Firewood kiln is an ancient firing technology, and official kilns and imperial kilns are fired in wood-kilns. Because in ancient times, there was neither gas nor electricity, and craftsmen could only use firewood to fire porcelain. With the development of ceramic firing industrialization technology, with the development of the times and the progress of science and technology, the kiln of Jingdezhen porcelain has undergone earth-shaking changes in a short period of time from firewood kiln to firewood and coal mixed firing, coal kiln, coal-to-gas tunnel kiln, oil-fired tunnel kiln, and then to liquefied gas kiln.
The fired porcelain of the firewood kiln is fueled by horsetail pine firewood, and the porcelain is fired using the traditional secret method, and the firewood kiln has no perfect product, only "close to perfection". It is said that in a furnace of good luck there will be a special outstanding, commonly known as "kiln treasure". "A thousand kilns and one treasure" is said to be the rare firewood kiln.
Today's firewood kilns have almost become a marginal craft category in history. There are only a handful of firewood kilns in Jingdezhen. There is a saying in the ceramic industry: firewood kiln is the most expensive, and the world does not see it. There are two main reasons for the small number of kilns in Jingdezhen that specialize in firewood firing: one is the cost, and the other is the difficulty.
Difficulty of firing in the wood kiln:
Firewood kiln porcelain firing is risky, costly, low yield, and the number of firewood kilns existing in modern times is small, so it is scarce.
OneIt is a limited number of pine firewood, and there is no special financial guarantee, so no one dares to easily start the match kiln to fire;
IIIt is a kiln down, burning nearly thousands of catties of pine firewood, the cost is quite high;
IIIIt is to burn a kiln to have a set of experienced team collective cooperation, the fire and temperature of the firewood kiln completely rely on manual control, especially the pile master, without decades of successful experience is not good, a slight negligence will appear "collapse kiln" accident, economic losses are often calculated in hundreds of thousands of yuan;
FourthThe temperature at the front end of the kiln is high, the back end is low, and the middle temperature is the most moderate, so the quality of porcelain fired in the same furnace is very different and difficult to control.
Wood kiln moisturizing:
The use of pine fuel in the wood kiln has a moisturizing effect on the ceramics, and the gas atmosphere in the kiln formed during the kiln firing process is very suitable for the raw materials of the porcelain fetus, which can fire the porcelain fetal effect of white and slightly blue, so that the ceramics have a unique style of white as jade.
Wood kiln porcelain has traditionally been made of pine, pine is rich in pine resin, volatilized in the combustion process of pine resin has a moisturizing effect on ceramics, the principle of firing is to continuously add firewood to let the temperature rise slowly, so that the kiln utensils are slowly heated, plus the organic combination of water vapor in the furnace and porcelain glaze, so that the glaze of the fired porcelain is subtle and moisturizing.
Wood kiln porcelain firing process:
Finishing kiln alleys, one by one, passing blanks full of Yutang, one by one, hanging kilns, one cellar feet, one by one, passing blanks full of kilns, one by one, tie box crumbs, one by one, one table, one by one, lay the bottom of the furnace, one by one, build the door (under the pile, one by one, on the pile), one by one fire (cold fire), one by one to burn the kiln (the first half of the night, the second half of the night, day kiln), one by one, clear the fire, one by one, break the fire, one by one clean up the scene (pick up black coal, dismantle the furnace door), one by one, cool, one by one, dismantle the furnace grid, one by one open the kiln.
In the process of firing for up to 30 hours, when to heat up, when to keep warm, when to add firewood, the pile master must not leave an inch, to add firewood and fire uninterruptedly, and observe the temperature of the kiln at all times with "fire eyes". It is understood that the firing of firewood kilns is extremely difficult, and the yield is also very low, only about 40% of the finished product.
The yield of pure handmade products is low
Firewood kiln firing is all manual operation, whether it is the early stage of embryo pulling, shaping, or kiln firing, temperature control, the pile must be manually operated, which leads to the low yield of firewood kiln porcelain. And the firing method of "relying on the sky to give food" adds infinite added value to it. Therefore, the charm of firewood kiln porcelain only increases!
The firewood kiln blue and white firing is more difficult than the monochrome glaze, 60 quintals (the size of the firewood kiln is different, here is only an example) 12 road capacity of the kiln, only the middle two roads are less than three roads can be fired blue and white, commonly known as "kiln nest". Therefore, the blue and white of the firewood kiln can also be called the giant panda in the kiln, which is precious and rare!
There are few raw materials for porcelain making
Jingdezhen has become an important porcelain-making town in the country, not only because of its porcelain-making skills inherited from generation to generation, but also because of the rich porcelain clay resources around it, which is Jingdezhen's unique porcelain-making advantages, especially kaolin is the most precious.
Kaolin is one of the necessary raw materials for Jingdezhen firewood kiln porcelain, kaolin can not only increase the strength of porcelain, reduce the deformation rate, but also has strong plasticity, which can promote the mutual integration of the tire glaze, so that the glaze color on the surface of the porcelain is more warm and subtleHigh-quality firewood kiln porcelain is made of high-quality kaolin, fired out, the porcelain tire is white and greasy, shiny, and a hundred years of continuous mining, kaolin resources have become more and more scarce, **Jingdezhen firewood kiln kaolin porcelain value has also risen, become a popular porcelain sought after by Tibetan friends at home and abroad.
The difficulty of firing the kiln is extraordinary:
A firing will cost nearly several thousand catties of pine firewood, the state for environmental protection reasons, strict control of firewood kiln firing, pine fuel has become a scarce resource. Some people say: firewood kilns are dy......ing out step by stepIt can be said that firewood kiln porcelain is a "non-renewable resource of the porcelain industry". Precious. However, in 2022, a shocking news spread throughout Jingdezhen. At present, there are only a few firewood kilns, and they will be shut down one after another, and the few firewood kilns are even more precious.
In the future, the firewood kiln works will only grow higher and higher. In addition, the glaze of the firewood kiln is burned, the texture effect is rich and varied, and every angle presents us with different moods. Each kiln burner tries to draw creative inspiration from nature, hand-fired and tries to reproduce the rough and natural texture of the work, simple and solid color, deep and introverted quaintness, close to nature. Even the artistic value of the firewood kiln is unattainable!
Each piece of work is made by a group of ancestors and masters with unique skills, and each process is strictly implemented in accordance with the traditional handmade porcelain standards of Jingdezhen. From ceramic modeling, porcelain fetus, glaze composition, painting to style, the pursuit of excellence. The kiln is mastered by the most skilled pile master in Jingdezhen with decades of rich experience.
The cost of firing a kiln porcelain is huge, the difficulty is extremely high, a lot of pine wood is required, and the area around the kiln mouth must be kept absolutely quiet, and the slightest negligence will appear'Collapsed kilns', economic losses are often calculated in hundreds of thousands of yuan. Many uncontrollable factors make the contemporary firewood kiln boutique one hundred, each piece is rare, so that its unique charm adds mystery.