Imitated Ming Dynasty Xuande Hand Painted Large Bowl with Ten Arris and Rhombohedral Mouth with Blue and White Fish

How does it feel to eat noodles with the 200 million blue and white bowl of Emperor Xuande
[Size] Height 10.2cm, diameter 22.5cm
April 5, 2017 is the year of the rooster, which seems to be "the cock sings the world white". At the Sotheby's Spring Festival auction in Hong Kong, a large bowl with ten arris and rhombus shaped patterns of Ming Xuande blue and white fish and algae was sold for 229 million Hong Kong dollars (including commission), creating the second day's price of official porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, only second to the 281 million Hong Kong dollars of Ming Chenghua's chicken bowl bowl.

Why is this Xuande blue and white bowl of the Ming Dynasty so expensive?
Answer: It is exactly the so-called "there is something good in the top, and the bottom will follow". This large bowl with Xuande blue and white fish and algae patterns in the Ming Dynasty was produced from Xuande official kiln blue and white porcelain fired by Jingdezhen Imperial Ware Factory (the official title at that time) in the Ming Dynasty. It caters to the preferences of Emperor Xuande Zhu Zhanji. There is no end to the exploration and pursuit of treasures. It is a collection of various porcelain materials and skilled craftsmen, regardless of local success.

Under such a strict official kiln system, the imperial kilns of the Ming Dynasty usually left only 4 pieces of finished products for tribute. But perhaps it was precisely because of this that the fine works of the Ming Dynasty official kilns were highly concentrated and reached the peak. So, what kind of emperor was Xuande Emperor of the Ming Dynasty who liked such simple, elegant and magnificent blue and white porcelain?
A: Let's first know the life story of the Ming Dynasty emperor.
Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty: Zhu Zhanji (1398-1435)
Archives: Zhu Zhanji, with the year title of "Xuande", was the fifth emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He himself was named Changchun Immortal, the eldest son of Mingren Clan. During his ten-year reign (1426-1435), his temple was named Xuanzong, and his posthumous title was Zhang Emperor. With the help of famous officials such as "Three Yang" (Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Yang Pu) and Yu Qian, he made the politics clear, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the economy developed unprecedentedly. He was a more promising emperor in the Ming Dynasty. Because of his active personality, profound cultivation, elegant calligraphy, and calligraphy from the Hua Ting Shen brothers, he is able to express himself with great strength beyond maturity. Especially in painting, landscapes, people, animals, flowers and birds, plants and insects are all excellent. He often rewarded his paintings to important officials, and wrote the date and name of the recipient on them. During his tenure, he devoted himself to the management of art academies and achieved remarkable results. Although he and his father's rule together lasted only eleven years, they were called by historians as "comparable to the literary scene" and "the rule of benevolence and publicity", and were buried in the Jingling Mausoleum in Changping, Beijing.

Ming Zhu Zhanji, Marquis Wu Lies High, Paper and Ink Pen (collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing)
What is the blue and white cobalt material used in Xuande blue and white porcelain?
A: This kind of imported green material comes from Western Asia and Persia. It is called Suma Liqing (also called Sumi Boqing). It is actually a translation of English smalt, which means a kind of blue glass. It is a kind of precious blue and white cobalt material brought back by Zheng He from his voyages to the West in the early Ming Dynasty.
In Wang Shimao's book "Looking into the Sky and Riding Beyond" during the Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty, it was recorded that "our court was specially set up in Jingdezhen, Fuliang County. It was fired in the inner mansion of Yongle Xuandejian. It has been expensive up to now. At that time, the eyes of hydrazone were usually sweet and white, and Su Ma was decorated with green".
Xuande blue and white hair color part
Suzhou blue material belongs to low manganese high iron, and its color is dark blue and bright, like a sapphire embedded under the glaze, shining and showing a clear violet color; There are obvious dark crystalline patches or spots at the condensation point, and the halo phenomenon is serious. This color is lovely. No wonder, according to the book "Notes on South Kiln" written in the Qing Dynasty, Xuanyao said that Xuande blue and white "is a kind of Xuanyao kiln, which is extremely refined, elegant and simple, with thick and light ink, clear and solemn ink, blue and white with green infiltration, and iron rust".

Blue and white fish and algae bowl
Jingdezhen porcelain craftsmen are skillful and skillful. They are good at using cobalt green to divide colors into different shades, with rich and varied levels. Indigo is used to draw bones, light blue is used to apply color, and the swimming fish is used to study posture. As for lotus leaves, needles are used to pick cobalt blue and reveal white veins. Moss spots are added on the edge of the big leaf curve. Craftsmen may deliberately increase the black defects of their kilns to create a situation where the peak will wither and the summer will end in autumn.
Large bowl with ten arris and rhombohedral mouth with blue and white fish and algae pattern (Xuande, Ming Dynasty)
No wonder the fish and algae patterns on this blue and white bowl in this spring shoot, Sotheby's Auction House in Hong Kong is full of poetic description: "The kiln is big and smooth, which is the top of edifying. It is a ten petal flower. It looks like a lotus leaf is half open. It is held in the palm. It is soft in the middle, and it is like fat. You can't put it down. The outer wall is undulating, and the four tails of swimming fish are painted in pairs. You can swim between the algae and the lotus. You can express the virtue of innocence and honesty. White porcelain is paper, green material is ink, and the strokes are fine. The lines are clear and smooth, lifelike, the density is appropriate, and the intensity is appropriate... The Xuande heavy weapon is unique 2, It is rare. " This bowl is painted with four abundant fish. You can swim among the algae and lotus freely. You can enjoy it as if you are in it. The four fish are opposite each other. One side is painted with carp, the other side is painted with mandarin fish, and the other side is painted with bream. The varieties are slightly different.

THE HISTORY OF JINGDEZHEN
Jingdezhen, a world-famous porcelain town in Jiangxi. In Chinese, the name Jingdezhen is virtually synonymous with ceramics,particularly porcelain.
• Historical records tell of Jingdezhen (then called Xinping) making porcelain in the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), while archaeological excavations have shown evidence of Jingdezhen firing porcelain in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (265-420).
• Jingdezhen Porcelain developed rapidly in the Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368), and a series of imperial factories was set up in Zhushan (a district of Jingdezhen) during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1912), making Jingdezhen the nation's porcelain center.
• Jingdezhen porcelain is characterized by its beautiful shapes, various varieties, rich decorations,and unique styles. It is quite famous for its white porcelain, which is known for being 'white as jade,bright as a mirror, thin as paper, and sounding like a rock'.
• Regarding Chinese porcelain's glaze, blue was traditionally taken as the most precious color.
• During the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127),Jingdezhen kilns imitated the tone and moist texture of blue and white jade, and creatively fired a kind of qingbai ware ('blue-white' ware).
• The production of blue-white ware made Jingdezhen Porcelain particular important and famous at home and abroad.

OUR CRAFTSMAN
• We have many Chinese masters of arts and crafts, Jiangxi masters of arts and crafts, as well as national first-class technicians and professional cooperation teams.
• These craftsmen have been employed for more than 20 or 30 years and were born in Jingdezhen's porcelain family.
• Their craftsmanship has also been passed down from generation to generation. We hope that through the efforts of the company and the craftsmen, the Chinese traditional ceramic culture as well as technology and aesthetics can be truly integrated into modern life, so that more people can feel, touch and use these artifacts.
• This is more like a dialogue with the ancients and the modern people.

• Porcelain transformed from the soil of nature
• It was once called "white gold" in western European countries
• Blue and white porcelain is the first global commodity
• The Ming Dynasty was at the beginning of global trade
• Witness the prosperity of porcelain trade between China and the West in the 17th century