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The scientific nature of traditional methods to identify the age of porcelain
Porcelain is one of the great inventions in ancient my country and has a profound impact on human civilization. made outstanding contributions to history.
Cultural relic identification is a science, which is to study and reveal the characteristics of historical cultural relics, grasp their development rules, and achieve the purpose of correct chronology. However, for a long time, it has not been able to scientifically summarize it, leaving it stuck in the stage of perceptual understanding that "can only be understood but cannot be expressed in words" and lacks theoreticalization.
Cultural relic identification is an indispensable and important task in the study of cultural relics. Our country is one of the ancient civilizations with a long history in the world. It has a very rich historical cultural relics that have been preserved to this day, and there are countless cultural relics buried underground. These precious cultural relics occupy an extremely important position in the cultural history of the development of human society. Therefore, the research, identification, and preservation of cultural relics are of great significance.
Ceramics is an important part and carrier of the development of Chinese culture, and is also an important part of Chinese cultural relics. Porcelain appraisal is of course also an important part of cultural relic appraisal. Porcelain identification is a science, and it must be treated with a scientific attitude. It is very important to understand this point. However, for a long time, due to various reasons, it was believed that identification is unscientific and can only be an experience at best, without any theoretical basis, so it was rejected.
Porcelain is a historical and cultural relic of the development of human society. Talking about porcelain appraisal is actually talking about the characteristics of the times of porcelain. However, due to the times, the characteristics of porcelain are also different. Different eras produce porcelain with different characteristics. This is the scientific basis for us to identify the age of porcelain.
The identification of porcelain mainly includes two aspects. One is to identify the age of the porcelain, which is the era of firing, and the other is to identify the kiln mouth of the porcelain, which is the location where it was fired.
The identification of the age of porcelain and the division of kiln mouths are the basis for studying the development of porcelain. The determination of the age of porcelain creates conditions for dating research; the division of porcelain kiln mouths is useful for studying the distribution of porcelain firing areas, the quality and level of porcelain firing technology, the relationship between porcelain kilns in various regions, and the impact and differences between them. Provides scientific basis.
When studying the development history of porcelain, the two are complementary and indispensable.
However, the identification of Ming and Qing porcelain is different, because during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province was the national porcelain firing center. Except for a few local kilns, the vast majority were products from Jingdezhen. Therefore, there is no division of origin between Ming and Qing porcelain, but only the identification of an era.
Regarding the age basis for porcelain identification, porcelain before the Song Dynasty is different from the porcelain after the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The age of porcelain before the Song Dynasty was mainly based on tombs, especially the porcelain unearthed from tombs with conclusive dates. Appraisers used it as the standard instrument for dating. Archaeological data proves that the age of the tombs is consistent with the age of the porcelain unearthed from the tomb. Scholars have scientifically compared a large number of porcelain unearthed from tombs with dates to find out the shape, texture, glaze color, and decoration of the porcelain of each era. They have different characteristics in various aspects, and use this as a scientific basis for identifying porcelain before the Song Dynasty.
The identification of porcelain in the Ming and Qing Dynasties cannot be used as a basis for our dating because there are very few tombs, especially tombs with dating records, and there are also few unearthed porcelains. Therefore, the basis for identifying the age of Ming and Qing porcelain is based on the comparison of the official kiln porcelain of the Ming and Qing Dynasties with dates such as "Xuande Year of the Ming Dynasty" and "Chenghua Year of the Ming Dynasty". Then, the shape characteristics, body glaze and decorative style of the porcelain with dated marks were used as standards to solve the dating problem of official kiln and folk kiln porcelain without dated marks. At the same time, based on the shape, body, glaze and decorative style of these dated porcelains, The decorative features, in turn, can solve the problems of these fake porcelains.
Therefore, to determine the mouth of the porcelain kiln before the Song Dynasty, the kiln firing sites must be excavated, and the determination of the age of the kiln site must be compared with the porcelain unearthed from the tombs with chronological records.
The porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty was developed on the basis of the porcelain of the Song Dynasty. In addition to the porcelain kilns of the Yuan Dynasty in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, and the Longquan kiln in Zhejiang, there are still some porcelain kilns still firing across the country, especially in the north.
Therefore, there is also an issue of origin in the appraisal of Yuan Dynasty porcelain. There are very few Yuan Dynasty porcelains with year marks, but there are also some with year marks that are worth noting, such as the famous Yuan "Zhizheng 11th Year" "The large blue and white double-eared vase with the inscription "Inscribed on it has solved the dating problem of a large number of Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelains through comparative studies. Therefore, the appraisal of porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty has a transitional nature between the Song and Ming Dynasties.
Ancient porcelain is a product of history, and each type of porcelain must be marked by its era.
Just like a literary work, it has the background of the era in which it was produced, so it must be analyzed from the content of the work. Ancient porcelain is not expressed by text content, but by its shape, decoration, firing method, glaze characteristics, year, etc. Therefore, identifying the kiln mouth and era of a piece of porcelain must also be based on these aspects. Only through analysis and research can we draw scientific and practical conclusions.
Porcelain is both a work of art and a practical product, generally called "arts and crafts". This determines a basic connotation of porcelain appraisal.
It is necessary to analyze it from the artistic point of view, but also to study it from the firing process. Its art includes modeling and decoration; the firing process includes the raw materials for making porcelain, the characteristics of the body and glaze after firing, and the firing method. .
1. The shape of porcelain is the main basis for our dating.
Because the shape is the most characteristic of the times, what kind of shape there is in what era, what kind of shape there is; when a type of artifact began to appear, when it disappeared, and what kind of changes it experienced during the period. The process of change is often a reliable way for us to identify the times. Therefore, the shape evolution of ancient porcelain is regular. Finding out their changing patterns and characteristics of the times can achieve the purpose of scientific identification.
2. The decorative themes and decorative styles of porcelain. As the times change and fashion changes, complex and changeable characteristics of the times are formed, which are often used by connoisseurs as a reliable basis for dating.
3. Firing method. The development of porcelain firing technology in our country is constantly developing and improving from low-level to high-level. Because of the differences in raw material processing, utensil shaping, kiln firing and other technologies in each era, different craftsmanship traces have been left on porcelain.
Therefore, the firing method is the fundamental reason for the different characteristics and changes of porcelain. Mastering the different methods of firing porcelain in different eras is also an important basis for us to date.
4. The characteristics of porcelain body, glaze and painting. Since the raw materials for making porcelain are different in different places and periods, the characteristics of the body, glaze, and color of the porcelain after firing are also different. This is also an important method for us to distinguish porcelain from different eras.
5. In addition to the above-mentioned identification of the art and firing process of porcelain, there is also the "year mark" on the porcelain, especially the Ming and Qing porcelain. Porcelain with year marks and porcelain unearthed from chronological tombs are standard vessels for comparison studies, and play an extremely important role in determining the kiln mouth and dating during appraisal.
The above-mentioned ancient porcelain reflects the five eras.
Although it is a mutually restrictive whole, it is emphasized due to the differences in porcelain of each era. For example, the identification of porcelain before the Sui Dynasty focused on the shape; the identification of porcelain in the Tang and Song Dynasties focused on the firing method; Ming and Qing porcelain focused more on the characteristics and style of body, glaze and color.
Cultural relic identification is the basis of cultural relic research. The cultural relics left over from the past society and passed down to the present or unearthed through excavation should be called historical cultural relics; their historical value and artistic value are different, and they should be evaluated according to their role in history and research value. Identify and study and differentiate.
In addition to appraising the historical and artistic value of cultural relics, there is also the issue of authenticating or counterfeiting. With the passage of time, a large number of "fake antiques" have appeared, and it is particularly important to identify the authenticity of cultural relics.
The study of ceramic appraisal is an arduous subject. Especially in modern society, some profit-seeking people have not hesitated to introduce modern technology, imitate and forge ceramics, confuse the public and make huge profits, which has brought new research topics to ceramic appraisal.
This requires us to take it seriously. In addition to scientifically summarizing the traditional identification methods in the past, we must also introduce new scientific detection methods to solve the new problems that are currently emerging. Just as traditional Chinese medicine uses the diagnostic methods of "looking, smelling, asking, and cutting" and Western medicine uses CT and magnetic resonance imaging, the methods are different but the goals are the same. The same goes for the identification of cultural relics. Traditional methods combined with modern scientific and technological means can be said to be an inevitable trend in the identification of cultural relics in the future.
In the future, museum collections and cultural relics appearing at auctions can only be called scientific appraisals after expert appraisal and instrument testing.
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