The Color Mystique of Blue-and-White Porcelain in Yuan Dynasty–3. The Characteristics of “Dying and Dispersing” of Su-fed Blue-and-White Porcelain (Full Text)
The Color Mystique of Blue-and-White Porcelain in Yuan Dynasty-3The characteristics of the “halo and scatter” of Su-fed blue and white flowers (full text)
Chen Yimin
The blue-and-white hair color of the blue-and-white porcelain and the blue-and-white porcelain of early Ming Dynasty will leave a lot of special phenomena due to the particularity of glaze and firing. These special phenomena will help us to identify the true and false of the blue-and-white porcelain of early Ming Dynasty.
Both the Yuanqing porcelain and the early Ming dynasty blue-and-white porcelain, because both used cobalt-containing high-iron low manganese Sulaimani materials, therefore, there will be Sulaimani blue-and-white materials formed the basic characteristics, and “fainting” is the most basic characteristics of Sulaimani materials formed on porcelain, you can say, The use of sulaimani green cobalt materials, there must be a “fainting” phenomenon.At the same time, many of the other features formed by Su materials on blue-and-white porcelain are related to the existence of “fainting”.Therefore, the phenomenon of “fainting”, like a key, is to open the blue-and-white porcelain and the early Ming Dynasty is the key to authenticate the door.
What is” fainting “?What is the basic appearance of it in china?
so-called“Scattering” is a kind of blue-and-white divergence phenomenon produced under the glaze after the coacervate cobalt material has been fired.
3-1 Yuan Qing Hua cloud dragon pattern plum vase
3-2 The halos on the flower patterns of the kiln in Yongle Jingdezhen, Shanghai Museum
The basic picture of “diapause” is shown in the figure3-1As shown, this is a blue-and-white cloud and dragon-pattern plum vase hidden in the Beijing Palace Museum. The phenomenon of “fainting” is clearly visible.Similar cases are common on early Ming porcelain, as shown in the figure3-2The halos on the blue-and-white flower-grain bowl of Yongle Jingdezhen kiln in Shanghai Museum are also very obvious.In popular language:“Dusk” is like a blue ink drop on the Xuan paper produced by the gradual formation of the blue shape.
The characteristic associated with halos is a series of special phenomena resulting from the subsequent point halos, black spots, beaded agglomerations, iron spots, and tin rays.
A circular halo on the wings of an Iranian phoenix.
3-4 Stripe fainting on the wings of the iranian phoenix birds.
3-5 Block fainting on the heart of a bunch of lotus patterns in Yongle, Nanjing Museum
The “halo” is divided into circular halos because of the different shapes of the color blocks (Fig.3-3A circular, striated halo on the wing of an Iranian phoenix (Fig.).3-4Striped and massive halos on the wings of the iranian phoenix bird (pictured)3 – 5A bunch of lotus flower in the heart of Yongle, Nanjing Museum.Of course, these disparate shapes are not the same themselves, and there may be correlations and variations between them.
There are two surface reasons for “fainting”: one is related to the precision of the potting of Sulaimani, and the other is related to the meaning of the blue-and-white decoration of Sulaimani.
Sulaimani in the use of materials, if not refined, its particle size is very uneven, thick, thin, when the painter dip in the brush on the porcelain body painting, which is thick Sulaimani blue-and-white cobalt material, will be blocked in the pattern, forming a dot-like, Strip-like or block-like condensation, after burning the formation of a “fainting” phenomenon.Careful observation of the above three pictures of different shapes of halo dispersion, it should also be clearly seen that the formation of “halo dispersion”, not only with the precision of pottery and metallurgy of Su materials, but also with Su materials blue flowers in the decorative meaning of painting.Because, the weight of the painter’s pen, will leave a clear mark on the color of the blue and white.”When the brush dipped in Sulaimani’s blue-and-white cobalt material moves its pen on the porcelain billet, and whenever the overweight of the pen, the pause of the pen, the overlap of the pen, the repetition of the blue-and-white cobalt material in these places, that is, the condensation of the blue-and-white color material,” In the course of firing, the agglomerate of cobalt from blue and white can also cause fainting and dispersing.
figure3-3The halo on the wing of an Iranian phoenix is a circular halo formed by the excessive weight of the pen.3-4The halo on the wings of the iranian phoenix is a strip of halo formed by the movement of the pen back and forth, shown here.3 – 5The halo on a bunch of lotus flower in Yongle of Nanjing Museum is the block halo formed by the overlap of the writing brush.Although the manner of writing is different, the agglomeration of blue-and-white color materials is the same.
The blue-and-white porcelain of the early Yuan and Ming Dynasties had different diaphanous conditions.Generally speaking, in Yongle and Xuande period of the blue and white hair color, “faint” phenomenon is the most prominent, but, because of the Ming Dynasty, the degree of governance of Su materials is much better than the Yuan Dynasty, Su materials, some characteristics such as” beads” phenomenon is not as prominent as Yuan Qinghua.
Harry of England.”The cobalt is a light black where the blue and white is thick,” said Mr. Garner, analyzing “changes in the style of painting between the Great Vader vase when it was made and the Emperor Xuande’s one hundred years before it came to power.” The light black color of the glaze creates a ‘halo’ effect. ” Sometimes, black spots often appear in the concave part of the silhouette line. The glaze is thick, light blue, the porcelain surface is slightly uneven, and the texture is like orange peel. “[1]The British author gave a clear description of the area where the “faint” appeared on the porcelain, the color of the “faint”, and the relationship between the “faint” and the “black spot” and the concave below, which helps us understand the “faint” feature.At the same time, he also gave a description of the general age of scattered porcelain, that is, between Yuan and Ming Xuande.What is valuable is that he also makes an analysis of the phenomenon of “fainting” in the imitation of later generations, he thinks: “Early blue-and-white porcelain, especially in the fifteenth century, was widely copied in the eighteenth century, and even tried to imitate technical defects such as the ‘halo’ effect, as well as the different colors of the blue-and-white flowers and the spots on the edges of the patterns. There are a few such copies of the Wanli period, but few can deceive the eye. The real ‘halo’ effect is hard to come by, and the spots are deliberately rendered, not occasionally as they were in the early days. “[2]His description should help the reader understand the truth and falsity of the phenomenon.
All in all, Harry.Mr ghana’s account of halos is generally good.However, not all blue-and-white porcelain of this period has” fainting “, the key depends on what it uses blue-and-white materials.
Let’s take a look at the Chinese scholars’ description of the characteristics of “halos”.
In Mr. Geng Baochang’s view, Yongle porcelain “often has cobalt and iron crystal spots in the texture of the lines, showing a star-like faint.”[3]
Mr. Ma Xigui thinks: “Blue and white color is thick and showy, have halo to scatter phenomenon, glaze has iron rust spot type black spot, when thick place caress, give a person a sense of rugged, this is the special color effect that uses Su mud Bohai blue and white material, formed Yuan blue and white porcelain unique style.”[4]
Mr. Wang Liying in the discussion of Hongwu blue and white porcelain: “With a small pen or thick or light ‘Su Ma from the blue’ material water, line trace out the pattern, dark light blue intertwined, even lines when there is black and blue faint points, special flavor.”[5]
Mr. Feng Xiaoqi of the Palace Museum thinks: “The blue and white porcelain of Yongle period mostly uses the imported blue and white material ‘Su Ma Li Qing’, the blue and white appears the color is rich and bright, the glaze is decorated with the crystal spot that forms naturally, and have tin light, the painting is decorated with halo scattered phenomenon.”[6]
Most of the halos in the formation of cobalt in Sulaimani are related only to the discoloration of the surface and the point-like phenomenon, but there is no more discussion on the formation mechanism, which may be related to the cultural background and cultural structure of these scholars.However, they have also discussed the other features of halos and cyan, such as black spots, rust, and bumps, suggesting that these scholars are sensitively aware of the internal links between these features.
After understanding the Chinese and foreign scholars’ basic description of the phenomenon, we will observe the early Yuan and Ming blue-and-white porcelain, from the point of view of the combination of the first nature and the second sex.
3-6 Iran blue and white plum vase
3-7 Yuan Qing Hua Mei Ping, Museum of Jiangxi Province
Some of the blue-and-white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty were especially prominent in the phenomenon of “fainting and dispersing”, as shown in the figure.3-6Shown in the National Museum of Iran, a vase with peony and plum peony twig tangled in the blue and white flowers;Some of these “halos” are not significant, as shown in Figure3-7Shown in the museum of jiangxi province is a vase of yuanhua dragon-grain jade pot.This kind of different halos phenomenon may be related to the usage of the mixture ratio of surimanite, i. e., when the potter of the Yuan Dynasty used surimanite to make borneol, he decided to add the quantity of surimanite according to the condition of the source of this kind of blue and white color material.The different amount of silviculture cobalt prepared by Sulaimanide can have different “faint” phenomenon after its firing.Hari.”Early blue-and-white porcelain,” Mr. Garner asserted, “had a little bit of black, black spots in the blue, faint lines, usually covered with a thick light blue glaze.”[7]It’s not always the case, as we’re talking about, and that’s probably not the case with Harry.Mr. Ghana’s limited collection of information is relevant.
3-8 Jingdezhen Archaeological Institute Hongwu green flowers, pine, bamboo and plum pattern holding pot
The hair color of blue-and-white porcelain in Hongwu Period of Ming Dynasty3-8See Fig. A.It can be seen from the picture that the “halo” of Hongwu blue-and-white porcelain is between two different degrees of “halo”.Some of the Yuan blue-and-white researchers believe that during the Hongwu period, the hair color of the blue-and-white porcelain was quite different from that of the Yuan Dynasty.As long as I have read Mr. Geng Baochang’s” Ming-Qing porcelain appraisal “, we can know that the first chapter of the book, is about the inheritance of the Ming-Hong-Wu porcelain to the Yuan porcelain;At the same time, as long as the scholars who have been to Jingdezhen Institute of Archaeology, they must know that the unearthed blue-and-white porcelain of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty can be seen from its shape, pattern and hair color of the blue-and-white porcelain.book drawing2The Hongwu blue-and-white pomegranate pattern plate shown here is an excavator from the institute. If it is not indicated, it can be considered as a blue-and-white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty.
3-9 Ming Xuande blue and white flower pattern high foot bowl
3-10 Yongle Jingdezhen kiln green flower pattern bowl
The blue-and-white porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande dynasties had a strong halo and scattered phenomenon.figure3-9Yongle Jingdezhen kiln blue and white flower pattern bowl and picture3-10Ming Xuande blue flower pattern high-foot bowl, its blue and white hair color and halo phenomenon, really very similar, and these two collections for understanding the Su Lai Maniao produced by the halo phenomenon, should have a great help.
What is the mechanism by which Sulaimani produces this blue-and-white halo?
Conɡ Tu3-1Arrival Chart3-10The readers can see that all the blue-and-white porcelain with the phenomenon of “faint and scattered” is the place where the blue-and-white aggregates, that is, the concentration of blue-and-white color depends on the degree to which the color aggregates when painted, and the denser the blue-and-white color aggregates, the thicker the blue-and-white hair color, The essence of this surface phenomenon is that there are a lot of strong chromogenic materials such as ferric oxide and cobalt oxide.Under the combined effect of these colorants, the hair color of the broccoli is arranged from blue, brown and black, which is in direct proportion to the content of the colorant.
The physical phenomenon on the surface tells us that only blue and white flowers that are burned in high-accumulation areas will appear fainting.The physical and chemical reasons for the color faintness of the blue and white flowers are related to three factors: first, the pigment itselfSiO2 (SiO2),Al2O3The content is very low, not even;Second, because the glaze is high calcium glaze, low viscosity at high temperature, viscosity with the change of temperature, glaze itself is easy to disperse, which also increases the effect of color fainting;The third is the firing temperature of the kiln, over-firing will be due to a large amount of color diffusion in the glaze to form a halo phenomenon.
It is well known that the glaze on the ceramic surface is a glass-like material, and the glass-like material has no fixed temperature point when it changes from a solid state to a liquid state, but is carried out in a certain temperature range.Because there is no critical point, therefore, the glaze from the beginning of melting to complete melting, and then the flow of glaze, to the flow of glaze, is in a rising temperature process.
if the color is inSiO2 (SiO2),Al2O3The content is high, then the melting temperature of the pigment is high, when the glaze melts and flows, the color material still does not present the liquid phase, so the fainting phenomenon will not or seldom occur, on the contrary, the halos phenomenon is easy to occur;vitreousCaOit is a melting agent, because the blue-and-white vessels used in Yuan and Ming Dynasties are of high calcium glaze and contain moreCaOCalcium oxide can not only reduce the melting temperature of the blue and white flower, but also reduce the viscosity of the glaze, making the glaze easy to disperse, thus increasing the halo dispersion of the color;But the higher kiln temperature, under the condition that the color material and the glaze material composition is equal, can make the glaze flow more convenient, thus drives the color diffusion, forms the faintness phenomenon.It can be seen from this, kiln temperature is too high and the over-burning will cause a large number of blue and white pigment in the glaze diffusion formation fainting phenomenon, if the individual areas of blue and white pigment accumulation too much, will form brown or black spots, that is to say, the occurrence of halo-related Sulaimani other characteristics: black spots, Iron spots and so on.From the aforementioned physical and chemical mechanism of the halo-dispersion phenomenon, readers can also understand the color-forming mechanism of the Yuanqing porcelain.The color of the blue-and-white porcelain in Yuan Dynasty has three kinds of situations: most of them are green and cool-headed products;The second is that indigo blooms in purple and is caused by overburning;The third is green and blue ash, mostly from underfired;in reducing flameFeIf the concentration is not too high, the glaze will be green. If the concentration is high, it will turn brown or even black.Fe(divalent iron ion) coloring andFe(divalent iron ion)FeCompound coloration of trivalent iron ions;When burning, the main thing isCoO (CoO)The coloration of the general turquoise, under-burning due to cobalt in the glaze did not spread out and dissolve in the glaze in a small amount, resulting in a grayish blue;[8]
From the physical phenomena on the surface, to the physical and chemical mechanism of the formation of fainting, it is shown that the “fainting” characteristics of the blue and white porcelain in Yuan and Ming Dynasties are determined by the chemical composition and concentration of the pigment and glaze, by the content of the calcium oxide flux, and by the firing temperature of the kiln.
However, the heating rate is also an important factor, since the melting and flow of glass-like material is not at a fixed critical point, then, heating too fast, melting has not yet made the color material has enough time to spread, that is, before the faint occurs, The temperature of the kiln reaches the highest point and begins to keep warm.Only at the appropriate heating rate, the melting and flowing time to leave enough time, the blue and white materials can be fully diffused to form fainting.
3-11 Blue and white figure pattern jade pot spring vase on display in Anhui Museum
3-12 Museum of Jiangxi Province, preserved with long neck vase with pine, bamboo and plum patterns.
3-13 The Hong Kong Museum of Art has a bowl covered with lotus veins
3-14 Palace Museum, Tibetan blue and white phoenix in peony pattern
3-15 Yongle Jingdezhen kiln blue and white folding branches flower and fruit grain bowl
3-16 Tibetan Xuande Qinghua flower mouth cup, Jingdezhen Institute of Archaeology, Jiangxi Province
In order to give readers a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon, we provide a few more pictures, in these pictures, Yuanqinghua and early Ming Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain halos have different performance, and they are also with the book will discuss some of the other Sihua cobalt material characteristics are related to each other.figure3-11It is the spring vase and picture of jade jug with blue and white figure pattern on display in Anhui Museum.3-12It is a long-necked vase with patterns of pine, bamboo, plum and bamboo in the museum of Jiangxi Province.3-13It’s a tapestry bowl at the Hong Kong Museum of Art.3-14Is the palace museum hidden blue and white phoenix wearing peony pattern pot, picture.3-15Is Yongle Jingdezhen kiln blue and white folded branches flower and fruit grain bowl, map3-16Is the Jingdezhen Institute of Archaeology, Jiangxi Province, Tibet Xuande Qinghua flower cup disc.These six pictures of the sou blue-and-white porcelain can further deepen the reader’s understanding of the characteristics of “fainting”.
3-17 Herba Hemerocallis Herba Hemerocallis in the Blue Land of Xuande
3-18 Yuan Qing Hua Fei Feng Qi Lin
3-19 Blue Seepage on the Green Flower Market
The reader may ask, since fainting is related to the condensation of the blue and white pigment, why did the original and early Ming porcelain of the blue and white flowers rarely appear as a phenomenon of fainting?figure3-17It is an archeological research institute in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province. It has a white day lily pattern on the blue background.One reason may be blue ground white flowers and early Ming porcelain, perhaps not the use of high-iron low-manganese cobalt;But more likely, the porcelain still uses high-iron, low-manganese cobalt, only when applied to the blue ground, the blue-and-white color is diluted, because only the diluted color can be scattered freely on the porcelain billet, and the diluted blue-and-white color does not easily cause condensation, As a result, this kind of blue-and-white porcelain is less faint phenomenon.However, not all of the early Yuan and Ming Chinese blue-and-white porcelain did not appear to be scattered, as shown in the chart.3-18Is the Beijing Palace Museum collection Yuan Qing Hua Fei Feng Kirin pattern plate, the heart is typical blue ground white flower decoration, in the ground color, if the blue and white color material is not refined, a large number of coarse particles exist, can also be found fainting phenomenon.Generally speaking, this kind of blue ground white flower porcelain “faint” phenomenon, called “ooze blue”.figure3-19It is a large plate of blue-and-white flowers hidden in Shanghai Museum. The blueness can be seen in the color of the plate.
To grasp the “halo” characteristics of the blue-and-white porcelain and to understand the physical and chemical mechanism of forming the “halo” feature is of great help to grasp the external shape and intrinsic nature of the phenomenon and to understand the other microscopic characteristics derived therefrom. Thus, it is easy for readers to know the blue-and-white porcelain of Yuan Qing Hua and Ming Dynasty.