"Old Zhai said collection" —— Lecture 17 on Introduction to Ancient Ceramics (Sweet White Porcelain)

During Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, Jingdezhen created and fired sweet white porcelain. It was developed from the "egg white glaze" in the Yuan Dynasty, and the firing in the Ming Dynasty never stopped.

White porcelain with high whiteness can be fired by applying pure transparent glaze on white porcelain tire. The thinner the fetus, the whiter the color, and the thinner it is to the extent of bust, it can be bright and immediate. It is also called "sweet white" and "sweet white porcelain" because it is painted with bright and transparent glaze on the engraved lines and printed lines of dark flowers, which has a special aesthetic feeling and gives people a "fragrant" feeling. It is the main variety of the palace as a sacrificial vessel.

During Chenghua period, sweet white porcelain developed further, and the fetus was so thin that there was almost no fetus, so it was also called "thin embryo porcelain" or "bodiless porcelain". "Thin fetal porcelain" is as thin as an eggshell, light and beautiful, with transparent glaze and almost no fetal bones. It reflects light to see the lines on fingers. The ancients described it as "as thin as a cicada".

The production requirements of thin-walled porcelain are extremely high, especially trimming, which is the most important and difficult. After the blank is formed, after the glaze is dried in the container, the unglazed blank is scraped off, leaving almost a layer of glaze, and then the scraped surface is coated with glaze juice. At the critical moment, one knife is too thick and one knife is scrapped. If you are not careful, a gasp will lead to all previous efforts being wasted. So unskilled porcelain makers are afraid to ask. After burning, it seems that the fetal bone has been removed, and the name "born" comes from this.

In addition to bowls, plates, saucers and cups, there are vases, stationery and wine utensils, but they are not (or mainly are not) practical porcelain, but are famous at home and abroad as handicrafts. The difference between celadon and white porcelain lies in the iron content of fetal glaze. If the iron content drops below 1%, white porcelain can be fired. Mature white porcelain appeared in the Sui Dynasty, about 400 years later than celadon. The successful firing of white porcelain marks the progress of porcelain-making technology and lays the foundation for the emergence of colored porcelain in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The White Glazed Pot of Sui Dynasty Collected in the Palace Museum

White porcelain, in the Yongle period, reached the white inside and white outside, each different. This kind of white removes all impurities that can be colored, fundamentally gets rid of the influence of "flashing green" and becomes a model of white glaze in later generations. In the Qing Dynasty, Kang Yong burned white porcelain of three dynasties, but it can never compare with its predecessors.

The white glazed porcelain in Yongle period is delicate and white, with moist enamel and soft glaze color, especially the pure white glaze, which is known as "white as fat and plain as snow". Modern scholars have verified that daily sugar and Yongle white glaze came out at about the same time. Therefore, since the Ming Dynasty, connoisseurs and collectors have used the fashionable term "sweet white" to describe Yongle white glaze, which is still in use today.

In the Ming Dynasty, Yongle sweet white double dragon bowl, the sweet white glaze of Yongle period in Taipei Palace Museum, is the main porcelain used in the palace. According to 1989 excavation report of Jingdezhen imperial kiln factory in Ming Dynasty, more than 98% of the artifacts unearthed in the early Yongle period were sweet white glazed porcelain. According to scholars' speculation, it may be related to the fact that Emperor Yongle burned a lot of white porcelain and lived in Beiping during Rebecca's period, which infected the atmosphere that Yuan people were still white. Because it was built to repay the kindness of parents, the Hoonji Pagoda in Jinling is made of white tiles, so it is speculated that a large number of white glazed porcelain not only has religious significance, but also carries the memory of the emperor to his parents.

Yongle Sweet White Ear Bottles Collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei

According to the experiments of scholars, it is found that the characteristics of glaze color are related to the high content of timely particles and mica in glaze, so it presents a warm light completely different from the previous generation of beige glazed Ding kiln porcelain or light blue blue and white porcelain.

The white glaze enamel of Yongle Imperial Kiln is pure and smooth, with no glaze, small brown eyes and warm glassy luster. The white glazed porcelain of the people's kiln has white tire color and good porcelain degree. The products are mainly high white glaze, with white and bright glaze, fine and uniform glaze and no flashing phenomenon.

Ming Yongle's sweet white glazed Buddhist monk's hat pot is 19.7cm high, 16.7cm long and 7.5cm in foot diameter.

This pot is commonly known as "Sangao pot" because its spout is shaped like a Sangao. The neck is wide, the belly is bulging, and the ass is thin and round. One side of the pot body is provided with a wide-band crank from the mouth edge to the neck, and the opposite side is provided with a duckbill-shaped chute. Sweet white glaze is applied all over the body, knowing everything.

This pot is dignified and beautiful in shape, with quiet and bright glaze. If it is white and frozen, the shape of the pot is beautiful and the glaze is fragrant, which complements each other.

This vase is 24.8 cm high and 4.5 cm in diameter, and is collected by the Palace Museum.

The bottle has a small mouth and gradually closes under the shoulders. The gaskin is slightly outward, round and full, and the sand bottom is unglazed. Sweet white glaze is applied to the whole body, and there are three groups of decorative patterns painted on the glaze, which are grass-rolling pattern, lotus-winding pattern and branch-folding pattern in turn, separated by chord patterns.

This kind of plum bottle keeps the characteristics of the plum bottle in Song Dynasty, properly compresses the height of the bottle, relaxes the shoulders and feet, and makes the proportion of each part more harmonious. The sweet white glaze applied to the bottle is pure and clean, soft in color and delicate in decoration, which is a rare treasure in the sweet white glaze porcelain of Yongle period.

Ming Yongle sweet white carved gourd-shaped flat pot with ears, with a height of 3.2cm, a diameter of 13.2cm and a bottom diameter of 8.3cm.

The device is gourd-shaped, with a short neck, a round and flat abdomen, a flat and wide side, and square ears beside the neck, which is round and shallow. Glaze the whole body, the color is white and light blue, a circle of branches is printed at the mouth expansion, geometric flowers with double hooks are finely carved in the abdomen, long leaves and wishful heads are staggered into a wheel shape, and there is a circle of rolled leaves outside; Two strings are lightly drawn on the side, and the ear and the middle ridge are thin edges, and the lines are delicate and elegant. Rectangular circle with exposed tires at the bottom.

Ming Yongle sweet white double dragon pattern bowl is 4.7cm high, 10cm in diameter and 4cm in bottom diameter. The small bowl of the National Palace Museum in Taipei is a little luxurious, with deep and short walls. The fetus is delicate and fair, half-born, weighing less than 50 grams. The whole device is applied with white and moist white glaze, and the tire is only exposed at the sole of the foot. The inner wall of the vessel is a double-dragon conical arch, and the center of the bowl is engraved with a single round double-line four-character seal script.

Ming Yongle has no money, fragrant, white and dark flowers. The fancy teapot is 3.8 cm high, 8.5 cm in diameter and 4.5 cm in foot diameter.

The vessel is in the shape of an eight-petal diamond with a slightly closed mouth, shallow wall, flat bottom and short round foot. The outer wall is lined with light dark flowers and flowers, and the heart of the organ is broken camellia, with double rings. There are four broken branches of Ganoderma lucidum on the outer wall, and five decorative lines are added between the mouth and the feet. Sweet white glaze is applied all over the body, the glaze color is moist, the thick part is slightly blue, and the bubbles in the glaze are dense. The glaze color of the sole is orange, the fetal bone is even and thick, and the fetal quality is meticulous. This device used to be called "white porcelain dark diamond fancy teacup". As a tea drinking vessel, the plate 38 has the same shape and pattern, but the pattern is painted blue and white.

Ming Yongle sweet white jade pot spring bottle is 3 1.6cm high, 8.9cm in diameter and 10cm in bottom diameter, which is collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

This kind of bottle with outward opening, thin neck, round belly and low round feet is called "Yuhuchun". The carcass of this jade pot spring bottle is thin, except that the ring is full and unglazed, the whole bottle is coated with white glaze. The pattern is faintly visible on the surface, but it can't be clearly identified because of the glaze coating.

White glazed jade pot spring bottle is extremely rare. The Pi Salaj Museum in Topca has a broken inlaid metal buckle, which is used as a drinking utensil. There is no report on the unearthed white-glazed jade pot spring bottle at Zhushan site in Jingdezhen, but it can be seen from the unearthed blue-and-white jade pot spring bottle that there are two kinds of jade pot spring bottles at this time, which are close to the thin-necked jade pot spring bottle.

In the Ming Dynasty, Yongle sweet-flowered sunflower disc was 2.6cm high, 18.8* 18.5cm in diameter and1.8 cm in bottom diameter.

The disc is shaped like a diamond with eight petals, with a large mouth, a wide hem, a shallow arc wall and a flat bottom. The whole organ is embossed and decorated with thin lines. The heart of the organ has eight diamond-shaped flowers, and two flowers with broken branches are carved on the line. There are four flowers with broken branches and leaves on the inner wall, and every two flowers roll leaves, and there are eight flowers with broken branches and leaves on the outer wall. The inner and outer walls of the vessel are glazed, and the flat bottom is unglazed. The Zhushan site in Jingdezhen was unearthed on a large scale, decorated with golden flowers.

Ming Yongle sweet white ear bottle is 40.7cm high, with a diameter of 10.7cm and a bottom diameter of 12.5cm.

Binaural bottle has a long neck, a round belly and a double watch. An elephant head and ears are decorated on both sides of the bottleneck. White glaze is applied to the whole body, and only the enclosure is not glazed. This bottle is 40.7cm high, with thick fetal bone and thick glaze layer. Comparing the glazed red animal ear bottles collected by Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and Shanghai Museum in the Hongwu period of Ming Dynasty, and the fragments of long-necked bottles engraved with the words "Yongle Yuan … Dedication" and "Yongle Four Years … Dedication" found at Zhushan Site in Jingdezhen, it is speculated that they may be works of Yongle period. In addition, there is a yellow label "Emperor Sejong Xian" on this device, suggesting that this ear bottle may have been used by yongzheng emperor in the Qing Dynasty.

Ming Yongle Sweet White Four Seasons Lotus Bowl has a height of 10. 1cm, a diameter of 2 1.2cm and a bottom diameter of 7.5cm.

Big bowl, open, deep wall, flat bottom, short circle foot. White glaze is applied to the whole device, exposing the soles of the feet. The outer wall of the organ is engraved with a petal pattern, and the inner wall is lightly engraved with chrysanthemums.

Yongle white porcelain jar in Ming dynasty, height 14.9cm, diameter 10cm. It has a straight mouth, a short neck and a round shoulder, and four small annular tie ears are equally distributed on the shoulder. The cylinder wall is deep, gradually converging downward, with a flat bottom and a completely concave interior. The whole device is painted with white glaze, and the tires are only exposed on the soles of the feet. There is no grain on the outer wall, and obvious seam marks can be seen. The straight mouth, ring-shaped ears and concave feet of the jar have the characteristics of porcelain in Yongle period.

Ming Yongle sweet Bai Mei vase ("Inner Temple" inscription) is 36.7cm high, 7.5cm in diameter and 15cm in base diameter. The National Palace Museum in Taipei has twelve prisons, four departments and eight bureaus, which are responsible for supplying official appliances and providing various services. In addition, the Ming dynasty inherited the system of the Yuan dynasty, and the porcelain fired by the imperial court was first "decided by the imperial court" and then sent to the porcelain kiln for production. This plum bottle mouth is restrained, curled, with full shoulders and restrained abdomen, which is round and shallow. The fetal quality is thick, the surface of the device is coated with white glaze, and the dense carcass is exposed at the bottom of the ring. The whole vessel has no decorative pattern, but the word "Neifu" is written in blue and white on the shoulder, which shows its nature for the court. Osaka Toyo Ceramic Art Museum has a pair of white glazed plum bottles and a blue-and-white lid engraved with the words "Neifu", while Beijing Capital Museum has a plum bottle engraved with the words "Neifu", which may have been used by Neifu in the early Ming Dynasty.

Ming Yongle sweet and white four-season pattern double-lid jar is 7.5cm high, 9.6cm in diameter and 3.5cm in bottom diameter. There are two, three or four ring-shaped ears on the shoulders of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, which is the characteristic of porcelain in Yongle period. This jar has a small mouth, a short straight neck, a round belly, slightly upturned feet and a flat bottom. There are two hoop ears on the shoulder. A flat-topped and straight-walled lid is covered with a calyx-shaped button. Run clean white glaze is applied to the whole device, and six four-season flowers are lightly scratched on the abdomen. Cover the lotus with light strokes, with a circle of grass lines on the edge. A small white glazed pot with similar shape but no pierced ears on the shoulder can be seen from the water of Xin' an shipwreck. Small blue-and-white twisted-branch lotus-patterned double series pots with the same shape and no cover were unearthed at Zhushan site in Jingdezhen.

Fan Lian Babao Kuikou Bowl with a sweet white bust in Yongle Kiln in Ming Dynasty is 6.2 cm high, 20.3 cm in diameter and 5.65438 0 cm in bottom diameter. The two small bowls in the National Palace Museum in Taipei have luxurious mouths, sloping walls and short round feet. The wall of the device is thin and semi-supporting. The whole device is applied with white and moist white glaze, and the tire is only exposed at the sole of the foot. One side of the inner wall of the vessel is a conical arch with double dragons catching pearls, and the other side is a lotus flower decorated with eight treasures. Both bowls have "Yongle Year System" four-character seal script and lace. A similar small bowl with no grain was unearthed at Zhushan site in Jingdezhen, which was used together with a high-legged lamp holder. The practice of holding up wheels, buildings, fish, bottles, lids, snails, flowers and eight treasures with lotus flowers is a decorative pattern on religious vessels in Yongle period.

Ming Yongle? Gao Zubei with a sweet white double dragon pattern is 9.5cm high, with a caliber of10.9×10.95cm. It is located at the Gao Zubei mouth of the porcelain collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, with a deep arc wall and a high circle. Gao Zubei's sidewall is very thin, and the bottom and ring feet are slightly thicker. White glaze is applied to the whole body, and the tire is only exposed on the sole of the foot, and the tire quality is delicate and white. The outer wall of the vessel is plain and clean, and the inner wall is faintly visible with dark flowers, five claws, double dragons and moire. The center of the instrument is printed with a single circle, and the periphery is decorated with lace. There are four-character seal scripts in Yongle year in the circle.

Ming Yongle sweet white three-line bamboo handle pot is 1 1.0cm in height, 4.0cm in diameter and 12.8cm in foot diameter. The pot body of the single-handle pot in the National Palace Museum in Taipei is hemispherical, with a small mouth, a short straight neck, round shoulders, a slightly restrained abdomen, a flat bottom and shallow concave feet. There are three ring buckles on the shoulder, one side of the body has a meander, and the other side has a bamboo handle. The flat-topped and straight-walled prototype covers the mouth and neck. Except for the tire with the sole exposed, the whole device was painted with white glaze. The luminous elements of the whole device have no particles, and the glaze color is white and shiny. There are not many porcelain pots of the same shape in the world. There is also a pot of the same shape in our hospital, which is decorated with a pair of phoenix blue and white bamboo handles. Some scholars speculate that both of them are tea sets used by the court in the early Ming Dynasty. In the sinking of the Southern Song Dynasty in Taishan, Guangdong Province, there was an iron pot with a similar shape, and some scholars speculated that it was a soup bottle used by Muslims.

Ming Yongle sweet white lotus plum blossom bottle is 25 cm high and 4.4 cm in diameter. The white glaze works of Yongle period in Ming Dynasty are collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Regardless of the thickness, the glaze color is mostly bright white and moist as fat. As a container, it can be used to hold the contents, such as the sweet and white three-series pot in the yard. This kind of plum has a slightly round mouth, a short neck and rich shoulders, a flat bottom and a shallow circle. The shoulder is lightly carved with branches and leaves, with two strings in the middle, lotus flowers in the abdomen, two strings at the bottom and six lotus flowers. The fetal bone is slightly thicker, and the whole body is coated with sweet white glaze, and the enamel is white and moist.

Ming Yongle sweet and white diamond fancy teacup is 4.5cm high, 9.5cm in diameter and 3.5cm in foot diameter. The petals of the teacups in the National Palace Museum in Taipei are curly, curved and short. The whole body is painted with sweet white glaze, and the inner wall has no lines. The outer wall is decorated with two layers of sunflower petals, with veins and stem lines. The wall of the bowl is even and transparent, the inner bottom is slightly convex, the outer bottom and the ring foot are exposed, white and delicate, and the white glaze is as white as fat, which has been called sweet and white since the Ming Dynasty. The records of the Qing dynasty are sometimes called "filling in white", which is connected with sweet white. The "inspection report" of this equipment was uploaded as "white sunflower-shaped tea pot". Yongle sunflower sweet white tea cup, beautiful and generous in shape. It was made from the early Ming Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, and was also widely used in Japanese tea ceremony in 17 and 18 centuries. So many small cups with thin tires are ordered from Jingdezhen or Dehua kiln. However, the popularity of Kuikou teacups began in the Northern Song Dynasty, especially in the celadon departments such as Ru kiln, Southern Song official kiln or Ge kiln.

Gao Zubei, White Lotus Babel, height 12.7 cm, diameter 1 1.6 cm.

Gao Zubei's mouth is very extravagant, the arc wall is high and full of circles, and the circles are left out in the cold. The carcass is slightly thicker. White glaze is applied to the whole device, and the glaze color is grayish and round. The outer wall of the vessel is decorated with thin lines. The main decoration is the lotus flower pattern with eight treasures, six cloud patterns under it and four lotus patterns and small flowers around the outer wall. There is no grain on the inner wall of the vessel, and only the "Yongle Year System" double-line four-character seal script is painted in the center of the cup, plus a single circle. Gao Zubei, an inverted bell-shaped gold vessel and similar porcelain, was discovered in the Yuan Dynasty. In addition, there is a Gao Zubei in the courtyard with the same shape but smaller size, which is the dragon pattern of Qing Hualien in Hongwu period of Ming Dynasty. It can be seen that it has its origin from the Yuan Dynasty to the Hongwu period of Ming Dynasty.

Gao Zuwan, a sweet and white half-length conical arch in Yongle, Ming Dynasty, is 9.5cm high and10.9cm in diameter.

Head curl, deep arc wall, high circle foot. The inner wall of the device is printed with a five-claw double dragon cloud pattern, the core is decorated with a single circle, and the periphery is undulating with regular lace. In the circle, there is a cone arch with a dark flower "Yongle Year System", and there are two lines of straight calligraphy and seals; This circular lace pattern is quite similar to a symbol of dragon ball fire pattern, and the overall pattern may be a double dragon playing pearl. The exterior wall is simple and simple. The sidewall is even and thin, and the bottom and rim are slightly thicker; The soles of the feet are exposed, and the fetal quality is delicate and white; High sole slightly convex. Sweet white glaze is applied all over the body, the glaze color is slightly blue, the enamel is white and moist, and there are "orange peel lines" brown eye holes.

Ming Yongle sweet white glazed jade pot spring bottle in the Palace Museum

Ming Yongle sweet white glaze dark painted dragon pot is collected in the Palace Museum.

Ming Yongle sweet white glaze cone flowers wrapped with lotus flowers and plum bottles collected in the Palace Museum

Ming Yongle sweet white double dragon pattern bowl is 4.7cm high, 10cm in diameter and 4cm in bottom diameter.

The Gao Zuwan with sweet white black dragon pattern in Yongle period of Ming Dynasty is 9.9cm high, with a caliber of 15.3cm and a base diameter of 4.5cm.

The sweet white black dragon pattern Gao Zuwan in Yongle period of Ming Dynasty was 9.9cm high, with a caliber of 15. 1cm and a base diameter of 4.6cm.

The Ming Yongle sweet white cloud dragon pattern plate is 3cm high, 14cm in diameter and 8.3cm in bottom diameter, and is collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

Ming Yongle sweet white double dragon pattern skimming bowl is 3.5cm high, with a diameter of 10.5cm and a bottom diameter of 3.5cm. It is collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

Ming Yongle sweet white Fan Lian babao pattern Gao Zubei height 12.7cm, diameter11.7cm.