For many years, when we appreciate and appraise ceramics, we will always pay attention to their exquisite ornamentation and beautiful shapes, and often ignore or avoid those "flaws", especially connoisseurs and antique dealers will highlight the advantages of ceramics and avoid those shortcomings.
We may ignore and despise those "shortcomings", so that many years ago, those counterfeiters would only study the merits, and ignore or not delve into those "flaws".
In the process of appreciation, the advantages of expressing utensils are far more than the description of "disadvantages", which is also a Xi of collecting and playing. But what we want to talk about today is precisely the "shortcomings" of porcelain that are relatively easy to ignore, and the "shortcomings" are used as another reference point for identifying the authenticity and time of porcelain.
It is inevitable that there will be defective products and those process defects and defects with the characteristics of the times in the ceramic production process.
When we appreciate ceramics, we can often encounter and see some unsatisfactory shortcomings, such as modeling, painting, coloring and other technical shortcomings.
Northern Song Dynasty Jun Kiln Purple Spot Bowl, size: 9cm, estimate: HKD 12,000,000-16,000,000, realised: HKD 14.52 million, Sotheby's Hong Kong Spring Auction on 3 April 2018.
Throughout the history of ceramic production, we can see many "shortcomings" characteristics with the characteristics of the times, only a deep understanding of these "shortcomings" characteristics, we can more perfectly, more comprehensively grasp the appraisal to have the appreciation knowledge, in order to understand the difference between the old and the new, to understand the differences between the different eras, counterfeiters can not have the technical weaknesses, in order to clear the obstacles for our collection road, for our collection to lay the foundation for the success of the collection.
I have always believed that the "disadvantages" appraisal is a plus point for us in the appraisal process, while appreciating the advantages, we cannot ignore the "disadvantages" characteristics, the advantages are easy to imitate, and the "disadvantages" are difficult to do. Here I will briefly summarize some common "shortcomings" to analyze and grasp them, and see which ones can be used as knowledge points that we can learn from and use.
What I am talking about here is mainly the "shortcomings" in the process and materials, that is, the "faults" brought out by the kiln, and the acquired damage is not discussed. Let's summarize some of the common porcelain "shortcomings" and give examples:
Mastoid process. 1: Mastoid process
It often refers to the protruding point left in the center of the bottom after digging the circle foot, which is mostly seen in the Yuan Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, the bottom of some bowls can still be seen occasionally.
Generally, there are more characteristics of mastoid in the Yuan Dynasty, and combined with other characteristics, it is generally not lower than that of the early Ming Dynasty, except for the phenomenon of cultural lag (partial kiln, miscellaneous kiln).
In the early days of liberation, there was also the atavistic phenomenon of "mastoid process" in some small kiln crafts, which is not discussed here as a typical basis. At present, imitation craftsmen only pay attention to the mastoid process and despise rotary cutting, so there are many contradictions in the characteristic simulation.
Rust spots. 2: Rust spots
We can often see on the porcelain of the Ming and Qing dynasties, in the parts of the blue and white hair color, there are obvious depressions and rust scars, especially the "Su Ma Li Qing" blue and white rust spots on Yongxuan porcelain, which has a very obvious reflection, which is a major feature of the blue and white Su Ma Li green material. Because the green material is rich in iron, there is a phenomenon of rust in the firing process.
It is also a landmark feature of the identification of blue and white porcelain in the early Ming Dynasty. In the current imitation process, the rust scar color block veneer, the color is abrupt, and the old one is obviously different, and even some imitators inexplicably also fired the rust scar on the blank glaze, which is a big mistake, we must pay attention to the rust scar when we encounter the white glaze in the process of identifying porcelain.
On many Qianlong wares, you can also see some dignified blue and white expressions, at that time Yongxuan was more admired, so many blue and white hair color deliberately used heavy brushes to promote dot dyeing to imitate the concave and convex feeling and rust on Yongxuan porcelain, which is also a feature that we can often use as a judgment of Qianlong porcelain.
This phenomenon is relatively rare in other periods, except for the imitation of the Yongxuan period and the Qianlong period. The deliberate counterfeiting of modern times cannot be compared with the Yongxuan and Qianlong periods due to the difference in blue and white materials.
Ice cracks. 3: Open piece (also called ice crack).
The opening piece mentioned here can be understood as glaze crack (and brother glaze two concepts).
We will see this phenomenon on porcelain throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties, from Yongxuan to the late Qing Dynasty.
After the firing is completed, the shrinkage ratio of the glaze is different due to the change of temperature after the kiln, and the opening piece produced on the glaze surface (such as simmering porcelain is the reason), but it is essentially different from the "shocking glaze" formed by the impact of external force. The glazed opening pieces are relatively more seen on the porcelain of the early Ming Dynasty, and the bottom glaze of other dynasty artifacts is also seen. For some artifacts, these are also important identification references.
Blue and white depressions. 4: The depression phenomenon in the rich blue and white area
It is common in the early Ming Dynasty porcelain, due to the composition and firing process of the imported material "Su Ma Li Qing" used, it can often be clearly seen and felt on the blue and white porcelain of the early Ming Dynasty, and the blue and white are rich in its concave and convex feeling, which is the effect of the blue and white material infiltrating into the fetal bone, and it is also a "shortcoming", due to the production of concave and convex, the surface flatness of the utensils is poor, but the kind of ancient sense of clumsiness that is shown is very beautiful of the times, which also gives the reference basis for the identification of an age in later generations.
Later dynasties, especially the Kangxi Dynasty, there are many imitations of Xuande's works, in addition to the painting and glaze are relatively close, this sense of concave and convex can only be imitated by molding, removing flowers, and piling white, but Xuande's kind of rough and chic atmosphere is completely absent, and modern imitation can not achieve the kind of charm that penetrates into the fetal bones.
Rice cereal base. 5: Rice cereal base
The bottom of rice paste is also a common process feature on porcelain in the early Ming Dynasty (mostly seen in **), due to the pad firing process, the pad firing material adheres to the bottom of the utensil, and there is a phenomenon similar to burning. This is a typical process "disadvantage".
The bottom of rice paste is mostly seen in Yongxuan's unglazed wool bottom utensils, and it can still be seen until the middle of the Ming Dynasty, but there is a big difference in color and intuition. In the Qing Dynasty, due to the improvement of the firing process, the burned utensils did not see the phenomenon of rice paste bottom, and only in modern times did imitation rice paste bottom be faked. But it is relatively easy to judge, either there is no sesame-like graininess or it is mottled into patches, and the red is awkward.
Collapsed bottom. 6: Collapsed bottom
It was first seen in the early Ming Dynasty, and by the middle of the Ming Dynasty it had become a norm. The phenomenon of collapse is a defect in the firing process, which is directly related to the firing of the cold billet, and even the bottom collapses over the wall, and the plate can rotate on the plane. Therefore, when we identify the Ming Dynasty plate porcelain, we can pay attention to the phenomenon of collapse of the bottom, and it can also be used as a reference project.
Swirl. 7: Spiral pattern
Spiral marks left by rotary cutting and drawing at the bottom of the object. Ceramics produced by all dynasties are available. It may be comfortable or tight, with different intervals and thicknesses of the swirls, and the relative age reflected will be different. The characteristics of the spiral are determined by the speed of the runner and the rate of drawing and cutting at that time. Swirls are generally more common on unglazed tires, but some whirls can be seen under the glaze.
The basic judgment is that the coarser the swirl interval, the slower the speed of the runner, from a technical point of view, the age is relatively far, on the contrary, the faster the mechanical rotation indicates that the technology is more mature, and now the speed of the electric motor is faster and more stable, and the spin is more dense and compact. From the perspective of imitations, many large bottles and jars imitating the former dynasty in the late Qing Dynasty deliberately made very wide and deep swirls to pass off the artifacts of the former dynasty, and we can pay attention to the observation.
Jump knife marks. 8: Jump knife marks
Due to the relative attention to the "shortcomings" of the craftsmanship of the artifacts in the early Ming Dynasty, there are not many obvious traces of jumping knives in the early Ming Dynasty. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, due to the development of social economy, the demand for porcelain continued to increase, so on the basis of improving production efficiency, some processes were simplified and neglected.
There were many jumping knife marks on the utensils during that period, until the Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty. Due to the characteristics of the process, the general jumping knife traces are composed of a centripetal straight line, which is produced by the beating traces produced by the craftsman when he scrapes the bottom of the utensils with a bamboo knife. Whether it is astringent tire or full glaze, it can be seen during this period. Now the imitation of the jump knife marks is plausible, blunt and contrived, and the contrast between intentional and unintentional works is obvious.
Sticky sand. 9: Sticky sand
The phenomenon of sand sticking is relatively common, and this phenomenon occurs because during the firing process, the bottom of the porcelain is glued to some mat burning. The late Ming Dynasty is relatively common, and can be used as a characteristic of the era for identification. In general, when the prerequisites of all aspects are satisfied, there is clay sand that can add a definite weight.
Of course, these utensils are generally relatively vulgar. Nowadays, imitations are generally burned with sand dipped in glaze, and they can be identified by paying attention to observation. In the late Qing Dynasty, we can often see that there are similar black spots on the bottom and feet of some utensils, but in fact, it is the performance characteristics of loose fetal quality and poor training, which is an important identification point for us to determine the age of the artifacts.
Burst glaze. 10: Burst glaze
Burst glaze is also the porcelain firing process has been trying to overcome the process of "shortcomings", in the porcelain protrusion, the edge of the mouth, early can often see the glaze burst phenomenon caused by the poor combination of the glaze, until the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, craftsmen paid attention to some methods to overcome. During the Kangxi period of Shunzhi, due to the solid quality of the fetus, the mouth edge of some utensils often burst the phenomenon, which greatly reduced the yield and aesthetics, and brought damage to product sales.
At this time, there is a solution, that is, to make the mangkou first, and then use a relatively stable sauce-colored glaze to apply it on the edge of the mouth, so that the firing utensils greatly reduce the glaze explosion, thereby improving the yield and bringing technological progress.
At this time, the color of the sauce mouth is generally relatively dark or even nearly black, the glaze is dry, the brightness is poor, and there is a feeling of uneven shade, which is also a characteristic of the early porcelain sauce mouth. In the later period, the phenomenon of sauce mouth can still be seen on some porcelain, but it is deliberately done for decoration or imitation of the previous dynasty, and the sauce mouth is as bright as new, uniform and light color.
Brown eyes. 11: Brown eye (needle eye).
Some of the shortcomings formed in the firing process on porcelain, in fact, brown eyes will be found in all parts of the ware, but the bottom is the most common. Brown eyes were present in all periods of the Ming and Qing dynasties, but the bottom of the porcelain around Kangxi was particularly common, so that many enthusiasts took whether there were "brown eyes" as an important marker feature to identify Kangxi porcelain.
However, connoisseurs are generally only used as a plus item, not as the main identification direction. The formation of brown eyes is mainly the moisture in the fetal material, which is formed by water vapor breaking through the glaze after high-temperature firing, which is related to the making process of the fetal soil, which is also a more common phenomenon in the Kangxi period. In other periods, there are similar concave spots at the bottom, but many do not form a breakthrough and become small depressions. Now imitation also does brown eyes, but it is more mechanical, and we can find the flaws in the rules in those irregularities.
Tire marks. 12: Tire marks
Before Kangxi, it was more common on vertical utensils, which was a process characteristic. Due to the requirements of the upper and lower butt in the blank forming process, the tire mud at the butt place is bulging inside and outside, and the tire repair technology is relatively focused on the appearance (but not fine), and the glaze can still see a circle similar to the "waist line" characteristics, and the inner hall is more prominent due to the more sloppy treatment in the utensils.
After Yongzheng, the utensils basically did not have this feature due to the regularity of tire repair. In recent years, when making fake things, when making this tire trace, I deliberately wanted enthusiasts to see this "shortcoming" feature, but because of the artificiality, the blunt fatal deficiency was exposed. The most common splice marks are found in the middle of the object, followed by the bottom and shoulders. Bottles, cans and other vertical parts are more common, and plates and bowls are missing.
Kiln cracking. 13: Kiln crack (kiln crack).
"Kiln cracking" is a phenomenon caused by the cracking of the carcass during the firing process, especially in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, which brought a threat to the yield rate. In order to make up for the shortcomings, the kiln workers use some pigments or tire mud to wipe the phenomenon, mainly to improve the yield and make it easier to sell.
Kiln cracks are mostly seen in some thick-tired utensils, and can occur in all parts of the utensils, but they are mostly seen at the bottom. Kiln cracking is a completely accidental "shortcoming", when modern imitation technology is basically unable to copy, this is also a "plus" item for identification. Many "kiln cracks" also occur with the fetus, and the inner hall is more common.
String of smoke. 14: String of smoke
"String of smoke" is caused by the phenomenon of air leakage in the firing process in the kiln, generally only one side. The surface of the "string of smoke" utensils will be gray and black, and the kiln ash phenomenon on the side of the "string of smoke" is also more obvious.
"String of smoke" is a feature that has major damage to the aesthetics of the utensils, so it is generally not deliberately imitated. The relative value of artifacts with "string smoke" will be much lower, so no matter whether it is new or old, there has been no imitation of such characteristics.
scooping, warping, crooked.
15: scoop, warped, crooked
It can be seen on many Ming Dynasty artifacts, which is due to the different original conditions such as the thickness and moisture content of each part, and when it is fired in the kiln, there will be shrinkage and change differences and produce the phenomenon of "scoop", "warping" and "crooked".
The simple thing is that the reverse buckle of the plate and bowl will see that the edge of the mouth is uneven, and the head and neck of the bottle are distorted (there are ten bottles and nine crooked ones in the line), which can be used to identify whether other identification conditions are met, plus this local method for identification, and then strengthen and add or subtract the reference identification points of judging characteristics.
Bubble. 16: Bubbles
In fact, the least element used to identify porcelain is bubbles, and I am a staunch anti-bubble theorist. The number and size of bubbles basically have little to do with the year, but only with the brightness and refractive index of the glaze. The large bubbles of comfort must bring a transparent glaze.
Those with a "jade texture" and a strong sense of milkiness, the bubbles in the glaze must be dense and uniform small bubbles. The formation of bubbles is related to the composition of the glaze and the moisture contained in it, and it is also related to the temperature of the atmosphere in the kiln, and the chance is greater than the inevitability. Therefore, it is generally recommended to abandon the use of a magnifying glass to observe the "bubbles" to identify the age of porcelain, and to discourage those who only "bubble" theories today should not go astray!
Shrink glaze. 17: Shrink glaze
Partial glaze leakage occurs after the porcelain is fired and baked. There are many reasons for the formation of "shrinkage glaze", it is generally believed that in the glazing process, there are foreign bodies on the surface of the carcass, and the enamel can not adhere when the enamel is covered, and there is air under the enamel, and the tension tension caused by the uneven thickness of the enamel, in a word, it is a kind of glaze leakage phenomenon that occurs due to the shortcomings of the fetal glaze. The glaze of old utensils can often be seen accompanied by the phenomenon of "flint red", which is also a plus item for identification. Now there is little counterfeiting of the phenomenon of "shrinking glaze" in the imitation process.
Hard corners. 18: The hard fold of the lap foot (loss of circle).
The hard fold usually refers to the circle foot of the utensils in the Kangxi Dynasty (the hard fold angle here is not the angle between the bottom and the foot wall mentioned in the book, but the outermost circle of the circle foot to the ground), and it is often seen that there is a stiff angle at the arc of the circle.
This is a kind of process shortcomings at that time, in the use of tools with the characteristics of the times, the problem caused by the uneven force that occurs when digging the foot, the characteristics of the times are very obvious, and the reference value is relatively large.
Cut marks. 19: Cutting marks at the end of the ring foot
This phenomenon is very common to us, but it has not been taken seriously and studied. We can often see that there are traces similar to bumps at the end of the Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain rings, but it can be clearly seen that the marks are scraped with a sharp blade, especially on the ring feet with tire glaze and flint red, the white glass texture of the tire appears extremely abrupt (there is no flint red phenomenon, because after scraping, when the pad is burned, this part has a fine slit and changes the local atmosphere, so there is no kiln red.
There is also a truth that there is no tire glaze, and this part of the tire glaze is scraped off after glazing), we have always ignored this feature, so much so that no book has mentioned this phenomenon until now. After the relevant comrades of the Jingdezhen Institute of Archaeology, this phenomenon still belongs to the traces left by scraping and removing the foot end with a sharp blade in order to eliminate the pad burning gravel adhered to the foot end before the artifact is fired in the kiln, or other sundries that will affect the yield rate.
No imitation has been found before, and in recent years, similar traces of counterfeiting have appeared on counterfeit artifacts in the late Ming Dynasty, so we must pay attention.
The underglaze is different.
20: The difference in the bottom glaze
Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain, especially Ming Dynasty porcelain, we can find that the color of the bottom glaze and the top glaze of many utensils are different, and there are completely two kinds of glaze. There are two situations for this, one is that during the firing process, the color difference occurs due to the different fire conditions of the base glaze and the top glaze.
In addition, it is a process and economic considerations, the bottom glaze is originally a different type of enamel, so the product is completely different, for a long time it is a characteristic standard for us to identify the relevant era, and now counterfeiters have also found and used this feature, but we grasp the characteristics of some old glaze, it is not difficult to identify.
The common "shortcomings" in this article refer to the deficiencies and flaws brought out of the kiln, which are "innate" due to the problems caused by the characteristics of the process and the level of firing, and have nothing to do with the bumps, damages, and traces of use that occur during the use and play of the finished instrument, and are not discussed.
These "shortcomings" can be used as reference items in our identification process, but they are not necessary. There is a saying in the industry that "no matter how big the fault is in the kiln, it is not a problem, and no matter how small the problem is that comes out later", but whether it is "born" or "posterior", there must be an impact on the valuation of value and aesthetic requirements, just the size.
In the identification of porcelain, the "shortcomings" of the characteristics of the skillful use of the characteristics can become a useful identification for our hands"** clear the fog to see the truth, so that the "shortcomings" characteristics of the relevant knowledge, become our collection process can learn from another useful knowledge.
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