Knowledge | Metallic Blue and White Porcelain “Iron Spot”

 

Yuan Qing Hua sea water white dragon pattern eight side plum bottle, height 46.1cm, aperture 6.2cm, foot diameter 13.4cm.

元青花瓷图纹所用的钴料即颜料中因含有杂质，故在烧制中杂质和色素颗粒聚集常形成条形或斑状的积青处（或称做凝聚斑，即出现在青花颜色中凝成的深色发黑的斑块、斑点带），如积青处杂质含量过多达到临界值，便又会析出一种很小的斑点状结晶，被称做结晶斑，俗称为“铁斑”。“铁斑”现象在书中都介绍得十分简单，比如《中国古代瓷器鉴赏词》中说：“元青花苏料、进口料、釉面有黑铁斑点”。《元代瓷器》中说：“进口料为画的青花文饰浓艳……带有黑褐色的斑点。”仅此而已。

As for the observation of the shape of “iron spot”, to identify the property of objects or the reliability of the true and false, the present research shows that it can only provide reference for the appropriate, can not be like Yuan blue and white porcelain other components, such as pigments, soil, enamel, painting style, The judgment of process form and so on plays a decisive role.

另外，并非所有的元青花瓷都会出现“铁斑”，特别是一些至善至美之器无“铁斑”，还有一些元青花瓷器物“铁斑”极少极小，得用放大镜才能观察到。无“铁斑”器物也是元代时力求在工艺上追求完美的根本目标，因此，实不宜以有无“铁斑”来做唯一真假依据。这是我们在说“铁斑”时应掌握在先的情况。

We talk about objects with “iron spots” which are generally divided into two categories.A class of utensils represented by the import of Sobroxine cobalt (or Sunibazin, Somerset, Sulaimani, Soleimani, etc.).The other kind is a mixture of imported and home-made cobalt materials as the representative of the artifacts.

The “iron spot” of imported Siobenzin cobalt material is formed because of the iron content in the impurity, while the domestic cobalt material is also called “iron spot” because of the manganese content in the impurity. But at present, it is not directly called “manganese spot”, but it is still called “iron spot”. Includes imported and domestic cobalt mixture formed by the “iron”, “manganese” mixed spots are also known as” iron spots.This can only be regarded as a title, everyone’s habit just.

 

 

元  青花鸳鸯荷花（“满池娇”）纹花口盘，元，高7.3cm，口径46.4cm，足径29.8cm。

这里，一定要搞清“铁斑”和积青处（凝聚斑）的关系，“铁斑”是在积青处的基础上形成，即积青处是先决条件。无积青处则无“铁斑”。积青处是一种凝聚出来的发黑色的斑，而“铁斑”则是从这种聚成黑色的颜色斑中析出的结晶状含金属斑。这种含金属斑以前者为基础，是前者的反应。这种结晶体的含金属斑其化学成份不仅仅只有“铁”或“锰”，还有很多其它成份现未能揭示（铁元素为三氧化二铁，锰为氧化锰）。

“铁斑”的鉴定价值在于，可以通过其形态、颜色的不同得出判断的参考意见。但是“铁斑”现象很复杂，大小形状、颜色均变化万端。每一器之间均不相同。如不是真正掌握其关键特点，很易由此得出错误以偏盖全，即以“铁斑”一点来否定全体，特别是在器物主要特征均相符的情况下，如颜料、胎釉、胎土、加工造型均符，确因没看对“铁斑”对器物进行一点否定，这样的结果是不公正的，也是不能服人的。故我们有必要对这一敏感性的参考性因素进行反复阐释。

 

 

元   青花缠枝牡丹纹罐，高27.5cm，口径20.4cm，足径19cm。

1. Iron Spot Shape:

1. Deformation points, blocks.There are single-point, multi-point, aggregation point.No matter single, many or aggregated, all are irregular round, block or irregular multi-point interlacing beach lines.Its edges are rough or more rounded.Size diameters in 1 mm to 2 mm or larger.

2. Distorted strips。长条、短条，方向随积青处凝聚斑深黑颜色的走向或垂或横或斜，边缘不规则多变或毛糙。长3至5毫米左右，或更细长，或点状排列成长条等更复杂形态。

3. Dispersed silk。40倍放大镜下，呈现如蜘蛛丝般的结构纹，有的如同丝网纹、或乱态变化丝纹、或点状、条状加丝网纹、或点状混合加丝状纹等。

4. Volcanic Pit.A crater-like shape formed after a break in the center of a point or block, in which a small crater is formed and a circle is trapped in a glaze (with a root) called a volcanic spot.

5. Smaller spots.需使用40倍放大镜才能看到的极小的斑。元青花瓷的“铁斑”数量随器物精细程度或烧制情况不同而不同，一般情况下，进口钴料或以进口钴料为主之精妙器物“铁斑”相对趋少趋小，国产钴料为多的混合料或比较一般的器物，“铁斑”相对趋多、趋大。

 

 

 

Yuan Qing Hua Fei Feng unicorn plate, height 7.9 cm, diameter 46.1 cm, foot diameter 26.1 cm.

2. Iron Spot Color:

进口钴料中的杂质主要是三氧化二铁，而国产钴料中的杂质主要是氧化锰，故“铁斑”即结晶体形成后的颜色均不同。

1、进口苏勃尼青钴料“铁斑”呈色为发暗的黑、黑灰、灰或色中略带褐色，褐色不重，当我们看苏料时，其“铁斑”色越暗则料越精纯。一般“铁斑”隐在积青处的黑暗中，我们需仔细看才能发现，且越纯的苏料“铁斑”数量一般均显少。

2. The colors of mixed cobalt and domestic cobalt are the most complex.However, because of the different proportion, the color of iron spot will change more and the quantity of iron spot will also increase.In the first case, when imported cobalt material is mixed with domestic cobalt material (at that time it was mostly high-yielding pebble-green cobalt material in Ruizhou, Jiangxi Province, which is dark, gray and rich in manganese), the manganese oxide content is increased. “Iron spot” color began to brown,40 times under the magnifying glass can be seen blue-brown, black-brown, gray-brown, yellow-brown and other characteristics of brown spots.Therefore, it is known that the brownish blotch is the reaction after the content of manganese oxide in domestic cobalt materials is too high.This is different from the pure imports of sobric cobalt.

第二种情况是，混合钴料中有的器物“铁斑”易出现“锡光”或称“银光”，即通常所说的“锡斑”，发有锡或银的亮光，只有在进口钴料中三氧化二铁同国产钴料中氧化锰成份混合比例适当时才会发生。并不是所有器物都会产生锡光斑。

3、回青料为主的器物和苏勃尼青料器物相类似，内中含铁成份较多，其“铁斑”呈黑、黑灰、灰等色。如掺入适当国产料，也会出“锡光”，掺入过多则会趋褐而无“锡光”。这里需说明的是回青料当时也属于外来料。明《天工开物·回青》中说：“回青乃西域大青，美者亦名佛头青。”可见产于当时元朝的西部不是内地所产。回青这种钴料在元代时也多使用，是一种青中发紫并较浓艳、颗粒比苏料略细但比后来明末开始使用的浙料稍粗的上等钴料，当时相当贵重。其特点正如《江西大志·陶书》中指出的“回青浮，则色散而不收。”就是说回青料的颜色颗粒容易放散，不凝聚，因此回青料为主的器物图纹中，凝聚斑（积青处）的表现力不强，色素颗粒在图纹中往往出现一种漂散状态，没有明显的条形凝聚流散和斑状凝聚流散。因此看回青料器物同看苏勃尼青料器物不同，特别是两者颜料烧制中表现在凝聚特征上的不同：一个为聚，一个为放散或不太聚。故回青料为主的器物之“铁斑”在图纹上的析出更有随意性。

元代时，回青料中也经常加入石子青来调节，因石子青较凝聚，这样可使“散”得到适度收聚。这种器物也较多。

 

 

Yuan Qing Hua Glaze Red Engraving Canister,41 cm high, 15.5 cm in diameter, 18.5 cm in foot diameter.

III. Glaze application of Iron Spot:

1、烧制过程中，生成的“铁斑”有一部分比釉层表面低，向釉表下陷，称为“吃胎”现象。

2、还有相当多的器物“铁斑”既有下沉的，也有不下沉的。并非所有的“铁斑”都下沉，而是相当一部分都浮在表面。比如，包头和上海等地馆藏的元青花缠枝牡丹纹大罐、包头燕家梁元代遗址出土元青花瓷片都是这种情况，建议有兴趣者可前往参观细察，即知如此。目前，包括一些理论家，拍卖行在介绍时往往只强调第一种下沉，而忽略第二种浮在表面情况，显然不够全面。

3、上面已经说过，有一部分“铁斑”类似火山口形状，其顶部冒出釉表形成一个凹陷圆圈，而底部抓住釉下胎体，即有“根”。这是烧制时火候控制不均等特殊状况所造成，同现代仿火候控制极均匀状况不同。

Therefore, should not eat to spot do not eat tyres, do not sink under the judge as a standard, otherwise will cause great misdirection, this is to be repeated to let everyone know.

Imitation of a lot of artifacts” iron spot “can do sinking, imitation of the” spot “, mainly color is not like, all do a larger and exaggerated, similar to the tinted tin pipe burning out of the skin color, not black or brown, and fresh.

Through the above discussion, we should masterThe main points are:

1. The accumulation of blue-and-white porcelain can produce “iron spots”, but not all the accumulation of green” iron spots”.

2. The color of “iron spot” is different from that of “iron spot”. The more pure “iron spot” of “iron spot”, the less and the smaller, the more difficult to find.The more domestic materials added, the more the trend of browning.From this we can see that, where the “iron spot” trend toward more browning and more obvious objects, in fact, has been mixed into other cobalt materials, especially domestic cobalt materials, but what kind of cobalt material is the main or proportion of the problem.These include the blue-and-white porcelain products that we know to be preserved in Iran and Iraq, which were also processed at home, with varying materials, some fairly pure, but some of them plain-colored (as my friends recently concluded after a special visit).

3、“铁斑”有的吃胎，有的仍然浮于釉表，并非所有“铁斑”都下沉。希望有方便者专门去看看身边能看见的诸如包头元青花瓷大罐等馆藏器物，以解释疑。

4. The less the iron spot, the smaller the object, the more well-crafted the device, but also there are no “iron spot” objects.

5, “iron spot” phenomenon should only be used for reference, is not the key to determine the properties of the blue-and-white porcelain.

For example, below:

The dark bar-shaped “iron spot” in the cobalt deposit at the Soberney, which has a very slight brown color, can be seen with careful observation.

The brown “iron spot” that appears at the place where the Chinese-made stone green material is mixed with the Su material is concentrated under the blue and white flowers (head).

苏料混入石子青国产料后积青处出现的褐色“铁斑”于釉表表现情况。

The gray-brown “iron spot” appeared at the place where the Chinese-made stone-green materials were mixed with the Su materials, and the quantity tends to be more.

Iron spot and halo dispersion caused by imported sobric cobalt

The Halo Effect of the Mixing of Imported Material and Domestic Material

The black-brown “iron spot” appears in the middle of the cobalt deposit green material mixed with pebble green domestic material, which needs to be seen carefully.

A “tin spot” in which a certain proportion of other materials (non-pebble green material) are mixed.

苏料中混入一定比例其它料（非石子青料）时积青处出现的“锡光斑”。

国产料（石子青为主）积青处出现的有根的“火山斑”及普通褐色“铁斑”

 

The accumulation of “volcanic spots” and ordinary” tin spots” in a certain proportion of other materials (non-pebble green materials).

It is characterized by divergence and not coacervation, so its” iron spot “appeared at random in the deep part, and it was a foreign material in the western region in the Yuan Dynasty.The blue is purple.Particles are slightly finer than Su’s, but thicker than gravel and later Zhejiang’s.

The black ash-like “iron spot” in the recycled green material.

Ming Yongle period of domestic materials (mainly pebble blue) green accumulation of the brown “iron spot.”