Riding the wind of rebirth

"So, according to industry insiders, this piece is a 'silly old man's first piece,' and it has also provided a lot of supplement to the study of Yuan blue and white porcelain in many aspects. Together with the two large blue and white porcelain jars in Zhenjiang and the Palace Museum that were first identified as early Ming dynasty pieces, they form mutual corroboration."

The lid of this jar is also very unique. Including the one Zhou Zhi has, there are only three known large jars with lids in the world.

The "Zhaojun Leaving the Frontier" jar in the Idemitsu Museum of Art has a rather simple lid, which looks like a large lotus leaf inverted on the jar. On the raised part of the jar, several winding curves are drawn from the middle to the edge in blue and white to represent the veins of the lotus leaf.

The White Dragon Jar with Seawater in the National Palace Museum is smaller than the one in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts. The lid is the same shape as the one in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts. What is noteworthy is that it uses the needle engraving method and the blue and white blank technique. The painting on the lid is also much more complicated. In addition to leaf veins, it also includes aquatic patterns such as mandarin fish and carp that "follow the dragon".

The Zhi Rong Tang jar is larger than the Idemitsu Museum of Art, reaching a height of 46 centimeters, and 52 centimeters with the lid. It also features the most intricate craftsmanship, employing not only needle engraving but also appliqué techniques to create a relief effect on the two dragons on the jar. Blue and white porcelain is then used to depict the dragons, making their outlines more distinct and lifelike.

The lid design is also the most complex. In addition to an extra knob that simulates the stem of a lotus leaf, the veins of the leaves are drawn more realistically, the small thorns on the stem of the lotus leaf are pointed out, and several holes are drawn on the lotus leaf with blue and white porcelain. The swimming fish is treated to look at the sky through the holes. At the same time, a small frog is added to the leaf surface with sculpting and blue and white porcelain outlining.

These three jars can be said to represent the three stages of Jingdezhen porcelain's evolution from complexity to simplicity after absorbing northern techniques, and from "using brush instead of carving." The Zhouzhi jar represents the most complex stage in terms of design and craftsmanship, the Palace Museum jar represents the second stage, and the Idemitsu Museum of Art jar represents the third stage.

This is what Master Ma meant when he said that these jars can corroborate each other and provide many supplements to the study of Yuan blue and white porcelain.

With this jar as a foundation, when appreciating other collections from Zhouzhi, Mr. Ma is no longer so awestruck.

In fact, this floor also houses a very proud collection of Zhou Zhi's collection—the Ming Dynasty Blue and White Porcelain Collection.

The Ming Dynasty used a total of seventeen reign titles. Among them, the reign titles Jianwen, Hongxi, and Taichang were used for very short periods, and no reliable porcelain artifacts have been found to prove their existence, so there is no need to discuss them further.

Of the remaining reign titles, Hongwu had just unified the country and everything was in its infancy. Although an imperial kiln was set up in Jingdezhen, no official kiln wares with the Hongwu reign mark have been found to date. Only one plum vase has the seal script mark "Chunshou".

However, the discovery of blue-and-white porcelain fragments at the Nanjing Ming Palace site confirms the existence of official kilns, and a large number of artifacts from private kilns have also been unearthed in Jiangxi and other places. Therefore, porcelain from this period can only be identified by its style.

"The Hongwu Yuhuchun ewer is basically the same in shape as the Yuan Dynasty Shufu porcelain Yuhuchun ewer. It also comes in two sizes, with the larger one being about 30 centimeters high and the smaller one about 20 centimeters high. The main body has a small flared mouth or a small straight mouth, a slender and constricted neck, sloping shoulders and a full belly. The long spout is curved and the spout is lower than the mouth of the pot. There is a cloud-shaped knot connecting the spout to the body. On the other side is a high handle in the shape of a belt. At the top of the handle is a small loop that is level with the mouth of the pot. The lid is a pagoda-shaped dome with an inlaid fire pearl knob at the top. The lower belly is sunken and rounded, and the foot is low. These are all characteristics that inherit the style of the Yuan Dynasty, with a thick body."

"Compared with the Yuhuchun vases of the same period, the small pot is slightly narrower in the shoulder and belly, and the body is thinner. The official kiln ware has a fine and white body, and the cobalt blue is bluish-gray with some iron rust spots. Just as you just said, this is a typical characteristic of Sumali cobalt blue."

"In terms of ornamentation, the patterns of this era also have their own characteristics. A sparse layout is also an important feature of this period, with broken branches of flowers and flat chrysanthemums being the most common. The painting technique shows a 'one-stroke dot-stroke' style. This is a phenomenon that can only occur after painters have been engaged in professional painting work for a long time and their skills have become muscle memory. It also shows that the society at that time was becoming more and more stable, which led to the emergence of a large number of skilled workers with specialized specializations." "The artifacts of each era have the characteristics of each era." Yan Zhenwei nodded and said, "This is also related to the social development at that time."

“Yes,” Zhou Zhi said with a smile. “Most of the blue and white porcelain from the Yuan and Ming dynasties actually absorbed overseas styles and shapes. This started with foreign merchants bringing cobalt blue pigment from overseas to Jingdezhen and demanding the firing of ‘custom-made’ porcelain.”

"For example, the patterns such as the intertwined passionflower pattern were originally drawn at the request of foreign merchants. Therefore, at that time, they did not meet the aesthetic needs of the upper class in China. In the upper class at that time, porcelain such as egg white and underglaze red was considered the best."

Zhouzhi has collected a Hongwu Yuhuchun vase, a Yongle blue and white plate with a bunch of lotus flowers, a Xuande blue and white brocade plate, a Chenghua blue and white jar with a lion-shaped knob and lotus leaf cover featuring a maidservant, and a Hongzhi three-legged incense burner with a "Made in the Year of Gui Chou" design featuring a mountain and flowing water.

"Even you didn't receive any Hongzhi imperial porcelain?" Zhou Zhi's porcelain display case has a unique feature: the porcelain is placed on a transparent glass platform with a mirror at the bottom that reflects the mark on the bottom of the porcelain. The mark is an important basis for identifying porcelain, and it is also a detail that most people cannot see.

"Such exquisite painting, yet it's still not an official kiln piece?" Yan Zhenwei asked.

"Hongzhi imperial kilns generally feature dragon patterns, and the bottom mark will bear the inscription 'Made in the Hongzhi Reign of the Great Ming Dynasty'," said Master Ma.

“The imperial kilns ceased production three times during the Hongzhi era, and very few official kiln wares remain from the entire dynasty,” Zhou Zhi added.

"Although this piece isn't from the official kiln, it actually contains more important information than official kiln pieces. The inscription 'Made in the year of Gui Chou' is even more precise than 'Made in the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty,' making it a perfect 'standard dating artifact' for research." Master Ma laughed. "As for the painting, the court began to become corrupt in that era. As the practice of 'official-private joint production' became the norm, kiln workers began to cheat and substitute materials, and the phenomenon of using public resources for private purposes became rampant. Although these pieces have folk kiln patterns of figures, stories, landscapes, etc., the painting is exquisite, and the glaze used for shaping the body is indistinguishable from that of official kiln pieces. Many of them may even have come from the same kiln."

“So that’s how it is…” Yan Zhenwei understood: “Actually, they are sold to wealthy and high-ranking officials. Apart from the different patterns and base marks, the quality is the same as those used by the emperor, right?”

“Yes, except for those explicitly prohibited by the rules of etiquette, the rest were the same as those enjoyed by the royal family! This also reflects the corruption and darkness of the bureaucratic system at that time, a product of collusion between officials and merchants,” Zhou Zhi said.

Continuing down the list, Zhouzhi also houses a large blue-and-white porcelain plate with foreign inscriptions from the Zhengde period, a blue-and-white porcelain cylinder vase with the inscription "Rising to High Rank Soon" from the Jiajing period, a cylinder vase with the inscription "Dream of Gaotang" from the Jiajing period, a flower vase with the inscription "Nine Elders" from the Jiajing period, a jade pot spring vase with the inscription "Worshiping the Moon" from the Jiajing period; a large blue-and-white porcelain jar with dragon patterns from the Longqing period, which was retrieved from an overseas hotel; a Wanli period jar with the inscription "Two Immortals of Harmony" from the Wanli period; and a blue-and-white porcelain flower vase with the inscription "Mi Shi Yin" from the Tianqi period.

"What's written on this plate?" Yan Zhenwei felt that this large plate looked rather strange among the many porcelain pieces with Chinese aesthetics. "Is this Arabic script? The mark on the bottom reads 'Made in the Zhengde period of the Great Ming Dynasty.' Is this an official kiln piece? Could it have been made for the palace?" (End of Chapter)