Riding the wind of rebirth

"Regardless of ancient tribute porcelain, among all these newly fired porcelains at that time, those made by imperial decree were of the highest grade."

"Because it involves the emperor's personal involvement and detailed guidance throughout the process, the emperor's personality, aesthetic sense, and cultural level have a great influence on this type of firing."

"But regardless of the painting level, glaze grade, or craftsmanship, it is top-notch."

Standing in front of a Kangxi enamel gourd cup with a flared rim and cricket motif, Mr. Ma said with envy, "For example, this cup, the enamelware of the three dynasties was basically produced by the imperial kiln, that is, the inner official kiln."

"The Imperial Kiln was located in the capital. The production of enamel porcelain was carried out by imperial decree. First, court painters would determine the design and production style, and then send them to Jingdezhen to fire various white porcelain blanks. After selection, the suitable white porcelain blanks were sent to the capital and delivered to the Imperial Kiln, also known as the Inner Palace Kiln."

"The porcelain artisans of the Imperial Kiln copied the paintings of court painters onto the porcelain body. The glazes used were mostly imported from overseas, which were extremely precious and expensive. Before the mid-Qianlong period, they were even reserved for the royal family and were prohibited from being used elsewhere."

"The most precious glazes, the most exquisite painting, and the best craftsmanship are used to finally obtain a batch of enamel-painted imperial kiln porcelain. After careful selection, only the most exquisite pieces are kept, and the rest are destroyed. This is the highest-ranking 'Imperial Order' porcelain in the palace."

“No wonder the patterns are so exquisite, so close to the style of court paintings.” Yan Zhenwei nodded, and pointed to the paintings on the display wall and in the display cases on this floor: “So both were made by court painters.”

Alongside the three generations of imperial kiln porcelain—enamel, famille rose, and doucai—on the wall are over thirty scrolls of "court paintings" from the Qing dynasty's three reigns, including works such as Lang Shining's "White Falcon," Yu Zhiding's "Releasing the Pheasant," Jiao Bingzhen's "One Hundred Children," Leng Mei's "Nine Thoughts," Tang Dai's "The Winding Stream," Ding Guanpeng's "Amitabha Buddha," Xu Yang's "Spring Scenery of Suzhou," Yao Wenhan's "Medicine Buddha," Fang Shishu's "Autumn Light on the Sunny Peak," and Wu Dan's "High Mountains Hidden in Clouds," among other exquisite paintings.

In addition, there are works such as Lan Ying's "Ancient Creek Study", Chen Zhuo's "Water Village", Chen Yu's "Looking for a Son", Zheng Xie's "Bamboo and Rock" and Huang Shen's "Four Ministers Wearing Flowers".

The painting styles of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, the inheritors of the Wu School of painting, and the court painters of the inner court complemented each other and stood in equal footing.

Paintings, calligraphy, and porcelain from the Qing Dynasty are the most numerous in Zhouzhi's collections due to their proximity in date. Although Zhouzhi is "trying" to replace collections of average condition and importance in order to improve the level of its own collections, the number is still enormous. What is shown here is actually less than one-tenth of the total.

Besides paintings, calligraphy works from the Qing Dynasty are also a very important category. It is very difficult for Zhou Zhi to obtain the calligraphic works of famous Qing Dynasty calligraphers. Therefore, Zhou Zhi mainly focuses on the collections of famous officials and scholars.

For example, works by Liu Yong, Ji Xiaolan, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong, Wu Rangzhi, Chen Hongshou, Jin Cheng, Yu Yue, Yan Fu, Zheng Xiaoxu, Kang Youwei, Xu Shichang, Chen Baochen, Zhao Erxun, and others.

Zhou Zhi only accepts large-scale works among these pieces; the smaller ones are mostly given to Master Ma.

These works, while not comparable to the best calligraphic works, are not bad either. More importantly, they benefit from the influence of famous artists, giving them huge potential for future appreciation.

When Zhouzhi acquired them, the prices were outrageously cheap. For example, Liu Yong's works are now only three thousand yuan, and the prices didn't change much in the two years in between.

However, after the release of "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" last year, Liu Yong's works immediately rose to over 30,000 yuan. The same applies to Ji Xiaolan; influenced by "The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan," his prices also skyrocketed.

There is a rather peculiar phenomenon in China: people can readily recall famous figures and historical events from the Qin and Han dynasties, the Three Kingdoms period, the Tang dynasty, the Song dynasty, and the Ming dynasty, but there are gaps in their knowledge regarding famous figures and historical events from the Eastern Han dynasty, the Northern and Southern dynasties, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Yuan dynasty, and the Qing dynasty.

As people's cultural literacy gradually improves in the future, the public's understanding of the famous figures of these dynasties will gradually deepen. Among these dynasties, the only ones whose famous figures can still leave behind works and can be communicated among the people are basically from the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, calligraphy works by famous figures in the Qing Dynasty will be a category with huge potential for appreciation in the future; it's just that it's currently in a slump.

This floor doesn't only have Qing Dynasty exhibits; the Qing Dynasty occupies two-thirds of the area. Further ahead, you'll find the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

Among the most important pieces in the porcelain collection are: Chenghua doucai grape-patterned horseshoe cup, Xuande doucai flower and butterfly-patterned conical cup, Jiaqing doucai figure-patterned jar cup, Wanli blue and white five-color children playing lotus seed cup; Chenghua blue-ground yellow phoenix and lotus flower "yellow on red" large plate, a Jiajing plain three-color figure story painted jar, and a gold-decorated Northern Song Dynasty Dingzhou kiln incised lotus scroll pattern large bowl.

Four of these cups were acquired by Zhou Zhi from an overseas airport auction. Any one of them would fetch around 200 million in the future. What's even more remarkable is that they've come to belong to one person, which is truly an immense blessing.

However, Master Ma had already carefully examined these items when they returned from overseas and was very familiar with them, so he was not surprised. But there were many other things here that almost made his jaw drop.

The Blue and White Porcelain Series!

The first item is a Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain jar with a lotus leaf cover and dragon design!

The most famous piece of Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain is undoubtedly the "Guiguzi Descending the Mountain" jar, which later sold for 2.3 million yuan at auction. However, besides that one piece, there are actually some other examples around the world.

For example, the Guangxi Museum and the Boston Museum each have a jar depicting Yuchi Gong rescuing the emperor on horseback, while the Ataka Museum of Art has a jar depicting Zhou Yafu's encampment at Xiliu.

These large jars are enormous and exquisitely painted, making them rare and precious pieces. Their value is even more pronounced after Yuan blue and white porcelain was separated from the early Ming dynasty.

Among the few large jars that exist, the only one known to have a lid is the "Zhaojun Leaving the Frontier" jar, which was first created at the Idemitsu Museum of Art in Japan. Now, Master Ma finds that there is another large jar with a lotus leaf lid in front of him!

This was like a thunderbolt striking Ma Ye's mind. The shape of this jar and its lotus leaf lid proved that the lotus leaf lid shape of the "Zhaojun Leaving the Frontier" jar in the Idemitsu Museum of Art in Japan was not isolated, but rather a common shape for large jars of this type at the time. Secondly, the appearance of blue and white dragon patterns on the jar broke through the current understanding that Yuan Dynasty blue and white jars were basically decorated with theatrical stories!
"When did you receive this item?!" Master Ma exclaimed in surprise, "How come you never mentioned it?!" (End of Chapter)