The Blue and White Porcelain of Yong Xuan, Orthodox and Jing Tai Nian

In the early 1980s, Geng Baochang, a ceramic expert at the Palace Museum in Beijing, and Mr. Liu Bokun, with a sample of Yongle’s hand-pressing cup, customized 100 pieces to Jingdezhen Dongfeng Ceramics Factory.Then in the Palace Museum foreign service department with each 100 yuan foreign exchange voucher sales, several years have not sold out.There is a player named Mao Xiaohu in Beijing, bought one, used for viewing after making old, and was bought by a friend of antiques for a thousand yuan.A year later, a Taiwanese collector bought it for $3 million at an overseas auction and wrote to the Forbidden City for an appraisal.You say, how does this reply?

The development of blue-and-white porcelain in Ming Dynasty is characterized by the use of cobalt.In the early Ming Dynasty, Jingdezhen continued to burn imperial porcelain for the Ming court, but it has not yet been found with the Hongwu official kiln calendar.In general, some aspects of the blue-and-white porcelain of the Hongwu Dynasty inherited the style of the Yuan Dynasty, with a thick body and thick body.But also has the obvious difference, such as the pattern decoration line is thick and unrestrained, changed Yuan Dynasty many levels, the pattern full style, tends to leave much white.The color of Hongwu blue and white is gray and dim, which may be caused by the use of domestic blue and white materials after the war interrupted the import of green materials.You see the Forbidden City’s collection of “Ming Hong Wu green flower pattern jacquard” and “Ming Hong Wu green flower peony pattern jade pot spring bottle”.

Minghong-wu blue and white flower pattern pot

Beijing Palace Museum

Ming Hongwu green flower, peony pattern, jade pot, spring vase.

Beijing Palace Museum

To Yongle period, blue-and-white porcelain widely used Su Ma Li Qing, hair color rich and colorful black spots.The cobalt from Persia (today’s Iran) has nothing to do with Zheng He’s voyage to the West.You see the display of the “Ming Yongle Green Flower Blossom Pot”, the Beijing Palace Museum, “Ming Yongle Green Flower Salt Water Yard-style Three-Foot Furnace”, “Ming Yongle Green Flower Dragon Ball Bottle”, the celestial ball bottle is also from the Western Asia, the original metal ware.

Ming Yongle, blue and white, folded branches, plum vase with flower and fruit grain.

Kwun Fu Museum

Ming Yong Le Qinghua seawater Jiangya Ding type tripod furnace

Beijing Palace Museum

Mingyongle blue-and-white vase with dragon pattern

Beijing Palace Museum

Xuande blue and white with cobalt materials are imported and domestic two, to Su Ma separate blue material description mainly.When drawing the decoration, the two kinds of green materials are used both separately and in a mixed way, often depending on the different decoration.Often use domestic materials light trace hook line, imported material color rendering.You see the Palace Museum in Beijing, “Ming Xuande Qinghua Sanskrit cover pot”, the Palace Museum in Taipei, “Xuande Qinghua ganoderma grain cover pot”, “Xuande Qinghua dragon pattern monk cap pot”.

Ming Xuande Qing Hua Sanskrit out of halberd cover can

Beijing Palace Museum

Mingxuande Qinghua Ganoderma lucidum grain cover can

Taipei Palace Museum

Mingxuande blue and white dragon pattern bonnet pot

Taipei Palace Museum

A stable political environment will certainly bring about economic prosperity.During the reign of Zhu Di, Emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty, he went to Mongolia five times and went to Annan (Vietnam) in the south.He sent Zheng He to the west to promote the prestige of the kingdom and make Wanbang come to the dynasty.Later, under the administration of Ming Renzong and Xuanzong, the national strength of Daming reached its peak, which was called Yongxuan Period.Reflected in the official kiln on the blue-and-white porcelain, not only exquisite production, a variety of styles, the number is also amazing.According to visible records, Xuande only eight years (1433) on the request of the Imperial Artifact Factory to produce 443,500 pieces of dragon and phoenix porcelain.The demand of hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people is not only a heavy burden on Jingdezhen porcelain industry, but also an important reason for Jingdezhen to become a porcelain capital.Later, the Ming court had to use the method of “matching the people’s burning” and cooperate with the people’s kilns to accomplish these tasks.

Xuande Decade (1435) on the third day of the first month, Zhu Zhanji died, orthodox emperor Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne.Then came the political events of “the change of the civil fort” and “the change of the gate”. The two brothers of Zhuqi Town and Jingtai Emperor Zhu Qiyu fought for power and position under the planning of the courtiers, which made the three dynasties of orthodoxy, Jingtai and Tianshun (1436-1464) affected by political turmoil, natural disasters and man-made disasters, etc. It led to a recession.This period of official kiln porcelain, known as the “blank period” or “dark period”, because no official porcelain has been found in the 28 years.

However, in the twelfth year (1447), there is a ban on the private manufacture of yellow, purple, red, green, green, blue, blue, white blue and white porcelain;Jingtai Five-Year (1454) has a record of reducing one-third of the state-made porcelain;In the first year of Tianshun (1457), the Chinese officials were sent to the town of Jingdezhen to supervise the burning of porcelain;In the third year of Tianshun (1459), an order was issued to reduce 80,000 pieces of porcelain originally burned for 133,000 pieces.From the document records, this period no matter the official, the civilian kiln porcelain all burn made.Since the official kiln porcelain of this period cannot be determined, then look at the green kiln bar, such as the Beijing Museum of Art “Ming orthodox blue and white figure tattoo pot”, Beijing Forbidden City collection “Ming Jing Tai blue and white eight Xian Qingshou pot”, the capital museum also has such collections, on display.

Ming orthodox blue-and-white figure jar

Beijing Museum of Art

Mingjing Tai Qinghua Eight Immortals Qingshou Lacquer