How to Appreciate Yongzheng Pastel Porcelain, Revealing the Characteristics of Yongzheng Pastel Porcelain

Pastel is a famous variety of overglaze color in Jingdezhen in the Qing Dynasty. It was created and fired in the late Kangxi period. The best period for production was the Yongzheng period. Due to the addition of arsenic elements to the color materials and the use of the boneless method in Chinese painting to render the painted patterns, the color of the fired product is elegant and soft, which is often called soft color (hard color refers to the Kangxi five colors with tough color lines). ). The patterns of Yongzheng pastel porcelain are generally concise, with large white spaces, giving people a sense of elegance and beauty. There are many varieties of Yongzheng pastels. In addition to white pastels, there are also many colors of pastels, such as porcelain with red, purple, yellow, gold and other glaze colors as the ground, which are all used by the royal family. The pastels of folk kilns are usually made of white ground, and the production is much rougher than that of official kilns. After the mid-Qing Dynasty, the number of imitation Yongzheng pastel products increased, but many products were too thick in powder or too thick in color. Some are painted with colorful decorations on Yongzheng white porcelain, which can easily be mistaken for the genuine product.
my country has a very rich variety of porcelain, with dozens of detailed classifications, among which pastel is one of the major categories. Pastel porcelain is deeply loved by people because of its soft colors and delicate and beautiful porcelain paintings. At present, there are many colored porcelains from the Qing Dynasty on the cultural relics market, and pastels are particularly prominent. At the spring auction of Hanhai in 2016, a pink celadon-glazed jar with golden pastels and butterfly ear melon jar made by Daoguang Shende Hall was sold for 10,000 yuan, which is equivalent to the price of an exquisite Yong and Qian official kiln porcelain in the 19th century. It can be seen that Pastel porcelain not only has important artistic value, but also has high economic value. However, in recent years, a large number of fake pastel porcelain products have flooded the market. How to identify the authenticity is an important prerequisite for collection.
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Pastel is another type of colored porcelain successfully created by Jingdezhen kiln on the basis of five colors and under the influence of enamel color. Its unique feature is that a white color glass white is added during painting. Glass white has an opacifying effect, and the painted patterns can take advantage of the characteristics of rendering techniques and present a pinkish feeling, so it is called pastels or soft colors. The method is to use various colored materials that have been whitened by glass to paint on the glaze of the fired white glaze porcelain, and then bake it in a second fire. Pastels were first created in the late Kangxi period and flourished during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, becoming a major variety produced in the Qing Dynasty porcelain industry. Until modern times, many porcelain factories in Jingdezhen continued to produce pastel porcelain. Pastel porcelain uses glass white and is closely combined with painting techniques. This is a pioneering work of Jingdezhen potters. After research and testing, it was found that the so-called glass white is an opaque white opacifying agent, which is a compound of lead oxide, silicon and arsenic. Using its opacifying effect, the color painting can have different shades and unevenness, which increases the expressiveness of the painting and makes the painting pink. It is a smooth, soft and rich Chinese painting style, so it has won the reputation of the Pearl of Oriental Art.
During the Yongzheng Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, pastels entered their peak period. Yongzheng pastel porcelain has greatly developed on the basis of Kangxi pastel porcelain. No matter its shape, painting techniques or decoration, it has reached unprecedented heights and can be called a masterpiece of pastel porcelain. Official and private kilns were mass-produced at the same time, and the fine official kiln products could rival enamel colors in beauty. The reason for this achievement is that first of all, the quality of its ground glaze is good. Both whiteness and transparency exceed the white glaze of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty. It has been measured that the whiteness of the porcelain body of the Yongzheng pastel plate reaches .%. Ceramic historian Mr. Chen Wanli said that the further improvement of Yongzheng's white glaze met the requirements of applying soft colors on the glaze, thus achieving mutually beneficial and complementary effects. The color material preparation technology of Yongzheng pastels is also relatively high. The color of enamel before and after firing is roughly the same, while the color of pastel is different. Except for red and black, other colors cannot be distinguished before firing. Therefore, after the pigment is prepared, a test firing must be carried out to ensure that it meets the requirements. Formal painting. After low-temperature color firing, the color slightly protrudes from the glaze surface, and the color surface has a crystal luster. Some pastel decorations also show a rainbow-like halo on the edges. Pastel painting techniques are diverse, and the official kilns are more sophisticated, including flat painting, rendering, boneless, washing, dots, etc., both fine brushwork and freehand brushwork, and are rich in the charm of Chinese traditional painting. The painted patterns are mainly flowers, birds, grass and insects, and there are many character and story paintings. It is an indoor landscape, with soft lines of characters, slender figure and delicate face of the lady. It is mostly lined with several desks, embroidered piers, ancient shelves and other indoor furnishings. There is a certain blank space in the picture, showing the profound and layered sense and the majestic landscape painting. The brushwork is vigorous and the colors are light. The pastels of Yongzheng kilns are decorated with rough flowers, flowers and birds, and the figure paintings are good at depicting swords and horses, or the plots in drama stories are rich and colorful, the carcass is thick, and the outer bottom of the cutter is mostly sandy.
Yongzheng pastel porcelain is extremely rich in shapes, whether it is tableware, stationery or furnishings, it is very beautiful, changing the clumsy and heavy feeling of Kangxi period. The large vessels are neat and undeformed, reflecting the superb production skills of the time. The blue and white inscriptions with six characters and two lines are written by a dedicated person, and the fonts are neat and powerful. The blue and white inscriptions with pure six characters and three lines are written carelessly, while the blue and white inscriptions and zhaitang inscriptions are relatively rare.
Article editor: Xinchangyin Art Appraisal Database (public account zh) aims to provide everyone with high-quality art collection and appraisal knowledge, updated every day.