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Porcelain collector develops keen eye
By Gu Xianhui and Wang Jie |
October 25, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN English, the word "China" refers to the People's Republic of China when capitalized and refers to porcelain when in lower case.
Porcelain is inextricably bound up with the history of the country. In olden times, both governments and ordinary people built kilns everywhere to make porcelain.
Times have changed but time-honored traditions linger. Many exquisite pieces of the past have become collector's items, and people who own them retain a treasured tie to the past.
Zhao Shengtu, a member of the Jiading Association of Collectors, is one such porcelain collector.
Zhao has steeped his life in the appreciation and study of porcelain since the 1990s. Working in a museum gives him an excellent vantage point to pursue his passion.
He doesn't confine his devotion to study behind closed doors. He is always on the prowl for new porcelain art and has developed a keen eye for spotting the true artifacts from the numerous fakes on the market.
For more than 10 years he visited antique markets, and his efforts have paid off with a treasured collection of valuable pieces.
Discerning what is fake and what is real required a practice eye evaluating the quality of the clay, the quality of the glaze, and the quality of the painting on porcelain.
The quality of the clay and the glaze are closely related to the workmanship and the type of raw materials used. The clay of different eras differs in quality and composition, while workmanship has undergone constant refinement.
Judging the skill of the painting on porcelain requires a certain degree of historical knowledge. Aesthetic standards differed from era to era.
For example, Emperor Yongle (1403-1425) of the Ming Dynasty presided over an era of peace and prosperity in China. As a result, the painting on porcelain during that period was bright and dominated by blooming flowers.
In the years when Emperor Jiajing (1522-1567), a Taoist follower, reigned in the Ming Dynasty, cranes symbolizing longevity or simply the Chinese character "?Y?ì ?" (long life) were most frequently seen in the porcelain painting. The porcelain in that period was largely made in government-run kilns.
Zhao admitted, however, that even applying such close scrutiny doesn't always mean a collector is free of risk. Imitators can be very clever in making reproductions. So sometimes, a collector has to fall back on touch, the ultimate of a connoisseur's skill.
This sense is something that lies deep in the minds of the collectors and can never be explained. Every now and then, Zhao would spend thousands of yuan for some broken pieces of porcelain just so he could study them carefully and imprint their feel into his fingertips. Those sensations run deep and give Zhao instant insights.
In other words, Zhao can determine the authenticity of a piece of porcelain antique purely by instinct, and his instincts are rarely wrong.
Zhao doesn't collect porcelain just to fill his shelves and look at them. Instead, he sometimes "plays" with them for hours after supper every evening. He often makes tea, for instance, in a porcelain teapot dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). He says the taste of the tea can't be duplicated anywhere.
"How wonderful that a teapot more than 1,000 years old is now in my possession and serving me tea everyday," he congratulated himself. "Collecting is a form of addiction. Once you fall into love with an article, you keep thinking about it and dream of owning it," Zhao said.
He once found a time-honored piece of porcelain in an antique shop far from his hometown. It had inscribed on it: "Seven Masters from the Bamboo Groves," a reference to the so-called seven great thinkers of the Wei Dynasty (AD 220-265).
The painting on the porcelain was superb. He decided to first consult his colleagues before buying it. When he went to the shop the following day, however, the article had been sent to an auction house. He had lost his chance. Some years later, he learned that the article was in the possession by one of his fellow collectors. He loved it so much all over again that he paid twice its original price to acquire it. A dream was fulfilled.
Collecting porcelain treasure helps keep the mind sharp, Zhao said. He also said he enjoys poring through ancient books to discern the history of porcelain. It is a complicated process that calls for patience and calmness of mind.
For Zhao, collecting porcelain is paying homage to the past.
Porcelain is inextricably bound up with the history of the country. In olden times, both governments and ordinary people built kilns everywhere to make porcelain.
Times have changed but time-honored traditions linger. Many exquisite pieces of the past have become collector's items, and people who own them retain a treasured tie to the past.
Zhao Shengtu, a member of the Jiading Association of Collectors, is one such porcelain collector.
Zhao has steeped his life in the appreciation and study of porcelain since the 1990s. Working in a museum gives him an excellent vantage point to pursue his passion.
He doesn't confine his devotion to study behind closed doors. He is always on the prowl for new porcelain art and has developed a keen eye for spotting the true artifacts from the numerous fakes on the market.
For more than 10 years he visited antique markets, and his efforts have paid off with a treasured collection of valuable pieces.
Discerning what is fake and what is real required a practice eye evaluating the quality of the clay, the quality of the glaze, and the quality of the painting on porcelain.
The quality of the clay and the glaze are closely related to the workmanship and the type of raw materials used. The clay of different eras differs in quality and composition, while workmanship has undergone constant refinement.
Judging the skill of the painting on porcelain requires a certain degree of historical knowledge. Aesthetic standards differed from era to era.
For example, Emperor Yongle (1403-1425) of the Ming Dynasty presided over an era of peace and prosperity in China. As a result, the painting on porcelain during that period was bright and dominated by blooming flowers.
In the years when Emperor Jiajing (1522-1567), a Taoist follower, reigned in the Ming Dynasty, cranes symbolizing longevity or simply the Chinese character "?Y?ì ?" (long life) were most frequently seen in the porcelain painting. The porcelain in that period was largely made in government-run kilns.
Zhao admitted, however, that even applying such close scrutiny doesn't always mean a collector is free of risk. Imitators can be very clever in making reproductions. So sometimes, a collector has to fall back on touch, the ultimate of a connoisseur's skill.
This sense is something that lies deep in the minds of the collectors and can never be explained. Every now and then, Zhao would spend thousands of yuan for some broken pieces of porcelain just so he could study them carefully and imprint their feel into his fingertips. Those sensations run deep and give Zhao instant insights.
In other words, Zhao can determine the authenticity of a piece of porcelain antique purely by instinct, and his instincts are rarely wrong.
Zhao doesn't collect porcelain just to fill his shelves and look at them. Instead, he sometimes "plays" with them for hours after supper every evening. He often makes tea, for instance, in a porcelain teapot dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). He says the taste of the tea can't be duplicated anywhere.
"How wonderful that a teapot more than 1,000 years old is now in my possession and serving me tea everyday," he congratulated himself. "Collecting is a form of addiction. Once you fall into love with an article, you keep thinking about it and dream of owning it," Zhao said.
He once found a time-honored piece of porcelain in an antique shop far from his hometown. It had inscribed on it: "Seven Masters from the Bamboo Groves," a reference to the so-called seven great thinkers of the Wei Dynasty (AD 220-265).
The painting on the porcelain was superb. He decided to first consult his colleagues before buying it. When he went to the shop the following day, however, the article had been sent to an auction house. He had lost his chance. Some years later, he learned that the article was in the possession by one of his fellow collectors. He loved it so much all over again that he paid twice its original price to acquire it. A dream was fulfilled.
Collecting porcelain treasure helps keep the mind sharp, Zhao said. He also said he enjoys poring through ancient books to discern the history of porcelain. It is a complicated process that calls for patience and calmness of mind.
For Zhao, collecting porcelain is paying homage to the past.
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