Riding the wind of rebirth

Master Ma finally raised his head and looked at Zhou Zhi with an incredulous expression: "You collected them all?"

“There’s still a little regret.” Zhou Zhi pointed to two painted bowls, one large and one small, side by side in the counter: “This one is from the current dynasty, but it doesn’t have red decorations; this one has red decorations, but the two elders have examined it and determined it’s from the Jin dynasty.”

"That's enough!" Master Ma rolled his eyes. "I've even got you two Jun ware pieces! And they're complete pieces!"

Zhou Zhi laughed and said, "There's another unique piece over there, didn't you notice?"

"I never really expected that, I didn't even have any hope for it. Good lad, you're now the first person to collect all five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty!"

Collecting all five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty is a dream for many collectors, but in fact, to this day, only three major museums have achieved this feat.

Two Palace Museums and one Shanghai Museum.

As a private collection, this place is truly unique.

Mr. Ma had been working hard to become the first, but now that hope has been dashed.

Many of the items in the display case were quite small, but in Master Ma's eyes, their importance was no less than that of the large paintings hanging outside in Yan Zhenwei's eyes.

The Ru ware inkpad box is only the size of a palm, but its Qingliang Temple style is exceptionally prominent, and its color is a pure sky blue.

This is a long-necked vase with string patterns from the official kiln of the Southern Song Dynasty, which is the batch ordered by Emperor Huizong of Song. The color is not as blue as the inkpad box, but more elegant. It is not as good as the Song Dynasty official kiln pieces in the Palace Museum and Shanghai Museum, but it is already quite remarkable to be able to collect it.

The collection of Jun ware was purely achieved by spending money. The blue-gray glazed bowl with colorful spots is from the collection of the Qiu family in Hong Kong. The Qiu family is a "professional" collector of Jun ware porcelain worldwide. A few years ago, their descendants sent a piece of Jun ware porcelain to auction. At that time, Zhouzhi was missing a piece of Jun ware porcelain, so they asked Lin Wanqiu to acquire it at all costs.

However, this Jun ware bowl has a blue glaze with gray spots. The saying goes, "If Jun ware doesn't have red spots, one will be poor for life." This means that if the kiln workers cannot fire Jun ware with reddish-purple spots, its value will be greatly reduced.

Later, another Jun ware purple-spotted bowl appeared at an overseas auction. Knowing Zhou Zhi's needs, Lin Wanqiu took it upon herself to bid for it.

This bowl is very small, strictly speaking, it can only be considered a "tea ball". After identification, it is a Jun ware from the Jin Dynasty. Given the current discoveries of Jun ware with red glaze, this is the earliest known example of Jun ware with red glaze.

As for Ding ware, Zhouzhi has too many collectibles. There is a large plum vase with purple-gold glaze and incised Tang grass pattern, which is the legendary "Purple Ding". It was a great find in the ghost market of Daliushu in the capital. It is not only a large piece, but also a unique piece.

As for the rest—pure white, white glaze with black decoration, and gadolinium-patterned—there are many more.

"Can I open it and have a look? This Ge ware fish basket incense burner is so rare. When did you get it?"

Ma Ye hadn't kept the porcelain collection in Zhouzhi a secret; many pieces were originally acquired with him. Therefore, Ma Ye knew almost everything about the Song Dynasty porcelain collection in Zhouzhi.

“This should have been given to Zhou Zhi by my fourth cousin. I’ve seen it at my fourth cousin’s place,” Mai Xiaomiao said.

Zhou Zhi himself was both amused and exasperated: "The circulation of this Ge kiln fish basket incense burner is indeed a bit funny."

“Back then, I never expected to be able to collect all five major kilns, so after I found this furnace, I gave it to my fourth cousin as a gift.”

"After we had almost collected all the artifacts from the five major kilns, we just couldn't find any Ge ware porcelain no matter what we tried." Zhou Zhi said, feeling embarrassed, "There was nothing I could do, so I had to swallow my pride and beg my fourth cousin to send the fish basket incense burner back to me. That's how I managed to collect all the exhibits here." He covered his eyes with his hands as he spoke, "I really acted like a son, it was so shameful."

"Hahahaha..." Upon learning about the stove's history, Master Ma's mood inexplicably improved: "It's really embarrassing to have to return something you've given away! What did your fourth cousin say back then?"

"I think that although my fourth cousin scolded me on the surface, he was actually very proud of his younger relative for achieving this," Zhou Zhi said shamelessly.

"Achievement? More like a laughing stock, hahaha... Quickly open the cabinet so I can take a look."

"This...cannot be opened now."

"What?"

"Because this place is not under my jurisdiction. From the decoration to the exhibition setup, and even the future management, I have entrusted it all to Sister Wanqiu. To open this cabinet, you have to follow her rules. Since she is not here, I cannot bypass her to give orders to the staff."

“That’s true.” Master Ma also had this set of responsibilities. He was also in charge of Zhou Zhi’s collection at Demian Hall, and the method was similar. So he understood. But then another question came to mind: “Hey? I’m working for you because I’m poor, but Wanqiu isn’t short of money. Why should she listen to you?”

"How dare I order her around?" This time it was Zhou Zhi's turn to roll his eyes: "You'll understand when we go up another floor."

Besides the calligraphy and paintings and porcelain from several famous kilns, this floor also displays a dazzling array of porcelain pieces.

There are rough Han Dynasty celadon, Tang and Five Dynasties Dayi Kiln and Longchang Kiln porcelain, Song Dynasty Yaozhou Kiln, Xing Kiln, Hutian Kiln and Longquan Kiln porcelain, etc.

The most exquisite pieces here are from the Hutian Kiln, which is the predecessor of the famous Jingdezhen Kiln. It is also a type of kiln that Zhou Zhi has been collecting since high school. After being replaced, all that remains are masterpieces.

Secondly, there are Dayi Kiln and Meizhou Kiln. Both of these types of products are derived from the same tree species, giving them an advantage due to their proximity to the source.

These porcelain pieces are also from before the Ming Dynasty, but they are all from folk kilns. Although they are also of high quality, their value cannot be compared with that of the Five Great Kilns.

There was only one exception: the celadon lotus leaf-shaped covered jar, which was the one that Zhou Zhi had just instructed Master Ma to pay attention to, and which was located in the center of the pile of porcelain.

"Your item... is from the Southern Song Dynasty? From Jinyu Village?" Master Ma finally realized the extraordinary nature of this item and understood why Zhou Zhi had repeatedly reminded him to pay attention to it.

“Don’t talk nonsense. I bought this in Jiachuan. I also bought that Yuan blue and white porcelain jar downstairs at the same time.” Zhou Zhi quickly waved his hand: “But later, I had it appraised with my fourth cousin. It is indeed from the Longquan kiln of the Southern Song Dynasty. Moreover, the shape and specifications are quite high. There are not many signs of use or characteristics of being passed down through generations. It is indeed similar to the batch from Jinyu Village.”

In 1991, a Southern Song Dynasty porcelain hoard was unexpectedly discovered in farmland in Jinyu Village, Suining, Sichuan Province, which shocked the archaeological community. A total of 985 complete and intact Southern Song Dynasty porcelain pieces were unearthed there. The variety, quality and grade of these pieces are rare, making it a veritable "underground porcelain warehouse" that encapsulates the peak level of porcelain production in the mid-to-late Southern Song Dynasty.

These porcelains mainly include Longquan celadon and Jingdezhen celadon, which are both practical and artistic. There are also a small number of pieces from kilns such as Jizhou and Jian. Longquan porcelain is mainly in shades of powder blue, plum green, and sky blue. Among them, the most important are a batch of antique-style ritual vessels and a unique piece that is unparalleled in the world - a lotus leaf covered jar.

"It is a little different; yours is a size smaller." After carefully examining the jar, Master Ma nodded in confirmation: "The characteristics are very similar, though."

The covered jar from Jinyu Village, measuring 31.3 cm in height and 23.8 cm in diameter, is the largest and most complete known example of its kind from the Southern Song Dynasty Longquan kilns. The one in front of us is less than 30 cm tall and about 20 cm in diameter, making it considerably smaller. (End of Chapter)