Ceramic experts Ye Peilan’s Discrimination of True and False Yuan Blue and White Porcelain Differentiation and Analysis of True and False Yuan Blue and White Porcelain

叶佩兰谈真假元青花瓷器辨析
china Porcelain is one of the great inventions of our world, with a long history of development and distinct characteristics of the times. In the history of our country, there have been several development peaks, and its products are loved by people all over the world. Especially the blue and white porcelain of Yuan Dynasty has a simple and dignified shape, solid glaze and strong pattern, which gives people a sense of magnificence. But at present, a large number of counterfeits are flooding the market or editing books with counterfeits, which will cause many cultural relics enthusiasts, collectors or museum staff to misunderstand. Therefore, it is necessary to seriously explore how to distinguish true and false Yuan blue and white porcelain.
I. Blue and White Porcelain of Yuan Dynasty as Export Goods
Blue and white porcelain is a well-known variety in China’s ceramic industry. It has a history of more than 700 years since the Yuan Dynasty and has always been in vogue. Because of its blue and white decoration, elegant and pleasant, beautiful and practical, it is deeply loved by people of all ages, and is one of the most distinctive handicraft products in China. Since the Yuan Dynasty, it has been exported to all parts of the world. Its appearance has strengthened the friendly exchanges between our country and the people of all countries. Unfortunately, none of the Qingguan’s old collections contained the descendants of blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty. There are not only five famous kilns in the Song Dynasty, but also various royal wares in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, except blue and white wares in the Yuan Dynasty. Even among the other old Tibetan varieties in the Yuan Dynasty, there were only a few sacrificial articles, such as the grass bottle in Yuanlongquan kiln, the Dazun in Yuanlongquan kiln, the jug of sky blue glaze in Yuanjun kiln, the white dragon plate in Yuanjingdezhen blue glaze and the white glaze plate in Yuanjingdezhen. Several pieces of Yuan blue and white collected at the Palace Museum in Beijing are also unearthed from tombs newly acquired or allocated by provincial and municipal museums after 1949. From the analysis of the old collection of the Palace Museum, the court of the Yuan Dynasty may not use porcelain in daily life, but only in sacrifice. It was not until the Ming and Qing dynasties that porcelain was widely used in the palace. Marco Polo, who had served beside Kublai Khan for many years, wrote in his book Travels of Marco Polo about the colour and lustre of court utensils of the Yuan Dynasty: “The tableware used by the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty is a beautiful gold-plated metal product.” Su Tianjue, a famous scholar of the Yuan Dynasty, recorded in Volume 5 of A Brief Story of Famous Ministers of the Yuan Dynasty, Yang Zhongsu Gong: “The wine vessels used by the Yuan Taizu were made of gold-plated metal with trough mouth.” It can be seen that the Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were not used to using porcelain, and the tribute porcelain was very few. So why did the government of the Yuan Dynasty focus on supervising the production of porcelain? After years of research by many experts and scholars, it is believed that the main reason why the late Yuan Dynasty court paid so much attention to porcelain is that the order of export porcelain was huge, and it could bring huge profits to the government to meet their living needs.