Differences between Blue-and-White Porcelain in the Early Ming Dynasty and Blue-and-White Porcelain in the Late Period

Hongwu, Yongle and Xuande period

During the Hongwu period, we mainly used domestic cobalt materials with uneven purity and imported raw materials from the Yuan Dynasty, so the quality and style of the burnt green flowers were not the same, but the whole style inherited from the Yuan Dynasty.The shape of the device is larger, the quality of the fetus is thick, the pattern is strict, and the level is many.Some used cobalt manganese impurity content is high, the pattern also often black-and-blue markings, the hand is very obvious.

To Yongle period, Zheng He underWestern from overseas to bring back high-quality cobalt material “Su mud green”, this cobalt material containing high iron, low manganese content, but also relatively pure, painted out of things very beautiful, making the blue and white porcelain at that time very characteristic, bright and bright patterns, fresh and bright.Because “Su mud bright green” cobalt material in the high temperature will naturally faint, so that porcelain decoration often with high iron low manganese crystal spots, deep into the fetal bones, hand touch can feel concave and convex.Yongle blue-and-white porcelain less painted characters, more write away, flowers, birds, sea, garden, and the above crystal spots and Chinese ink painting on the art of the shading, so that the natural body decoration made.

Xuande period blue-and-white porcelain with more imports of high-quality cobalt materials, all kinds of skills are more skilled, Xuande blue-and-white extant number and varieties are more, “blue-and-white first push Xuande” theory also comes from this.On the material also has part of the blue and white is the import and domestic cobalt material combination and use, the import material noise dyeing mainly, the domestic material light trace for auxiliary, shows the effect of the decorative layer, strong and elegant.Xuande porcelain is also unique, there are “Xuande style to recognize the body of the body,” the statement, generally for the six-character script, but also four-character money, the writing position is uncertain, porcelain can be written all over the body, modern Xuande blue and white copy is more.

orthodox, Jingtai and Tianshun period

The period was 29 years, when political instability and social unrest led to the development of porcelain into a low point, many official kilns even stopped burning.Although some folk kilns continue to be fired, but many domestic cobalt materials, compared with the Xuande period no big breakthrough, into the development of blue and white porcelain blank period.

the period of Chenghua, Hongzhi and Zhengde

After nearly 30 years of turmoil, the social development began to stabilize, the economy increasingly prosperous and stop production of porcelain kiln, at that time the import cobalt material has been used up, to domestic equal green materials, pale and pale blue color, color stability and soft.Chenghua emperor’s high level of appreciation and painting, which has greatly promoted the development of blue-and-white porcelain, thus forming the Ming Dynasty Qinghua Yongle, Xuande since the second peak period.

In Hongzhi period, the material used was similar to that in Chenghua period, the color was light and elegant, and there was a difference between them, but it was more gentle and elegant than that in Chenghua period.

In the Zhengde period, the materials used were basically the same as those used in Chenghua and Hongzhi, the same as those used in Qinghua. In the early period, the materials were mostly light gray-blue, stable and even. In this period, there was a kind of gray color, with brown iron rust spots, which was not used in the early Yuan and Ming dynasties. Careful observation of this kind of blue and white flowers often appear heavy, floating evacuation.In the middle and late years of Zhengde, many blue-and-white porcelain materials used in the use of recycled materials, together with the mixed use of stone materials, which makes objects appear lavender and bright rich dark purple.In the decorative aspect, the painting style on the objects began to evolve from the elegant and elegant in the middle of Ming Dynasty to the bold and bold freehand style in the late Ming Dynasty.

Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli periods

Jiajing period is still using recycled green material, but according to the amount of seepage with the amount of stone to mix cobalt material, so the amount of stone green determine the color of blue and white.In the early period of Jiajing, the blue flowers were dark gray, black and blue, and the pattern had halo effect, similar to the late Zhengde.In the middle period of Jiajing, the blue flowers are light and bluish, and the pattern lines are fine and fine.In the late stage, the color of the blue-and-white porcelain becomes red and purple, which is called “blue-and-gold blue”.

Longqing period also use recycled green material, but at this time due to the potter’s selection of refined materials and technical skills, so that the color of the pure blue blue purple, can be said to be pure and pure, the spirit into the world.This period’s pattern decoration uses the Ming Dynasty popular outline point dyeing technique, is more simple and free and free.

The materials used in the early Wanli period were similar to those used in Jiajing and Longqing periods.To the medium-term back to the beginning to reduce the increase of stone blue, blue with gray, color gradually light, late use of stone blue gray, more halo scattered, the color more light.During the Wanli period, many large pieces of utensils were made, such as dragon jar, rhubarb, large vase and all kinds of sitting piers.

Apocalypse and Chongzhen Period

During the reign of the Apocalypse, the material was mainly made of stone, and the color of blue and white porcelain was abundant. There were light-painted blue and white flowers in the Wanli period, and there were pure, bright and rich colors, which had the characteristics of the transition period of Ming and Qing Dynasties.This period of some of the blue and white religious offerings, such as incense, such as bottle supply, not very exquisite workmanship, launch color instability, decoration is not very clear, and Wanli when the kiln style is similar.Some colors are light, stable, light grey in green, neat in drawing, thin in line, inheriting the style of Wanli bowl, some colors are light blue, bright and stable, and have obvious characteristics of the transition period of Ming and Qing dynasties on the making technology and the color of the pattern.

Chongzhen continued to use stone materials, multiple colors light, blue-gray.The handicraft of this period is exquisite, inherited the characteristics of the apocalyptic period, more gray-blue or black-blue tone, drawing more characters story, flowers and birds, cave stone, walking, banana and so on, Ming and Qing transitional style characteristics are obvious.