature, and then fire it in a low-temperature kiln, so that the color and glaze are integrated. The tableware used in daily life is mostly glazed porcelain. The so-called "underglaze color" porcelain is to draw a colorful picture on the broken porcelain, then glaze it, and then put it in a kiln for high temperature firing. Because it is painted first and then burned, the color painting is under the glaze. With the protection of glaze layer, its color paintings are not easy to fade even if they are frequently washed and rubbed. It can be seen that "underglaze color" is higher than "underglaze color".
How to choose among the dazzling array of daily-use ceramic products? First, decide the purchase grade according to your own economic affordability, and then choose your favorite variety from the appearance. Look inside and out from the shape and color you choose to see if the surface is damaged, smooth, spotted and blistered. Then put the porcelain on the palm of your hand and pat it gently with your fingers or small objects. If the sound is crisp, it means the quality is good; If the voice is dull or hoarse, it means that it is damaged or not burned well, which is inferior. Look at whether the shape is geometric, and observe porcelain products on a plane, which requires stability and small deformation. See if the decorative pattern is beautiful and harmonious. When choosing porcelain decorated with gold and silver, you should also rub it with your hands to see if it changes color and takes off gold. When purchasing complete sets of ceramic products, we should look at whether the glaze color, picture, luster and style of each piece are consistent, symmetrical and harmonious. Thin-walled ceramic products should be transparent, thin and light, and even in thickness when they are taken care of under sunlight or light. Porcelain for microwave ovens must be selected with the words "for microwave ovens only" to avoid cracking in use. Under-glaze color and in-glaze color ceramic products are bright, bright and soft, and will never fade. Although they are expensive, they are of high grade and elegant for home use. Try to buy products from well-known manufacturers, because these manufacturers have strict detection methods and standards, and the dissolution of lead and cadmium is strictly controlled below the national standards, which is harmless to human body. The safety of daily-use ceramic products Some newspapers and periodicals have published false statements such as "Daily-use ceramic cookware and tableware release lead and cadmium harmful to human health and cannot be used to hold food or cook food". As far as people know, daily-use ceramic products are mainly composed of mineral raw materials, which are calcined at 1000℃ ~ 1400℃. The new mineral composition is stable, and lead and cadmium will not be precipitated during use. Even if ceramic pot is used to cook soup and porridge on an open flame, the water can only reach the boiling temperature. The lead and cadmium toxins in daily-use ceramic tableware mainly come from the patterns on the glaze, which are made by pasting paper on the white blank of the product (after calcination at about 1200℃), adding color by hand and baking. When the baking temperature exceeds 750℃, lead and cadmium have basically volatilized, so there is no toxicity problem. Of course, it is not excluded that there are shoddy ceramic decals, and the lead and cadmium in the pigment exceed the standard, which makes the harmful substances of ceramic tableware exceed the national standard. Generally speaking, the contact parts of daily-use ceramic cups, bowls and pots with food and drinks have no patterns. Dishes and plates have patterns in the food-holding parts. For the sake of prudence, you should try to buy products with less edge patterns or blank without patterns. Don't use colorful or pastel plates full of patterns, because they are porcelain products for display and decoration, and it is forbidden to hold food.
The key points of identifying Jingdezhen kiln monochromatic glaze are as follows:
(1) Is the shape neat or not?
② Is the glazing uniform?
③ Is the tread pattern exposed at the foot end round?
(4) Is the glaze foot line flush?
⑤ Is the word "smile" complete?
6. Is body porcelain dignified?
If we identify blue and white, multicolored, famille rose, glazed red and other painted porcelain, we should still look at whether the pen is free and easy, or stiff and stagnant.
Introduce a few more technical terms:
Blue and white-is a kind of underglaze colored porcelain with cobalt as colorant and drawing various decorative patterns under glaze.
Blue and white porcelain is the basic feature of blue and white porcelain, and blue and white porcelain in different periods has its own characteristics. Yongle and Xuande blue and white flowers are rich and dignified, Chenghua and Hongzhi blue and white flowers are soft and elegant, Jiajing and Wanli blue and white flowers are gorgeous and purple, and Kangxi blue and white flowers are colorful. At this point, the development of blue and white porcelain reached its peak.
Yongle and Xuande periods were the golden age of blue and white porcelain production in China. The blue-and-white pigment used to draw decorative patterns in this period was imported Suniper Blue. Because this raw material contains low manganese content, it can burn bright color like sapphire blue, and high iron content forms a little black spot, in contrast to the rich blue decoration. This kind of sunken black spot is the main feature of Yong and Xuan blue-and-white porcelain, which is difficult for later generations to imitate.
Underglaze red-is a kind of underglaze colored porcelain which uses copper as colorant and draws various decorative patterns under glaze.
The firing process of underglaze red products with red flowers on white background is similar to that of blue-and-white porcelain, but it is more difficult than that of blue-and-white porcelain, because copper needs to be fired in reducing atmosphere. Jingdezhen craftsmen in the Ming and Qing Dynasties successfully mastered this firing technology and produced a variety of underglaze red products.
Monochrome glaze-refers to a single color glaze. The most basic glaze used for firing porcelain in Ming and Qing Dynasties is colorless transparent glaze. Only when a chemical element is melted, the glaze will show different colors in different atmospheres and temperatures. According to the different manufacturing processes, monochromatic glazes can be divided into high-temperature monochromatic glazes and low-temperature monochromatic glazes.