Chapter 556 Real Kung Fu

"Okay!" The old man saw that the number of people watching was gradually increasing, and he looked a little proud: "Then I will tell you the subtleties of this sweet white eggshell glaze."

"Chenghua sweet white glaze is the inheritance and development of the sweet white glaze created and fired in the Yongle kiln period."

"Young man, do you know why it's called Tianbai?" The old man was more thoughtful.

Zhou Zhi smiled without being angry at all: "Because the sweet white glaze is extremely shiny and can illuminate people's shadows. It has a more obvious milky feeling than the previous egg white glaze from the Shufu kiln in the Yuan Dynasty, giving people a gentle, sweet and clean beauty, so it is also called

'Onion root white' is known as 'white as gelatin, as plain as snow'."

"The reason why it is called Tianbai is because the sucrose frosting at that time was similar in color to it, so it was named Tianbai. Right, sir?"

"Uh...that's it." The old man coughed lightly and prepared to speak again.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Zhi continued: "Sweet white porcelain is a kind of plain glazed porcelain, which belongs to the white porcelain series. It is made of porcelain with low iron content and fired with pure transparent glaze. It has been used as early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Appear."

"In Yongle, this kind of porcelain reached its peak in terms of glaze color, and in the Chenghua period, white-glazed porcelain reached another peak. Not only was the texture of the porcelain delicate and pure, but most of the carcass was light and neat, and its production process was also

During the Yongle and Xuande periods, white porcelain reached maturity and reached a state of 'rebirth'."

"The so-called bodiless porcelain is a special porcelain-making process, that is, thin-bodied fine white porcelain. The carcass of this kind of porcelain is so thin that it is almost invisible. It seems that the carcass has been removed, and the entire porcelain is completely composed of only the glaze layer.

.”

"That's right! Look at my bowl, isn't it?!" The old man said: "Look at my bowl, the lines are soft and round, the body is thin and light, like an eggshell, the inside and outside are covered with white glaze, the glaze surface is flat, and the outer wall is dark under the glaze.

The dragon and phoenix are carved into auspicious patterns. When viewed through the sunlight, you can see the flying dragons and phoenixes, complemented by auspicious clouds, and their expressions are lifelike and vivid. Could such exquisite and exquisite production techniques be produced by a porcelain factory after the founding of the People's Republic of China?"

His words were full of incomparable confidence, and even caused the crowd around him to nod along, feeling that what the old man said was indeed reasonable.

"Have you finished talking?" Mr. Sun asked.

"Ah, that's it."

"So your opinion is: this bowl has a thin carcass, white glaze on the inside and outside, and hidden patterns, and is exquisitely crafted. Therefore, it is determined to be Chenghua sweet white glaze eggshell porcelain?"

"Yes. Is there something wrong?"

"The problem is serious. These so-called characteristics you mentioned are the characteristics of eggshell porcelain from the creation of Chenghua to the late Ming Dynasty, the third dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China, and New China. All genuine and imitation products in this long period of time.

They all share the same characteristics. They all have light and thin bodies, white glaze inside and outside, most of them have hidden patterns, and exquisite craftsmanship. So, what are the basic characteristics of the authentic Chenghua sweet white glaze eggshell porcelain that is different from the imitations of other dynasties?

Woolen cloth?"

"Ah, this..." The old man was stunned for a moment, and suddenly thought of something: "The bottom line! There is a bottom line under the bowl!"

Mr. Sun turned the porcelain bowl over, and sure enough, under the porcelain bowl there was a double-circle six-character inscription "Daming Chenghua Annual System".

Seeing this, Mr. Sun couldn't help but smile: "Is there more?"

"No...no more."

Mr. Sun smiled and said: "Elbow, can you tell me?"

After speaking, he raised his head and said to the crowd of spectators: "Let us first agree that the appraisal teacher will generally not give any opinions on imitations, so as not to waste everyone's time. However, today's matter is a little special. It seems that everyone wants to ask us.

I don’t trust the discernment of the appraisal teacher who came here.”

"We know that some people think that the young man next to me is too young and that he may not be qualified, but what I want to tell you is that his appraisal ability is very good. He has discovered and appraised several very important cultural relics.

Even the kind that can rewrite the history of certain crafts in our country is collected by the National Museum and Shudu Museum."

"And he came to Shu capital this time because he found clues to an important missing cultural relic from the clues in local historical materials, and finally found it, so he came to Shu capital to report."

"It is an honor for Gongmei to have him as our appraiser. It should be said that it is also an honor for all those waiting for appraisal in his queue today. There is no doubt about this."

"Next, we will ask him to talk about the appraisal process of this porcelain to see if anyone will still question its professionalism."

After finishing speaking, Mr. Sun nodded to Zhou Zhi: "Elbow, please tell me."

"Okay, let me tell you why this porcelain is not a genuine Chenghua product." Zhou Zhi took over the topic.

"First of all, we should know the characteristics of sweet white glazes in various eras."

"Let's talk about the tire first. In the refining of Chenghua sweet white glaze porcelain, the proportion of kaolin is increased, and the impurities are removed through multi-layer filtration and refining, so that the toughness of the carcass is strengthened, and the blank is made thinner and finer white. At the same time, it increases the

The composition of aluminum is such that after the firing temperature increases, most sweet whiteware can be in a "semi-born" state."

"There are two types of glaze layers on sweet white wares: thin and thick. Thin glaze is often applied to thin and round wares. The glaze is smooth and crystal clear. The mouth of the wares, the edges of the feet and the edges of the belt are slightly exposed to the fetal bones. The edges of the feet are slightly visible.

The glaze surface is neatly cut and does not drip when applied, and there are two kinds of decoration: plain and carved, and printed patterns."

"Thick glaze means the enamel is thickened. For thin ware, the thickness of the glaze is greater than the thickness of the casing, making it fatter and fatter. It is mostly used on cut ware and plain ware."

"There are smooth lines of hidden patterns on a few vessels. Sometimes it takes careful inspection or light perspective to see the patterns or characters."

"But we have to remember one thing, that is, no matter how exquisite the craftsmanship of the craftsmen at that time was, they were still limited by the tools. The center of gravity and precision of hand-turned pottery plates could not be compared with modern mechanical pottery plates. Therefore, no matter what, in the

In tire making and tire repair, defects such as uneven shape and uneven thickness will inevitably occur."

"As for the remaining parts of manual craftsmanship, such as engraving, printing, and decoration, they are their strengths. Their craftsmanship level is often difficult for later generations of craftsmen to match."

"So the old gentleman said that this bowl was of exquisite craftsmanship. In my opinion, he was only half right," Zhou Zhi said with a smile, "What about the other half? Of course it's the tire-repairing half."

"As for the dragon and phoenix carvings, the traces are too blurry. As you can see, after the light is turned on, the dragon and phoenix patterns are not very clear."

"Why does this happen? Because the carcass of this bowl is not hand-carved. Instead, a patterned mold is used to pour porcelain slurry into it, and it is taken out after solidification. This process is only available in modern times.

, called 'grouting'."

"There is a saying about the real Chenghua eggshell glaze. Because the carcass is so thin, when you hold it, you can even see the threads of your fingers. Most of them have no patterns, and a few have hidden flowers. The theme is mostly double dragons.

Twin phoenixes, lotus flowers, roses, camellias, peonies, etc.”

"However, these patterns all have a common feature, which is that they are extremely fine, round and smooth, and difficult to see with the naked eye. You need to use light to see them."

"This piece of porcelain is just as the old gentleman said. It is neat and beautiful in shape, but it is obvious that although the porcelain body is already very thin, the glaze is even thinner. It is still the basic pattern of glaze adhering to the body. There is no success.

This magical characteristic of Hua Tian Bai’s ‘rebirth’.”

"The lines in the engraving part lack the three-dimensional sense of the cutting, and are slender and rigid, which results in a blurred pattern, which is very different from the original."

He spoke thoughtfully, in a tone that was not urgent, full of gentleness and calmness, but made everyone hear him clearly and confidently.

These are all real skills, and others cannot help but believe them.
Chapter completed!