Characteristics and Photo Appreciation of Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain

Kangxi blue-and-white porcelain, with unique style, occupies an important position in the history of Chinese ceramic history.With its embryo, fine glaze, fresh and bright blue and white flowers, the shape is simple and varied, fine and rough co-existence, bold and unrestrained work both.Elegant, simple, generous and well-known, making it well-known at home and abroad, is the Qing Dynasty’s imperial dynasty can not be compared.Production level and artistic level have reached the peak of blue-and-white porcelain.It is another golden age of blue-and-white porcelain in China after the Ming Dynasty. Some people even think that it is more than the Qing-hua period.According to the Qing Dynasty’s” Tao Ya “records:” the two Yongqian Qinghua, Gaiyuan do not catch Kang kiln. However, Qinghua class, Kang Qing although less than the strong beauty of the Ming and Qing, but also can walk this dynasty alone. “”Yinliuzhai said porcelain” said: “hard color, blue and white to Kang kiln for the pole.”Qing “in the garden magazine” also said: “to the imperial kiln, beyond the previous generation, its style scale, make exquisite”.Both the literature and the handed-down products show that the Qing Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain most reflected the craft level of Kangxi Dynasty.

Because of the long burning time and the long change span, the Qing Hua of Kangxi can be divided into three periods: early, middle and late, according to the traditional division method of academic circle and the reference of dry-branch chronometer, and the early period is from the first year of Kangxi to the 19th year of Kangxi.1662-1680From nineteen years to forty years of Kangxi (in the middle of the year) (1680-1701Year);The later period was the forty years from Kangxi to the end of Kangxi Dynasty (1701-1722Year).Early blue-and-white also has the style of Shunzhi blue-and-white in the early Qing Dynasty, slightly rough, the most outstanding performance is the middle and late Kangxi blue-and-white porcelain most attractive.Taking Kangxi 19 years as the boundary line, the amount of fire-making in the Imperial Kiln Factory increased, and the quality of the process was obviously improved.

In summary, the main characteristics of Kangxi blue and white flowers are as follows:

1. Embryos and Glazes of Blue and White Porcelain

The early Kangxi blue flower embryo is thick, the glaze is green and white, has the shrinkage glaze and the small brown eye, also has the instrument body and the instrument bottom glaze color inconsistency, the individual utensil mouth often brushes a layer of soy glaze, the bottom foot processing is not very delicate, has the flint red, the outcrop place can see a circle of fine billet marks.It is common to shrink glaze, stick sand, not smooth phenomenon, thin white inside glaze, common radial jump knife marks, some of the two holes of the foot oblique cut a sharp shape, the diameter of the circle foot large, many bottles, wine, the bottom of the pot appear the shape of the steps, its folding angle is very straight, Common name is” two-story station “or” step bottom “.Double circle foot is also popular in this period, especially with the dragon fold along the washing, the printing box is more, the inner circle is shorter than the outer circle, between the two rings the tire does not have glaze, the circle is wide and thick.The medium-term green flower embryo is white and hard, like “glutinous rice cake”.Very few impurities, fetal body thickness moderate, pay attention to repair the tire.The glaze has two kinds of white powder and paste, white glaze hardness is high, paste white glaze slightly loose, occasionally small open pieces, there is a bright blue glaze.The middle stage blue-and-white porcelain circle is not as big as the early stage. Some of the ends are polished and smooth as loach back, but there is no rolling circle of Yongzheng blue and white flowers in the later stage.At that time also appeared with fine wash mud prepared into the porcelain tyre, commonly known as” pulp tyre “, products such as water pot, ink box, and so on, the body is light.Late blue and white glaze, bright blue and white glaze is the majority, there are white and white glaze, glaze luster deep implicit, the body is heavier than the medium-term, high hardness, the base of the deep general use of flat cutting, cutting neat.

2. Colour of Blue and White

The early blue-and-white porcelain was painted with Zhejiang material. The color was gray-blue. The color of the porcelain was not good and the color was dark.The medium-term green flower uses the “pearl” of Yunnan Province, this kind of green flower color material is refined and refined, improved from the method of water precipitation to calcination, showing bright blue green, no sense of floating, bright bright bright, bright but not dirty, bright but not vulgar, some of which are sapphire blue, bright blue but not flaming, It is very different from other dynasties in the Qing Dynasty, the characteristics of the times are very distinct.And formed a new style of art.People often call the green flowers of Kangxi “emerald blue”, “Kangxi colorful” and “ink is divided into five colors”.This color change has five levels of color level, using green material has” head thick, is thick, two thick, just light, shadow light “points.The ancients have a high opinion of the green flowers of Kangxi, that is, “their blue and white color, see the light, there is a can and divided seven colors, nine colors more, delicate and delicate”.Apparatus painting deep and shallow, light strong and sharp, different levels of rendering, is due to craftsmen skilled use of color materials skills, that is, water separation methods, such as blue and white landscape figure map, flower and bird map, regardless of the distance between the mountain and the water, layer by layer, are rich in the sense of rhythm, three-dimensional sense, Combined with the use of halos, so that it more close to and achieve the theme of traditional Chinese painting expression techniques, like a ink painting, very ornamental, which is also Kangxi Qinghua highly respected by the world one of the important reasons.Late blue and white, tend to be elegant color, some of the gray-blue, some of the diffuse halo scattered, but also painted on cups, dishes and other small vessels.

In addition to burning the traditional white ground blue and white flowers, Kangxi Dynasty, there are pastels blue and white, Ge glaze blue and white, Lang Yao green, blue and yellow glaze blue, yellow glaze blue and white, blue and white, green and green green, green and green glaze blue and white, green and red, blue and white glaze red, green and yellow, blue and white and purple, Blue-and-white peak gold, blue-and-white carving and other derived varieties, although the quantity is not a lot of burning, but do not have fun.

Kangxi Qinghua imitation Ming Dynasty blue and white hair color is also very popular, the proportion is not large, mainly imitation Yongle, Xuande Qinghua Su Nieqing material thick bright color belt halo scattered artistic effect.Then there is the imitation into the blue and white equal blue material of the trace, imitation Jiajing blue and white material blue and purple.This period is good at imitating Xuande blue-and-white porcelain, because the use of domestic goods, low iron content, good stability, the painted flowers although black crystal spots, is the use of artificial re-painting accumulation point method, deliberately point dyeing formation, blue-and-white sinking degree and texture is not enough, glaze also spread green, Individual also has orange peel grain, touch glaze with the hand, more smooth, bumpy feeling is not obvious, and forever open blue and white glaze is often with wavy shape, overall, imitate the level of preparation is very high.

III. Modeling of Blue and White Porcelain

Kangxi blue-and-white porcelain is the most abundant style in Qing Dynasty, the form of which is varied and varied. There are many different styles in one type. Based on the needs and conditions of people’s real life, it is summarized and exaggerated. The abstract techniques are created in a variety of styles, including decorative porcelain, a large number of daily life porcelain and a variety of stationery, tea sets, such as raw porcelain, porcelain and antique bronze style sacrificial vessels, and foreign sales of porcelain, and a number of innovative styles.

The production of large-scale cutters in Kangxi Dynasty was the first in Qing Dynasty, which was closely related to the improvement of forming methods and the maturation of technology.Such as: big mallet bottle, big incense burner, big life character bottle, big market mouth bottle, phoenix tail respect, flower pot, big fish tank, embroidered pier, big cover jar, etc., the overall characteristic is very steady, quite masculine strength.in spite of its bulk, some are as high as80Centimeter, but very little deformation, the body interface is not obvious, reflecting the precision of the molding process.The external outline and turning point of the object are clear, sharp and energetic.Strong style, straight up, simple, powerful, rough and unrestrained, prepared very standard, there is no sense of clumsiness.Small and medium-sized artifacts are original, rigorous and generous, pay attention to the overall effect, not rigid, dignified in the show of beauty.Full display of craftsmen at the time of the superb design of the shape.

There are many kinds of Kangxi blue-and-white porcelain. According to some common objects, we should introduce the following categories:

Bottle: Kangxi is the most abundant blue and white shape.Multi-purpose display for viewing.Have long neck bottle, early bottle high neck thick, late bottle short neck, plum bottle small lip mouth, short neck, body plump, many are jade-like bottom, a small amount is circle foot, no money, have flat shoulder, two kinds of slip shoulder, the form is large, individual glaze has an open plate, small body weight.Cylindrical bottle, also known as elephant leg bottle, appearance and Chongzhen, Shunzhi basically the same, but not the high Shunzhi;Clubmallet bottle, innovative style, because of the shape of the south of China’s laundry with the name of the hammer, basically the kiln products, there are round mallet and square mallet two, the number of the former is more, the latter is less, the lines are clear, the general height is in46About centimeter, the Palace Museum has a collection of blue and white birthday round mallet bottles, washing, straight abdomen, as high as77.6Centimeter, the shape is tall, very eye-catching, Kangxi blue-and-white fish family music picture square mallet bottles, are the fine products of this kind.The gourd bottle, the mouth part increases, pays attention to the line beauty, the bottom has the exposed tire and the book type two kinds, the former imitates the Ming Dynasty characteristic.Cone bottle, jade jug spring bottle compared with the Ming Dynasty neck shortening, abdominal hypertrophy.Gallbladder bottle, bulbous bottle, garlic bottle, water chestnut flat bottle, straight mouth, long neck, flat belly, circle foot, for the Kangxi Dynasty new creator;All sides bottle, ribbon ear flat gourd bottle and so on.

Respectively: ring bell, also known as paper hammer bottle, Kangxi kiln for the innovative style, flat-bottomed concave, there are two types, see more than two varieties of blue and red glaze;The phoenix tail was the fashion of the day.Because of its mouth, out of the foot is shaped like a phoenix tail, hence the name.It is from the evolution of the flower, beautiful lines, smooth stretch.Most are Kangxi mid-and late-stage products, the majority of non-cash.Kangxi Qinghua landscape figure picture, phoenix tail.73.5Centimeter, and blue-and-white chicken peony picture phoenix tail are representative works.Absence of mouth, lute, shaped like a string instrument lute, hence the name.Shuanglu Zun, Pomegranate Zun, Horseshoe Zun, Tubular Zun, Cattle Ring Zun, Guanyin Zun, its utensil type, short neck, large shoulder, below the shoulder gradually, to the bottom of the outside, ears and so on.

Canisters: General can, first seen in the Ming Jiajing, Kangxi Dynasty to continue the Shunzhi style, high and low size, official kiln all have, but the number of kiln accounted for more, the early mouth big pot high, late mouth small pot short.Often draw female children play, hole stone flower bird two kinds of patterns, often the bottom does not glaze the tire, the body is thick, the foot has flint red, the official kiln product size is small, often the abdomen draws group birthday lines, the bottom has this face six words.Lotus seed cans, melon shaped cans, ice plum cans, bamboo cover cans, pot body painted bamboo patterns, in addition to green flowers, there are white glaze green, drum-covered cans, lion button cans, porridge cans, for the Kangxi Dynasty innovative style, size is not very large, the shape is short and round, the bottom of the unglazed tire, shoulders have symmetrical double round holes, Brass rings are worn for ease of use.Canister covers are divided into two types of domes, the former with more pearl-shaped buttons, and the latter without buttons.

Click here to browse the pictures in the new window: the majority of large objects.Early and medium-term mass production, basically civilian kiln products, the general type of high, high in45About centimeter, weight moderate, early simple tube-shaped, flat-bottomed micro-concave, medium-term shape features distinct, began to change, mouth, stomach, upper and lower abdomen raised a week, the second floor, the foot is commonly written in imitation of the Ming Dynasty Chenghua, Jiajing six-character, its two-circle painting is very large, Some of the two circles, some do not write money, most of the diameter is greater than foot diameter.

Pencil: one of the stationery, the number of a lot, the wall is more thick.Common mouth bottom similar to the cylindrical, the largest number of the most representative, skimming-shaped, bamboo knot type, waist-type, the most common is jade-like bottom, the bottom of the navel micro-concave, glaze, than the outer wall glaze to white, thin, followed by the bottom of the steps, loop foot and flat-bottomed open fetus.The official kiln pen tube many books long poetry, the poem tail commonly used in the glaze red seal book “the Xi Dynasty to pass on the ancient” the square chapter.People’s kilns are covered with green glaze and painted with landscape characters and paintings of flowers and birds.Individual has annals such as Kangxi 12 years of landscape characters pen, Kangxi 13 years of landscape pen.

Casserole class: hold the pot, Ben handle the pot;Also known as” Tibetan herbaceous pot “, the religious instrument, is similar to the Tibetan silver prepared pot-shaped prepared to burn made.The teapot, the tea-drinking apparatus, burns to produce many practical and beautiful style, is good at with the shape transformation, has the bamboo knot type, the peach type, the lifting beam type, the eight treasure type, “Fu” shape, “Lu” shape, “Shou” shape and so on, the pot body plump is not very big with the pot flow, the pot handle proportion moderate, the harmonious unification, Be dignified and generous.The teapot is often painted with moxa and bogu.That is, all kinds of handicrafts combined patterns.Kangxi green flower moxa teapot, with ingenious design, covered button, flow handle molded into, plum branch, bamboo knot and loose rod, in the use of green flower painting, bamboo, plum pattern, painting and sculpture into one, very delicate and elegant.The snuff bottle, as a utensil for holding snuff, began to be popular at that time, but the style was simple, with a tube-shaped, small lips, and a drawing of the lotus, chrysanthemum and hanjiang single-fishing diagram.

Flower pots: flower-raising utensils.The body is huge, the fetal body is hard, steady and thick.Common round, cylindrical, oval, Begonia-shaped, square, rectangular, hexagonal and so on.In the late Kangxi period, the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Factory was specially prepared to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Kangxi.As an imperial flower-raising apparatus, many auspicious patterns symbolizing longevity, such as” light cranes extend the year “,” Shoushan Fuhai “,” He Lu Tong Chun “, Yunlong, Yunfeng, Yunba Ganoderma lucidum, etc., are also painted landscape figure map, hundred sons map, many broken edges of the mouth, with round holes in the bottom of the heart, Along the Qinghua, there are six words of “Kangxi Year of the Great Qing Dynasty”.

Box class: upper and lower union tightly, cover flat, circle foot low, flat cut.At the bottom of the box, there are two characters: “clear play”, including round box, four-section round box, small ink box, series bell box, chess box and so on.

Disk: daily life apparatus, small and medium-sized mostly, early, middle and late are burned, some of the differences are not very big, there are high foot plate, flower plate, square plate, folding edge plate, skimming dish, chrysanthemum plate, and so on, the circle of the foot slightly high, compared to the kiln glaze green, the tire must be more important than the official kiln green, Enough is enough to be generous.The bottom of the plate is flat and full of glaze, rare collapse of the Ming Dynasty.Export-oriented porcelain is different from domestic porcelain, mostly broken edge, shallow wall.The tire is very light, very delicate, high quality, blue and white colorful, decorative both traditional flower and bird patterns, as well as Western flowers and pavilions, with an exotic atmosphere.From the literature, most of them are sold to Europe. Many museums in many countries have a large collection of Kangxi blue-and-white porcelain for export.The bottom of the device often writes” jade “.

Bowl: There are high-foot bowl, covered bowl, closed bowl, lying bowl, open bowl, folding bowl, folding bowl, deep abdomen-shaped bowl, small cup for the Kangxi Dynasty innovation style, in addition to the blue and white, often outside painting phoenix bamboo patterns, using the technique of crossing branches, Foot inside write “imperial gift pure one” both sides frame money.Kangxi blue and white bowl paintings are not very dense, properly decorated, the official kiln to dragon, phoenix-based, common cloud bat, cloud, light mouse grapes, eight treasures, gossip patterns, etc.

Cup class: There are high-foot cup, wine cup, tea cup, chi ear cup, bell cup, big mouth, deep abdomen, small circle foot, foot height, because of its appearance is very like the bell, also known as the back of the cup, is the Kangxi Dynasty rich style of instruments.There are two types of thin, deep-tire, the official kiln tire thin open, the civilian kiln tire thickness more skimming mouth;Set cup, mostly three sets of small and medium-sized synthesis of one, often painted outside the walls of the poetic characters, the later Yong, Qian two times of the number increased significantly eight, ten.After Qianlong, many sets of cups are pastel.December flower poem sentence cup, for Kangxi kiln green one of the famous products, Jingdezhen burned in batches, in addition to the blue and white, palace has a large number of handed-down products, this flower cup embryo thin as paper, light and transparent, blue and white elegant, crystal bright and smooth, It has reached the level of seeing glaze and not seeing fetus.The ancients used to describe it as” when the wind blows and the wind blows away and the sun dies down “.The cup is painted in one of the flowers of December, another in five words or seven words, each with one side of the blue-and-white seal.