Comparison of Genuine and Counterfeit Imperial Porcelain from the Forbidden City: Catalog of Specimens from Ancient Kiln Sites Throughout History

Author: The Palace Museum
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-10-01
Features: Chinese ceramic production has a continuous history of about 8,000 years, during which famous kilns emerged one after another and masterpieces were produced in abundance. Since the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, a special variety of ceramics emerged, intentionally imitating earlier dynasties' works—this is what people commonly refer to as "antique-style ceramics." The reasons for this are the appreciation of antiquity and the pursuit of profit. The production of antique-style ceramics had already formed a preliminary scale during the Ming Dynasty. The Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty, the Guangxu era, and the subsequent Republican period, as well as the 1980s to the present, were the three peaks of antique-style ceramic production. The imitations encompassed everything, with a wide variety of types. A significant portion of them displayed exquisite craftsmanship and were so lifelike that they were difficult to distinguish from the originals, posing great challenges for identifying and studying ancient ceramics. The main content of ancient ceramic authentication includes determining the kiln origin, dating the era, distinguishing authenticity, and evaluating quality, among which distinguishing authenticity is the most important aspect and also the prerequisite for conducting research on ancient ceramics. As for imitations, people hope to understand why they are considered imitations or from which aspects one can recognize them as such. The best way to answer this question is to find the original model being imitated, i.e., the genuine piece. By placing the original and the imitation side by side for comparison, the differences become immediately apparent. Due to limitations in craftsmanship and cultural customs, antique-style ceramics of each period share certain common characteristics. If the typical products of antique-style ceramics from each period can be matched with their original models, and by conducting comparative analysis to identify patterns, this can play a role in applying knowledge to the practical work of authenticating ancient ceramics. The Palace Museum currently holds approximately 340,000 pieces of Chinese ceramics from all dynasties, most of which are genuine works from the five major kilns of the Song Dynasty and the official kilns of Jingdezhen during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, along with a certain number of antique-style ceramics from various dynasties. These imitations cover a wide range, forming their own systems from the Ming Dynasty to the modern era, and most of them can be paired with genuine pieces. For this special selection, 103 representative works have been chosen and compiled into this book for research and appreciation.