Riding the wind of rebirth

"Actually, my appreciation skills weren't that great back then," Zhou Zhi said with a laugh, adding insult to injury for Ma Ye. "For example, I had doubts about that Chenghua blue and white porcelain jar with a lion-shaped knob and lotus leaf cover, featuring a female attendant. At the time, the prevailing view was that 'there were no large jars from the Chenghua period.' It wasn't until later that I visited Mr. Wang, who told me that back in 1985, when the Zhongguancun Meteorological Bureau compound was being renovated, a Ming Dynasty eunuch's tomb was discovered, and a large jar with the Eight Immortals figures was found inside. The shape and materials of the jar were exactly the same as the one with the female attendant figure."

"So this is what you call a bargain?" Liu Zhengyun asked. "This is one piece from the National Museum and one from Elbow's collection?"

"That's not all," Mr. Ma laughed. "Last year, Sotheby's and Christie's in Hong Kong auctioned two more pieces. One was a Chenghua blue and white porcelain jar with a lion-shaped knob and lotus leaf cover, and the other was a Chenghua blue and white porcelain jar with a scene of scholars playing chess in a courtyard. As a result, people were constrained by the preconceived notion that 'Chenghua lacks grandeur,' and these two fine pieces almost went unnoticed. In the end, they were won by two young men for more than HK$1.1 million and HK$690,000 respectively."

“These two young people…” Mo Yan, a great writer, was good at constructing plots and immediately thought of a possibility.

"These two young people are Lin Wanqiu from Hanhai Auction House, and Zhouzi."

"You've found another bargain?" Liu Zhengyun asked in surprise. "They're both lion-knob lotus leaf-covered jars, one with a scholar's figure and the other with a maid's figure. They've become a pair?"

"I wouldn't dare say that." Zhou Zhi waved his hands repeatedly in fright: "The two auctions in Hong Kong were commissioned by the Palace Museum, and both items are now in the Palace Museum's collection. I wouldn't dare say that the lion-knob covered jar is a pair with the one I have, otherwise I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to keep mine."

"So you can be scared too!" Master Ma laughed, clearly pleased with himself. "Scared that the two old men will come after you!"

"How much is this jar worth now?" Su Tong asked curiously.

Master Ma explained, “Zhouzi found a large blue-and-white porcelain jar from the Longqing period in a restaurant abroad, which cost him US$50,000. Last year, that one almost failed to sell at auction, and it cost HK$1.1 million to acquire. Now everyone knows that ‘Chenghua produced great pieces,’ but they have all gone to the Palace Museum. The one that Zhouzi has now become the only one that can be auctioned and circulated, so its price is hard to estimate.”

The meaning is quite clear: a minimum of HK$1.1 million, with no upper limit.

“Cashing out is a very complicated matter. What Mr. Ma is talking about are overseas market prices, which are not the same as domestic prices,” Zhou Zhi explained. “However, these are not relevant to that blue and white porcelain jar, because one day in the future, it will definitely belong to a national museum.” Zhou Zhi said, “Of course, it has to be a reliable museum.”

"Are there any unreliable museums?" Liu Zhengyun asked.

"Guess why Mr. Ma wants to set up a private museum?" Zhou Zhi laughed, "There are some things I can only say up to this point. Let's continue to appreciate Mr. Ma's collection."

Master Ma's collection is actually quite impressive. For example, in terms of porcelain, there are many pieces that would make even Zhouzhi drool.

For example, the Guan ware vase from the Southern Song Dynasty is small in size, but it comes from the Neisi kiln. It has a gray body and a celadon glaze with crackle patterns on the glaze surface. The "purple mouth and iron foot" characteristics of the rim and foot are very obvious, making it a very typical piece among similar objects.

The Zhouzhi collection has a string-patterned long-necked vase. In terms of form, the Ma Guan piece is a replica of a ritual vessel, while the Zhouzhi piece was a private royal item. Although both are exquisite and extremely valuable Song Dynasty official kiln porcelains, in terms of form and quality, the Ma Guan piece is definitely superior to the Zhouzhi piece.

Another example is the large blue-and-white dragon-patterned jar from the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. It is a very large piece, and the blue-and-white jar uses cobalt blue pigment, which gives it a purplish-blue color. The dragon pattern is vigorous and fierce. It was a royal decorative piece for the Ming court and is one of the very few large blue-and-white porcelain pieces made during the Jiajing period that have survived to this day.

For a long time, Jiajing blue and white porcelain remained relatively unknown in the collecting world. This was due to the "official-private joint production" system during the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, which made it extremely difficult to distinguish between porcelain in the imperial palace and those circulating among the common people. Many collectors, to avoid making mistakes, deliberately ignored this aspect, refusing to accept any porcelain from the Jiajing period. However, this resulted in a lack of interest in the porcelain, and even when blue and white porcelain gained immense popularity in the collecting world, the value of Jiajing blue and white porcelain remained consistently low.

Zhou Zhi even stumbled upon a great opportunity by collecting Jiajing blue and white porcelain pieces with his own discerning eye. He then carefully examined them, providing detailed discussions on the four categories of "palace collection," "government collection," "official use," and "civilian use." He also published a series of articles in the magazine "Cultural Relics," giving everyone a renewed understanding of this category of blue and white porcelain.

This approach is somewhat similar to Mr. Wang's approach to Ming and Qing furniture. He conducts research based on his own collection, then develops a system and standards, and finally makes them public, which quickly made Ming and Qing furniture shine in the collecting world.

The difference between Zhou Zhi and Mr. Wang lies in the fact that Mr. Wang's collection of Ming and Qing furniture remains top-tier even after he published his own book. Zhou Zhi, on the other hand, has thoroughly studied Jiajing blue and white porcelain and written a series of papers, but the most important piece is not in his own possession, but in Mr. Ma's museum.

“Jiajing blue and white porcelain used to be considered as folk kiln porcelain, and it was really worthless,” said Master Ma, looking at the large jar placed in the middle of the thick carpet. “I got this jar from Liulichang for two hundred yuan.”

"This category was almost entirely discovered by Elbow, and it was even subdivided into four grades. The first grade, palace collection porcelain, has already seen its price rise. It has become one of the fastest appreciating varieties in recent years. Before its price catches up with that of the Longqing and Xuande periods, it is estimated that there is still a long way to go for appreciation."

At this point, he cupped his hands in greeting to Zhou Zhi, saying, "Old Ma, you've really done me a favor."

"Shouldn't we put a cover over it?" Zhou Zhi frowned slightly as he looked at the large vat. "If we just leave it here, within easy reach, what if some naughty kid knocks it over and breaks it?"

"Today is an internal exhibition," Lao Ma laughed. "We're all good friends, so we definitely want everyone to see clearly that the protective measures will be in place before the official opening."

Arriving at a long, corridor-shaped rosewood display case, Zhou Zhi finally saw what he wanted to see: "After all these years, Mr. Ma, you've finally brought out your most treasured possession."

Above the display case is a wall with four hanging screens. Each screen has two rows of grooves carved out, and each groove is exactly the same as the outline of a piece of porcelain, so that the pieces of porcelain can be inlaid perfectly.

Each porcelain shard comes from the Jun kiln.

"A fortune is not as valuable as a single piece of Jun porcelain." Many people have heard this saying. Here are four hanging screens, each with two rows of five pieces, for a total of forty pieces.

Each piece of porcelain is carefully processed and polished into antique shapes such as vases, bowls, gourds, and teacups, according to the shape of the fragment. The colors of the porcelain pieces include moon white, sky blue, rose purple, and begonia red, making them exceptionally exquisite.

The "Bo Gu" pattern is a typical elegant and refined design in traditional Chinese decoration. It refers to ancient artifacts, such as tripods, vases, ritual vessels, porcelain bottles, and jade pieces, and is thus used as decoration to symbolize purity and nobility.

Therefore, this object should be called a Jun porcelain antique four-panel hanging screen. (End of this chapter)