1. Hongwu Imperial Kiln Porcelain Collected in Shanghai Museum
The collection of Hongwu official kiln porcelain in Shanghai Museum is not too much, but its variety is rich, which makes the "China Ceramics Exhibition" in our museum in the 1970s make a good start in showing Jingdezhen porcelain in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Although some objects were originally designated as Yuan Dynasty, a new concept of the times appeared later, and Hongwu porcelain became a very noticeable part of the exhibition hall.
Shanghai Museum collects Ming Hongwu underglaze red flowerpots.
The main body of the exhibit is glazed red porcelain, including large pots, large bowls, large plates, plum bottles, double-ring ear bottles, bowls and lamp holders. Among them, the big jar is undoubtedly noticeable. This big work with a height of 48.8 cm is the largest work in Hongwu porcelain collection, and this kind of utensil should also be the largest among Hongwu porcelain handed down and unearthed. There are many works of the same type at home and abroad. 1994, a large blue-and-white pot with lotus leaf cover with the same pattern was unearthed from the former site of Ming Dynasty Imperial Ware Factory in Zhushanmentou, Jingdezhen, and it was basically completely restored after repair. However, the same type of in-glaze red ware was not found.
Ming Hongwu glass bowl with red pattern in Shanghai Museum
There is also a large bowl with red flowers in the glaze, with a diameter of 40.4 cm, which can be said to be a super-large work in ancient porcelain bowls. Both inside and outside are painted with underglaze red stripes, with good color. The outer wall of flowers is the most common decorative pattern of Hongwu porcelain. Among the handed down products, there are many glazed red bowls with the same style or similar size.
The diamond-shaped plate embroidered with red glaze, with a diameter of 45.5 cm, is a large-caliber porcelain plate in Hongwu glazed red porcelain. There were a large number of blue and white plates in Jingdezhen porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty, including Lingkou plate. Therefore, it is obviously not surprising that such plates appeared during the Hongwu period. They are the continuation and development of porcelain plate-making in Yuan Dynasty. Of course, the overall style is obviously different from the works of the Yuan Dynasty. There are two kinds of markets in Honglingkou: blue and white and glazed red. Hongwulingkou platter has obvious unique style because of its different formula, firing, modeling and ornamentation. There are a certain number of such markets at home and abroad. For the same modeling works, the decorative patterns collected in different places are similar, the firing quality is different, and the works with good hair color are very different from those with large color difference.
Of course, the most distinctive feature of Shanghai Hongbo Hongwu collection should be the red cloud dragon bottle in glaze, which is 45.5 cm high. The style of the bottle can be seen in Yuan and Ming bronzes. Only two have been handed down from generation to generation. Besides this one, the other one is in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, USA. The shapes and patterns of the two works are exactly the same, but interestingly, the dragon pattern painted on the body of San Francisco No.1 is completely opposite to that of the Shanghai Museum, with the former pointing to the right and the latter pointing to the left. In the past, it was thought that these two objects should be paired works, and the shape, decoration and red in glaze were basically the same. The left and right directions of faucets are complementary, and the author agrees with this statement. But now it seems that this understanding may not be complete.
Some experts believe that this kind of works may be the products of Yongle period, because the mouth-edge fragments similar to mouthwash in the first year of Yongle and the fourth year of Yongle have been unearthed in the former site of Jingdezhen Imperial Factory. However, judging from the styles of the two works, they are still different from this one. The washing mouth of the chess piece is higher, the tip is written on the outer edge of the mouth, and the lotus petal on the neck is wider. Handed down from ancient times, the mouth of the complete organ is high, and the pattern of lotus petals on the neck is slender. Of course, it can also be considered that such works may be burned every year from the end of Hongwu to the beginning of Yongle.
Shou Ping Bottle of Blue and White Spring Collected in Shanghai Museum
The Shanghai Museum also has a blue-and-white dragon "Chunshou" bottle with a height of 37 cm. It is generally believed that there are four such bottles handed down from generation to generation. At present, we are familiar with the collection of Shanghai World Expo, the collection of Toyo Ceramic Art Museum in Osaka, Japan, and the collection of Glasgow Museum in Britain. The shapes and patterns of these works are basically similar, and they were all made at the same time. This kind of porcelain has two special features. First, the blue and white body has the word "Chunsheng", which is unique in Jingdezhen porcelain.
The shape of "Chunshou" bottle is not the same as the common plum bottle in the early Ming Dynasty or Yuan Dynasty, and it seems that there is no comparability. It's almost impossible to find a corset of the same style, and it's even more rare to find a concave one. From the blue-and-white picture and firing style, it seems to be closer to Jingdezhen porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty, especially the moire painting method, which is consistent with some blue-and-white painting styles in the Yuan Dynasty. It can be said that the firing age of this bottle should be the characteristic of the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.
Second, the collection of Hongwu official kiln porcelain at home and abroad
How many Hongwu official kiln porcelains have been handed down from generation to generation? In the past, there was no clear statistics, and everyone just felt that the number was small. After the seminar on Hongwu porcelain in Ming Dynasty held by Nanjing Art Institute, we have a clear understanding of how many pieces of Hongwu official kiln porcelain are collected at home and abroad. According to the statistics published publicly at home and abroad and published by relevant research institutions, there may be more than 230 pieces of official kiln porcelain in Hongwu, which are collected in museums, art galleries and private collectors at home and abroad. Among them, two Palace Museums, Beijing and Taipei, have the richest collections. According to Mr. Cai Yi and Mr. Huang Weiwen's report, there are 75 pieces of Hongwu official kiln porcelain in Beijing Palace Museum, while according to Ms. Liao Baoxiu's report, there are 40 pieces in Taipei Palace Museum. There are about 1 15 works merged by the two academies, accounting for about 50% of all handed down works. Of course, the current figures are definitely incomplete. There are still some collections at home and abroad that have not entered our statistical field of vision, and some may not have been identified as Hongwu official kiln porcelain.
Ming Hongwu underglaze safflower plates collected in Nanjing Museum
Based on other domestic collections, in addition to the Shanghai Museum, the Nanjing Museum also has some collections, including five pieces in the glazed red plate. In addition, China National Museum, Palace Museum, Capital Museum, Suzhou Museum, Tianjin Art Museum, Guangdong Provincial Museum, Guangzhou Museum, Yangzhou Museum, Shandong Provincial Museum, Jingdezhen ceramics museum, etc. Have a collection of handed down works. In addition, the Tibet Museum, located in the border of the motherland, also has collections, which is obviously a gift from the central government. In Hong Kong and Taiwan Province, Hong Kong Art Museum and Tianmin Building also have collections of Hongwu porcelain, and Hongxi Art Museum in Taiwan Province Province also has collections.
In foreign countries, the porcelain of Hongwu kiln is also widely spread, and the collection areas are mostly in Europe, America and Japan.
In the British Museum in Britain, there are at least a dozen pieces of high-quality Hongwu official kiln porcelain, and in the collection of David Foundation hosted and exhibited by the Institute, there are also official kiln works of the same period. In addition, the Victoria and Albert Museum of Oxford University and the Ashmoline Museum also have collections. Swiss Paul Museum, Swiss Main Hall, The Hague City Museum, Stockholm Far East Cultural Relics Museum, etc. Some of these collections are familiar to us, while others are not well known in the past. For example, the collection of ancient ceramics in the Main Hall in Switzerland is very rich.
American Hongwu porcelain is also collected by many museums and art galleries, such as San Francisco Asian Art Museum, New York Metropolitan Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Rockefeller Center, Washington Freedom Museum, Boston Museum and Kansas Art Museum.
In the Middle East, Istanbul's Topca Bi Shalai Museum is famous for its large collection of blue and white porcelain. At the same time, there are many pieces of Hongwu official kiln porcelain in the museum. In addition, the Iranian National Museum in Tehran also has a large collection of Yuan blue-and-white wares, and also saw Hongwu blue-and-white porcelain.
Looking at the collection situation at home and abroad, the Hongwu official kiln porcelain collected in various places has its own characteristics, but its basic style remains unchanged.
The fragments of red and green colored plates unearthed from Yuchang site in Ming Dynasty in Jingdezhen are collected by Jingdezhen Institute of Ceramic Archaeology.
The varieties of Hongwu Imperial Kiln porcelain that have been handed down and unearthed in an all-round way include blue and white, red in glaze, high-temperature red glaze, blue glaze, white glaze, blue glaze and sauce glaze, as well as glaze colors with outer red and inner blue, outer blue and inner sauce, inner black and outer white, inner blue and inner sauce, and red and green on white background. At present, the red porcelain in glaze is the most handed down, and the blue and white ware is rare. However, there are many pieces of blue and white porcelain unearthed from the former site of Jingdezhen Imperial Ware Factory, which may have been mass-produced at that time. In the past, it was generally believed that Hongwu underglaze red porcelain was the most burned variety at that time. As for the objects with blue glaze, red color on white background and red and green color on white background, they have not been found in the handed down works at present, only the unearthed fragment specimens.
Hongwu official kiln porcelain has been known to professionals and collectors for a long time. Professionals have a deep understanding of Hongwu official kiln porcelain, mainly professionals who have in-depth research on Jingdezhen official kiln porcelain in museums and related units. Soon, overseas professionals and collectors began to pay attention to Hongwu official kiln porcelain. In the late 1980s, the strong trend of Hongwu official kiln porcelain in the art market unconsciously reached the peak of porcelain auction in history. Like other most competitive Ming dynasty official kiln porcelain, it has become a collection brand in the new era. At present, these pieces of Hongwu official kiln porcelain handed down from ancient times in museums and art galleries at home and abroad are important famous products that witness the collection history of Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The Palace Museum on both sides of the Taiwan Strait is the main representative of Hongwu official kiln porcelain collection. Natural and man-made disasters in history have not destroyed all the Hongwu porcelain collections in the palace (of course, there have been many cases of damage in history, such as many samples of Hongwu porcelain unearthed in Beijing No.4 Middle School, which may be the result of damage at that time), and other collection agencies are also very lucky to collect Hongwu official kiln porcelain, especially before no one knew about Hongwu official kiln porcelain in the early days, and it was really a coincidence that they received such works without knowing why. Of course, it is obviously very difficult to collect works like Hongwu official kiln porcelain now, because there are few handed down products, most of which are collected in cultural relics institutions at home and abroad, and a small number of works appearing in the market have long been rare.