Yuan blue and white porcelain has the characteristics of its era because of its glaze formula. Blue and white color materials are either domestically produced or imported from other places. Most of the blue and white decorative materials used in Yuan Dynasty are domestic cobalt materials. When blue and white porcelain was first produced in the Yuan Dynasty, domestically produced blue and white cobalt minerals were used, including those produced in Jiangxi, Guangdong, and later in Shaoxing and Jinhua, Zhejiang. After processing and refining, domestically produced blue and white cobalt minerals have a narrow refractory color range at high temperatures, and the temperature required for optimal color rendering is difficult to control. If the kiln temperature is high or low, the blue and white hair color cannot achieve the desired effect. Under normal circumstances, the blue and white color is bright blue and slightly gray. However, in high-temperature kilns, except for the "shiziqing" from Jiangxi Shanggao (anciently known as Ruizhou), which is easy to scatter, the domestically produced blue and white cobalt materials from other places are not easy to scatter. Therefore, the blue and white cobalt made in China is used to paint porcelain, and the decorative lines are clearer and the lines are more clear. There are also few varieties of halo powder. Domestic cobalt materials are mostly used in folk kiln wares and exported folk kiln wares, but this does not mean that they are useless for official use.

Sumali celadon glaze is a special metal coloring agent. The blue color of blue and white is reflected by the metal cobalt coloring agent. We used to think that all blue and white porcelain from the Yongxuan period, which was deep into the fetal bones and had clear black spots (also called "tin spots"), was made of Suma Liqing.

The written records of Suma Liqing are later than everyone thinks. The first time "Su Ma Li Qing" appeared in writing was during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. A scholar named Wang Shimao mentioned the term "Su Ma Li Qing" for the first time in his "Guitian Wai Cheng": "In the Yongle and Xuande Periods It is made by the government and is the most expensive so far... It is decorated with Suma Liqing..." Therefore, Suma Liqing has become an eternal mystery. We can see from the text that "Su Ma Li Qing" is a foreign word, mainly composed of the three characters "Su Ma Li", and "Qing" is an expression of color.

Basic understanding of green materials

To identify or identify blue and white porcelain from various periods in our country’s history, the understanding of green materials is very important. According to data, oxidized diamonds were first used as colorants for painted decorations. In the past, it was said that they first appeared in the Near East, but in fact they had already been used in the Tang Dynasty of my country. China's blue and white porcelain was first fired in the Tang Dynasty. Tang blue and white porcelain was discovered in Yangzhou in the mid-1970s. Blue and white porcelain was also fired in the northern Cizhou kiln in the Song Dynasty. The blue and white flowers of the Tang and Song Dynasties used domestic blue and white cobalt materials. The blue and white flowers fired in the early Yuan Dynasty still used domestic blue and white cobalt materials. In the middle and late Yuan Dynasty, with the continuous expansion of territory and the development of foreign trade, the Islamic population of the Yuan Dynasty continued to grow. Due to the increase in demand and the needs of the Mongolian nobles themselves, the Yuan blue and white colors colored with Suma Liqing came into being.

The current unanimous consensus among scholars at home and abroad is that the blue and white porcelain of the mid-to-late Yuan Dynasty used Suma Liqing, and the Ming Dynasty Yongle and Xuande to the early Chenghua period also used Suma Liqing. In the late Chenghua period, Potangqing, also called Pingpingqing, produced in today's Leping County, Jiangxi, was mainly used. Elegance is the characteristic of blue and white porcelain of this period, which is completely different from the suma-green porcelain of the early Ming Dynasty. The Zhengde Dynasty used Pingqing Qing, Shizi Qing, and Hui Qing, so the blue and white in the Zhengde Dynasty had a serious "mixed blue" phenomenon.

Zhengde blue and white plate

Among the Zhengde blue and white varieties, except for the lighter varieties that still use Pingping blue, the thick and gray ones may be made from Shi Ziqing. Shi Ziqing, also known as "Shi Qing". Produced in Ruizhou (now Shanggao, Jiangxi Province), blue and white porcelain in folk kilns in the mid-Ming Dynasty mostly used this material to depict patterns. "Huiqing" had already appeared in the Zhengde Dynasty. According to the record of "Gui Tian Wai Cheng": "Those who returned to Qing went abroad." Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli all used Huiqing.

In the middle and late period of Wanli, Tianqi and Chongzhen, Zhejiang materials produced in Quzhou, Xinzhou, Shaoxing and Jinhua areas of Zhejiang were used. Since then, Jingdezhen blue and white flowers have been made entirely of domestic materials. ——The official website of Zhongshi Jianbao

The development of blue and white porcelain and the origin of Suma Liqing

After taking stock of blue and white cobalt materials, we can know that in the history of the development of blue and white porcelain, our country has three times Among the imported green materials from abroad, in addition to the Suma Liqing used in the Yuan Dynasty, the Yongle and Xuande periods of the Ming Dynasty, and the Huiqing materials used in the Zhengde period, each of them plays a very important role in the development history of Chinese blue and white porcelain.

The record of "Su Ma Li Qing" was first seen in Wang Shimao's "Guitian Waicheng" before the seventeenth year of Wanli (1589): "In the Song Dynasty, Ruzhou was the first kiln, and The capital's own official kiln was second. In our dynasty, it was specially set up in Jingdezhen, Fuliang County, between Yongle and Xuande. It was fired in the inner palace. At that time, the most expensive ones were the eye-catching and sweet-white ones, and the suma-liqing ones were the most popular ones. Decoration, with bright red as the treasure. "Huang Yizheng's "Shi Cyan Pearl", written in the 19th year of Wanli (1591), said: "The blue of Xuan Kiln is Su Bo mud green." Here, "Su Mali" and "Su Bo Ni" are obviously foreign words, so it is undisputed that they are imported green materials.

The imported "Suma Liqing" is also called "Suma Boqing". Sumaliqing comes from Islamic countries in the Middle East and is also a cobalt mine. The color and refractory temperature range of Sumali Qing at high temperatures is wide. The blue and white on porcelain are brightly colored and the heat is more controllable.

Although Suma Liqing has excellent color and bright color, it contains polyvalent iron. In a certain high-temperature environment, some special chemical changes occur between the glaze: blue and white It will fade, and there are dark condensed points and lumps in the blue and white decoration, which are called "rust spots". Where there are rust spots on the blue and white decoration of the utensils, the glaze will be concave. Some dark spots often appear in the lines of the blue and white decoration. These are Characteristics of the glaze of blue and white porcelain painted with Suma Liqing material. Sumali blue cobalt material comes from an exotic place and is expensive. Only a small proportion of Yuan blue and white porcelain was painted with this color material.

If the blue-and-white cobalt material from outside the country is no longer carefully processed and purified, the blue-and-white pattern after being painted on porcelain will appear blurred and unclear. If there are many impurities, the decoration will be too blurred and the pattern will be more blurred. The dense blue and white areas will also make the glaze of the smooth vessel more concave. These shortcomings are praised by the literati of the Central Plains. Most of the literati at that time were Han Chinese, and the Han people were accustomed to drawing ink paintings on paper. The paper is filled with ink, and the ink color is vividly expressed in light, dark, clarity and halo on the paper. If you have any collections that you would like to submit for auction, please contact Mr. Fu Xi Peng: one three nine, zero two thirty, zero four zero eight, please do not disturb the others. The effect of using Sumali Qingqing material on the porcelain surface is like paper painting. This feature has been highly praised by literati, and the upper class has accepted it gracefully. Using Suma Liqing as the ink and the porcelain surface as the paper, the painting style of Yuan blue and white porcelain is unrestrained and unrestrained, with smooth and free brushwork, simple and complex layers, and no distinction between styles. Yuan blue and white porcelain is worthy of being an immortal artistic treasure of ancient China.

If the blue-and-white cobalt material from outside the country is no longer carefully processed and purified, the blue-and-white pattern after being painted on porcelain will appear blurred and unclear. If there are many impurities, the decoration will be too blurred and the pattern will be more blurred. The thick blue and white will also make the glaze of the smooth vessel more concave. These shortcomings are praised by the literati of the Central Plains. Most of the literati at that time were Han Chinese, and the Han people were accustomed to drawing ink paintings on paper. The paper is filled with ink, and the ink color is vividly expressed in light, dark, clarity and halo on the paper. The effect of using Sumali Qingqing material on the porcelain surface is like paper painting. This feature has been highly praised by literati, and the upper class has accepted it elegantly. Using Suma Liqing as the ink and the porcelain surface as the paper, the painting style of Yuan blue and white porcelain is unrestrained and bold, with smooth and free brushwork, simple and complex layers, and no distinction between styles. Yuan blue and white porcelain is worthy of being an immortal artistic treasure of ancient China.

Porcelain painted with Suma Liqing is easier to burn out the bright blue color, which adds to the brilliance of the utensils. However, suma is too far away from the green production area, so it is available but not sustainable. In terms of material consumption, "the disadvantages of craftsmen are impossible to prevent" (Qing Dynasty Zhu Yan's "Tao Shuo"). In fact, the blue and white porcelain used in the Yuan Dynasty, whether for official or civilian use, came from many places: Suma Liqing imported from abroad; domestically produced native Qingqing from Jiangxi, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other places. In addition, according to the PIXE technology test conducted by the National Museum of Iran on the bodies and glazes of 14th-century Chinese blue and white porcelain in the collection and Iran's own blue and white porcelain, the results confirmed that the blue and white patterns of some artifacts do not contain cobalt at all! Its blue color is a composite mineral colorant of aluminum, silicon, sodium and sulfur. Perhaps lapis lazuli (composition: aluminum, silicon, sodium, sulfur, similar to modern ultramarine) powder is used as pigment. Therefore, the various blue and white patterns on Yuan blue and white vessels have various color effects, including bright blue such as sapphire, gray blue, dark blue, light white gray blue and other color effects.

As for the decorative patterns, some lines are severely blurred, some are not blurred, and the phenomenon of slight blurring is more common.

Imported Sumali blue color material is used on porcelain: at a certain kiln temperature; the combination of ingredients in the glaze formula; the presence of iron in the blue and white color material; firing in the kiln fire (material chemical reaction) Due to the combination of the length of time; the age of the finished product in a certain environment, etc., the blue and white porcelain patterns painted and fired with Sumali green materials must have rust spots formed, which look like a beach island in a shallow sea. On the decoration of Yuan blue and white porcelain, two unique phenomena will be formed in the deep blue and white decoration and rust spots: there are shiny silver silk mesh patterns or irregular silver bright coils surrounding red. rust plaques.

The first phenomenon: There are two types of porcelain in this phenomenon. Category 1: When the blue and white porcelain has a thicker and looser body (observe the exposed bottom part), and is white or off-white; some are slightly flint red, and some are slightly flint red, and some are thick and flint red. Flaky, the carcass where the glaze is exposed on the bottom of the chisel rarely has sand holes; the other type: the carcass where the glaze is exposed on the sole is thick and hard, and the entire sole is brick red and flint red. Although it feels thicker, it is Touching without scratching. The upper two types of porcelain bodies are made of porcelain clay from Qimen, Anhui, mixed with local porcelain clay from Raozhou. Observe under a microscope at 100 times magnification, there are silver shiny thin threads forming a mesh pattern in the deep blue and white areas and iron rust spots, which may look like tree roots or fishing nets. They are numerous and obvious, collectively referred to as "silk mesh patterns", such as (Figure 200) ).

The second phenomenon: When the texture of the blue and white porcelain is white, fine, dense, and hard, the soles of this kind of chiselled vessels leave more pores, and the exposed soles rarely show flint red. This is a utensil made solely from Keemun porcelain clay. Under a 100-fold microscope, the rust spots in the rich blue and white flowers are irregular crystal flowers of reddish-yellow or exhausted color. A shining silver line encloses the rust spots at a distance, forming a lace, as shown in (Figure 201). This kind of blue and white porcelain iron embroidery spots rarely have the form of silk mesh pattern, and only a few rust spots are vaguely found.

How to identify Yuan blue and white Su Ma Liqing

1. Yuan blue and white (such as tie-dyed navy blue cloth) Su material Yuan blue and white devices are divided into early, middle and late periods, but their color The standard is the application of suede material, and the hair color may vary somewhat.

2. There are condensation spots and stains on the tire, which may appear brown in severe cases and may be called tin spots in light cases. This kind of spot is sometimes called tire eating or tire drilling, which all mean the same thing. This kind of spot often appears in places with heavy pigments.

Due to its great reputation, on the one hand, collectors pursue Yuan blue and white flowers, but on the other hand, there are many doubts. The first is the amount of stock in the world. Some people say it is more, others say it is less. Secondly, the market price is often talked about. In July 2005, a large Guiguzi Xiashan Yuan blue and white vase was auctioned for 230 million yuan, setting a world record for Chinese art that year. However, after the halo of high prices, there is no icing on the cake. Not to mention hitting 100 million yuan, there are only a few that exceed 10 million yuan.

3. There are traces of melting and flowing in the painting patterns during the application, just like the traces of earthworms walking on the mud in Jun porcelain. These traces are drilled into the bones. This phenomenon often occurs when blending Su materials and Zhejiang materials. As for the suma-liqing, it has long been popular among antique dealers and post-painting craftsmen to use black suma-liqing to draw patterns on dry porcelain blanks, and then hang them with white feldspar glaze. After being heated at 1200 degrees, After firing, the color of the pattern changes from black to a bright and beautiful blue like sapphire.

Su Ma Liqing

4. There is jagged glaze flowing or spreading or haloing on the lower edge of line painting and smearing. When the color is light, haloed pattern edges often appear in spot and line painting. Genuine products are low in manganese and high in iron. The ratio of zinc to iron in genuine products is very small. Genuine products contain trace amounts of arsenic. Genuine products contain less barium. Genuine products have fewer impurities. The Shanghai Ceramics Research Institute measured Ming Xuande suma liqing and domestic cobalt earth ore and found that Xuande suma liqing had high iron content and low manganese content, while domestic materials had low iron content and high manganese content. .

Su Ma Li Qing

5. The lower edge of the layered coils has jagged flowing edges. The main image of the painting often presses or flows through the layered coils, and the vertical lines exceed the layers. Lines, flow to layered lines or over coils, and there are marks when crossing, which can also be called cross-pressure coils. Sometimes there are dot-like stains like candied haws-like beads. The green material line painting is light and sometimes has flying blue, which appears broken or blurred.

Su Ma Li Qing

6. A spot often appears at the intersection of lines, which is called a fishnet-like knot. This phenomenon often occurs especially on fish scales in paintings. When drawing on the porcelain blank with suma cyan cobalt material and then firing it at high temperature in the kiln, the color development effect of the green material is affected by the quality of the object, the composition of the oil, the method of glazing, the thickness of the oil layer, the structure of the kiln, the location of the object, and the interior of the kiln. Kiln firing atmosphere such as temperature, air pressure, humidity, etc.

Suma Liqing

7. Domestic and foreign scholars or auction houses generally agree that the blue and white porcelain of the mid-to-late Yuan Dynasty used Suma Liqing; Ming Dynasty Yongle, Xuande to Chenghua In the early days, Suma Liqing was also used. Early Chenghua blue and white also has rust spots. Glaze shrinkage, brown eyes, and pits are common on the glaze surface. There are often flint red spreading edges around the exposed tire, and glaze accumulation appears on the glaze surface.

Even if there are tens of thousands of blue and white pieces, look at the genuine ones and don’t go astray.

It is a blessing to choose one from thousands of miles away. The traces of time must be carefully observed.

The green material of Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain is an associated mineral, mainly composed of cobalt oxide and iron oxide. It needs to be processed and refined into different grades of finished products before use, and ground and prepared according to the needs of painting. Then the effect of firing the blue and white on the color was tested using fire. Normally, due to the constraints of ancient smelting and purification technology 700 years ago, blue and white materials basically show rust spots to some extent after being fired in the kiln (with very few exceptions), but the distribution of these rust spots is mostly concentrated. In places where the brushstrokes are heavy, there are also some scattered ones. The difference from modern synthetic chemical materials is that the former is naturally distributed or aggregated and very natural (associated mineral characteristics). The latter is artificially synthesized from cobalt oxide and iron oxide, which is highly repellent. The iron oxide painted later is extremely unnatural. Many of them have the characteristics of interlocking or floating, and there is no effect of hundreds of years of air or moisture on the iron oxide. The slow oxidation characteristics of spot formation (especially obvious at the edge of the collapse pit).