Identification of Ming and Qing Porcelain Patterns: The Volume of "Bo Gu Wen Zi"

Author: Tie Yuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: The contents of calligraphy decoration on Qing Dynasty porcelain are extremely diverse, including poems, odes, folk proverbs, auspicious phrases, and more, with even Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Arabic scripts. The Chinese calligraphy styles range from regular script to running script, and from clerical script to seal script; while foreign scripts are either written meticulously or casually. The era style of calligraphy as porcelain decoration is distinct. For instance, in the early Ming Dynasty, single-character auspicious phrases were predominant; during the Yongle and Xuande periods, Sanskrit gradually increased; in the mid-Ming Dynasty, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Persian scripts occupied larger areas of the wares; in the late Ming Dynasty, single-character auspicious phrases flourished again, along with the emergence of antique patterns. In the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, long poems set a new trend, while antique patterns were rustic and playful. In the Yongzheng era, they were rich in both text and images. During the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns, imperial literary works thrived, and antique patterns often carried a sense of stone and metal craftsmanship. Although the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty inherited the styles of previous dynasties, the paintings were not as refined.
This book collects over 500 Ming and Qing Dynasty wares decorated with calligraphy and antique patterns, categorized into six sections based on their content and: antique patterns, Sanskrit, auspicious phrases, poems, single-character auspicious phrases, etc. When introducing the origins of each decoration style, it provides a detailed explanation of the decorative styles across different dynasties and evaluates the writing characteristics of the calligraphy, enabling readers to comprehensively grasp the knowledge related to calligraphy and antique patterns. This helps improve the overall level of porcelain appraisal.