Riding the wind of rebirth

"This situation lasted until the 21st year of Emperor Kangxi's reign. During this period, the Rococo style was popular in Europe, characterized by gorgeous and sweet colors and complex and exquisite decorations. The 'Kakiemon style' of Imari porcelain just caters to this aesthetic trend. This style of underglaze blue and white, overglaze red and gold painting has a deep connection with the 'Tianqi red painting' porcelain popular in the late Ming Dynasty."

"After the Qing government pacified the coastal resistance forces, the southeastern sea border gradually returned to peace. In the 21st year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Emperor Kangxi ordered the reconstruction of the Jingdezhen kiln. The following year, he lifted the maritime ban and issued the 'Sea Expansion Order', reopening the porcelain trade with the overseas world."

"Jingde began to draw on the popular Imari style at the time, and through techniques such as underglaze blue and white, overglaze alum red, and real gold gilding, produced porcelain with traditional Chinese patterns, and successfully entered the overseas market, thus opening the prelude to competition with the Japanese Imari. It was called the 'Chinese Imari'."

"Since 1723, the focus of foreign trade has shifted to Guangdong Province, which began to produce Imari-style porcelain on a large scale. Since the colorants of Japanese porcelain, especially cobalt, are mainly imported from China, and the price fluctuates, the cost of firing is higher than that of China. Therefore, the price of Japanese Imari porcelain is difficult to reduce, and it gradually loses its position under the strong competition of Chinese Imari. By 1757, with the end of official trade between Japan and the East India Company, the export of Imari porcelain to Europe also came to an end."

"Almost at the same time, China also stopped imitating Imari porcelain, but the trend flowed back, and the Imari style remained popular in the Western world and became a decorative theme that continues to be sought after. All major European porcelain brands have imitated Imari porcelain in different historical periods."

"The Thirteen Hongs, whose main export product was Guangzhou porcelain, began to use domestic famille rose or even enamel to imitate imperial porcelain for export."

"By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, due to the turbulent times and the extreme devaluation of the national culture of the domestic elite, a large number of cultural relics were lost overseas. Under the pressure of self-cultural denial and the rampant power, the loss of cultural relics could only be regarded as a tiny wave."

"Among the cultural relics lost overseas, exquisite and practical porcelain is definitely the largest."

“This loss reached its peak before the founding of New China.”

"After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country restarted the Jingde antique porcelain project under the personal supervision of the prime minister in order to earn foreign exchange. At that time, many antique porcelain fine products were produced and exported together with some Qing Dynasty porcelain."

"After the reform and opening up, the National Cultural Relics Store allocated a large number of Qing Dynasty porcelains to cultural relic stores across the country for market exchange, mainly for export and foreign exchange earnings. During this period, the Jingde Fine Porcelain Manufacturing Project was restarted again. This time, the main imitations were Ming and Qing blue and white, blue and white underglaze red, and Qing Dynasty enamel, pastel, monochrome porcelain and other techniques, and the goal was also to export to overseas markets."

"I have said so much to tell you that Chinese porcelain has been flowing out of China since the Song and Yuan dynasties. This situation continued until the 1980s. The quality of the products is mixed, and the quality varies. It is actually more difficult to test your eyesight than in China." Lin Wanqiu smiled and said, "If you don't have the knowledge of this whole system, it's best not to try it lightly."

"There are actually two main dimensions to these exported porcelains," Zhou Zhi said: "One is the distinction between official kilns and folk kilns, and the other is the distinction between genuine and imitation."

"But this is just the general outline." Lin Wanqiu immediately continued: "For example, among the official kiln porcelains, there are a lot of imitations. For example, the typical porcelain with the Supplies Mark is made by the official kilns of the Ming and Qing dynasties imitating the kilns of the previous dynasties."

"There are many authentic pieces among folk kilns, such as some famous porcelains with hall names, which are equally exquisite." "Later, many porcelain kilns even imitated these, making these two dimensions mixed in a large number of porcelains, making it difficult to distinguish, and requiring considerable professional knowledge."

Zhou Zhi joked, "But you don't need this knowledge, second and third brothers. You are all rich, and you won't appreciate inferior things. You just need to buy them at reputable auctions. If you are really worried, hiring two reliable art consultants will solve the problem."

"Sister Wanqiu, this collection is of very high quality. These blue and white porcelains from the blank period are all exquisite. This house is really rich."

"Lily Palace, Avar family. Have you heard of Elbow?"

Zhou Zhi shook his head: "I don't know anything about Western collector families."

"Spain was unified at the end of the 15th century. As the Spanish royal family grew stronger, so did the Duke of Alba. The third Duke built the Liria Palace, which means 'purity' and is generally translated into Chinese as the Lily Palace."

"The discovery of the New World marked the beginning of Spain's territorial expansion. In the 16th century, Spain became the most powerful country in Europe and was the first empire to be called the 'empire on which the sun never sets'. This marked the beginning of the most prosperous 'golden age' in the country's history, during which literature, art, various academic studies and philosophy all achieved unprecedented development."

"The Alvar family's collection began at that time and continued until the 19th century. However, during the Spanish Civil War, the Lily Palace was severely damaged, leaving only the outer wall. Fortunately, most of the collection was transported to the Prado Museum, the British Embassy, ​​the Bank of Spain and other places, and was preserved. Later, the 17th Duke of Alba began to organize the reconstruction of the Lily Palace, which was eventually completed by his daughter, the 18th Duchess of Alba."

"The life of this duchess can be described as a romantic idol drama. She was the goddess in the hearts of thousands of men and experienced three marriages in her life. The most eye-catching one was the third marriage. The 85-year-old duchess fell in love with a man 24 years younger than her. In the end, despite the opposition of her family and the royal family, she resolutely gave up all her property in order to obtain a 'marriage license' and live happily with her lover."

"With the efforts of the Avar family over the years, the Lily Palace has become the most important private museum in Spain and even in Europe. The collections of the museum include Columbus's logbook, the giant tapestry of "Mercury Obsessed with Hess", and Titian's "The Last Supper", which are all treasures of the museum."

"The Avar family now focuses on collecting Western art, especially Impressionist and Venetian paintings, and pays less attention to Oriental art than the first few generations of dukes. Recently, they organized an auction of Oriental porcelain in their collection."

"The earliest batch of family porcelain took the American route, from various ports in China to Manila in the Philippines, then crossed the Pacific Ocean to the port of Acapulco in Mexico, and then crossed the American continent by horse team, passing through Mexico City to the Atlantic coast port of Veracruz, and then boarded a ship to the east to Spain."

"After the 19th century, the sources of their Chinese porcelain collections became more extensive." (End of this chapter)