Jingdezhen Porcelain Classification
When it comes to porcelain, there are countless words of praise and stories from ancient times to the present. "You can drink sugarcane pulp with all your possessions, and porcelain poppies do not have Xie Yu as a tank," Du Fu said; "It is exquisite and beautiful, and you can see moving green mountains in silence," Qianlong said; and, of course, the most beautiful sentence is this: "the rain passes the sky." Break the place and win the Qianfeng green color.
Porcelain has been developed in China for thousands of years. There is an infinite number of kilns in various locations, and various shapes emerge in an endless stream. There are even fireworks that have been passed down through the generations for thousands of years. However, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, most kilns declined or even disappeared for a variety of reasons. Today, Jingdezhen porcelain, the thousand-year-old porcelain capital, is thriving in the national and even global porcelain markets.
Common categories of Jingdezhen porcelain
From the perspective of appearance, Jingdezhen porcelain is characterized by blue and white porcelain, pastel, color-glazed porcelain and exquisite porcelain.
Blue and white porcelain are the most well-known type of porcelain and is known as the "world's treasure." Blue and white porcelain were invented during the Yuan Dynasty and reached its pinnacle during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It describes the pattern on the green body with cobalt oxide material and is fired at a high temperature after glazing. Blue and white in appearance, which is pleasant and interesting, crystal clear and bright, beautiful and long-lasting, which is pleasing to the eye. Treasures of Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain can be found in museums throughout the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and others.
Pastel porcelain, also referred to as "soft-colored porcelain," is an overglaze color. The so-called on-glaze color is applied to the glazed surface of the fired utensils before entering the kiln to bake at 600 to 900 degrees Celsius. Pastel porcelain has a soft and soft tone; in terms of expressive techniques, it progresses from flat filling to light and dark dyeing; and in terms of style, its layout and brushwork is reminiscent of traditional Chinese painting. Pastel porcelain, a new innovation by Jingdezhen potters, employs "glass, white" and is closely integrated with painting techniques.
The picture of pastel porcelain is soft and pink, full of Chinese painting style, so it has the reputation of "Pearl of Oriental Art".
Color-glazed porcelain, also known as "color-glazed porcelain," is decorated by changing the color of the glaze. Blue glaze, sauce glaze, black glaze, white glaze, yellow glaze, green glaze, and blue-white glaze are the most common color glazes, and each color can be further subdivided.
The hue of the color glaze is usually adjusted by adjusting the trace element content of the glaze, which is changed by firing. The main factor influencing the color of the glaze is the metal oxide used as a colorant, which is also closely related to the glaze composition, size of the material, firing temperature, and firing atmosphere. Some people believe that "whatever color exists in nature, porcelain of any color can be fired," which is correct. Of course, many color glazes are extremely difficult to prepare and fire, such as the "Sacrificial Red Glaze" known as "One Treasure of Thousand Kilns."
Blue and white, exquisite porcelain were created and developed in the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty on the basis of the hollowing process, and it has a history of more than 500 years. It combines the advantages of blue and white technology as well as the art of engraving. It's exquisite and delicate, with a fresh and lively vibe.
Linglong Porcelain is well-known both domestically and internationally for its exquisite and translucent, crystal and elegant porcelain. Today's blue and white, exquisite porcelain is found not only in everyday use, but also in Chinese and Western tea sets, wine sets, various vases, and lamps. The traditional rice grain shape has given way to a variety of regular and irregular shapes for "Linglongyan." When combined with "half knife mud," it can be used to create a variety of patterns. The glaze color has evolved as well, from the original single emerald green to the "multi-colored exquisite," in which red, yellow, green, and blue complement each other, displaying more powerful expressiveness and artistic charm.
Jingdezhen Porcelain Identification
The porcelain industry in Jingdezhen includes craft porcelain, daily-use porcelain for export, and antique porcelain. There are three grades of antique porcelain: high, medium, and low.
In the article on Longquan kiln porcelain, we have done a detailed analysis for the identification and screening of antique porcelain. Shape, tire glaze, tire-making technology, decorative skills, and pedicure characteristics are the five main elements.
Consider blue-and-white porcelain: the materials used in Jingdezhen for antique blue-and-white porcelain and colored porcelain are mostly quick-form chemical mixtures, and the fired porcelain differs from the ancient organic mineral materials. As a result, the glaze on many antique porcelains is uniform and stable, and the eating tire phenomenon is not visible.
Of course, people who work with antique porcelain understand this knowledge better than most collectors, so they will focus their efforts on raw materials, fire, and other factors when firing porcelain from various kilns. Longquan kiln, for example, should use high iron content. To make antiques out of porcelain clay, you must first find a way to release your anger.