In January this year, Mark West, a British art collector, brought the Jianzhan he brought back from Fujian to the Mayfair Antique Art Fair held in London for exhibition and sale, and all of them were successfully sold. Since then, Jianzhan has officially entered the British art collection world. Besides Britain and Japan, which has a special liking for Jianzhan, Jianzhan are also collected in museums, art galleries, art museums and private collection institutions in dozens of countries and regions such as the United States, France, Australia, South Korea and Singapore, which shows how popular Jianzhan are among collectors.
In recent years, there has been no small controversy about the collection value of Jianzhan. Some people think that Jianzhan is just a more gorgeous tea utensil and has no other value; while others think that although Jianzhan is a tea utensil, it is also an art with a long history and unique firing techniques, so it has collection value. So where does the collection value of Jianzhan reflected?
1. The Inheritance of Firing Techniques
Jianzhan was first fired in the late Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty, and gradually declined in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties. After
hundreds of years of silence, it was finally successfully reproduced through the efforts of countless scholars and craftsmen and reappeared in front of the world. When it comes to the collection value of Jianzhan, we have to mention the inheritance of its firing techniques.
Jianzhan firing techniques are very complex and generally go through several processes, such as selecting porcelain ore, crushing porcelain ore, washing, proportioning, aging, kneading clay, throwing, trimming, biscuit firing, glazing, loading kiln, roasting, etc., and finally Jianzhan can be successfully fired. The firing of Jianzhan was included in the list of intangible cultural heritage in 2011. The firing technique of Jianzhan is the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancient people. The fact that such a technique can be passed down and presented in the form of Jianzhan is an important manifestation of the collection value of Jianzhan.
2. The Irreproducible Glaze Color
When it comes to what can reflect the collection value of Jianzhan, the irreproducible glaze color is the most representative. Due to the firing technique of Jianzhan, the finished product rate is not high and each one has its own characteristics. Common glaze colors of Jianzhan include hare's fur, oil drop, yao change, black gold glaze, and other variegated glazes such as tea dust glaze and persimmon red glaze.
Hare's fur glaze was the most common glaze color with the largest output in the Song Dynasty, which is closely related to its firing technique. Generally speaking, the difficulty of firing hare's fur is lower than that of oil drop, and the difficulty of firing oil drop is lower than that of yao change. Other glaze colors are fired under other special circumstances.
Due to the particularity of the firing technique of Jianzhan, even with the same raw materials, the same formula, the same firing method, the same Jianzhan artist, the same kiln, and the same firing time, the patterns of the Jianzhan that come out of the kiln, even if they are all hare's fur or all oil drop or other glaze colors, are different when carefully observed. Such an irreproducible glaze color is an important reason why many Jianzhan lovers like Jianzhan.
▲Zhuo Liqi - Flared Black Bottom Silver Spot
3. The Long History and Culture
Chinese ceramics are world-famous and their firing techniques are amazing. Since the birth of ceramics, there have been many famous porcelains, and the Tang and Song Dynasties reached their peaks. The five famous kilns in the Song Dynasty are well-known. Besides the five famous kilns, the Jianyao Jianzhan was also quite famous in the Song Dynasty. Although it is not as well-known as the porcelain of other famous kilns today, it is undeniable that Jianzhan is one of the representatives of Song porcelain art and a typical representative of black glazed porcelain, the 'black peony' in porcelain.
Jianzhan has been around for thousands of years since its creation. Besides its own preciousness as porcelain, Jianzhan is also a product of the development of the tea culture in the Song Dynasty. The Tang and Song Dynasties were the two peaks of the development of tea culture and also the two peaks of the development of porcelain. After the Tang Dynasty's frying tea method was replaced by the Song Dynasty's point tea method, the black glazed porcelain bowls of the Jianyao kiln rose along with it. The tea fighting custom was very popular in the Song Dynasty, and Jianzhan was the most suitable tea utensil for tea fighting, so it was also extremely loved by the people in the Song Dynasty. Jianzhan is not just a porcelain, but also a witness to the prosperity of the Song Dynasty, a product of the tea culture in the Song Dynasty, and an epitome of the amazing Song culture.
▲Zhuo Liqi - Black Glazed Silver Spot
After all, a real collection can give people a more intuitive feeling. Since the'revival' of Jianzhan, Jianzhan have appeared more and more frequently in various auctions. The most impressive one is the Jianyao oil drop bowl sold for more than 78 million yuan at Christie's in New York in September 2016, which set the highest record in the auction history of Jianzhan and is still amazing people today. In addition, there are many other Jianzhan that have been sold at high prices, with prices ranging from millions to tens of millions.
Jianzhan is rising in the collection world. More and more people are beginning to pay attention to Jianzhan and love Jianzhan, and more and more people are joining the ranks of Jianzhan collection. So what kind of Jianzhan is worth collecting?
1. Stunning Appearance
Before judging whether the appearance of a Jianzhan is worth collecting, there is another very important thing - whether the Jianzhan is a real Jianzhan. The materials selected for the clay body and glaze of the Jianzhan should be the authentic Shuiji clay in Jianyang, and the blank is preferably hand-pulled, and the firing method is preferably wood firing. However, it does not mean that electric firing is not good, but wood firing is better.
▲Sun Jianxing's Wood-fired Works
As mentioned above, the irreproducible glaze color is an important manifestation of the collection value of Jianzhan. Similarly, when we select Jianzhan suitable for collection, we should first look at its appearance. First, check whether the bowl has any defects. If there are defects, then the bowl is not suitable for collection; if the bowl has no defects, then check whether the bowl has any plus points. Jianzhan with plus points are undoubtedly more worthy of collection. However, before identifying the defects of Jianzhan, you need to do your homework well. Do not mistake the normal characteristics or plus points of Jianzhan for defects, otherwise you will miss a good bowl.
The stunning appearance of a Jianzhan includes the glaze color and shape of the bowl. The hare's fur should be distinct, with clear boundaries and a strong three-dimensional sense. It is even better if it can extend from the bottom of the bowl to the mouth of the bowl; the oil drop should be full and evenly distributed, neither too dense nor too sparse, and with a strong metallic sense. The shape of the bowl should be regular, without any cracks or irregularities on the rim or body.
2. 'Strong' Background
The appearance of the Jianzhan itself is undoubtedly the most important point in determining whether a Jianzhan is worth collecting, but the Jianzhan craftsman is also an important criterion for judging whether a Jianzhan is worth collecting.
▲Ye Lizhong - Tight-mouthed Hare's Fur Bowl
Nowadays, more and more people can fire Jianzhan, and there are more and more kinds of Jianzhan on the market, but not every one is worth collecting. The Jianzhan craftsman is the person who endows Jianzhan with value, so whether a Jianzhan is worth collecting depends a lot on its maker. Generally, craftsmen who can fire collectible Jianzhan usually have the following commonalities:
▲Lv Zhuxing - Imitation Ancient Silver Hare's Fur Tea Bowl
First, the number of firing in each kiln is limited, and they will not fire too many Jianzhan in one kiln for high output;
Second, they have a solid theoretical foundation, first-class practical ability, and are dedicated to the Jianzhan technique. They can inherit the ancient techniques and have their own styles;
Third, they have extremely high requirements for both themselves and their works. Jianzhan that do not have the ideal pattern will never leave the factory, and they always adhere to their original intention.
▲Huang Meijin - Golden Oil Drop Bowl
Among the countless craftsmen, the three old gentlemen, Sun Jianxing, Li Da and Chen Dapeng, are the least controversial. The three old gentlemen have dedicated their lives to Jianzhan and have been studying and firing Jianzhan for decades. Most of the Jianzhan they produced are high-quality products and are highly sought after by Jianzhan lovers.
▲Master Sun Jianxing
Jianzhan collection is undoubtedly a knowledge. If you want to collect a satisfactory Jianzhan, you not only need to have a certain understanding of the basic knowledge of Jianzhan, but also need to be able to appreciate and distinguish the quality of Jianzhan. At the same time, when choosing collectible Jianzhan, you should have a more inclusive attitude, be prepared for its price, and be able to tolerate small problems that do not affect the overall quality of the Jianzhan. Only in this way can you select more and better collectible Jianzhan.
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All our Jian Zhan are procured from reliable sources; either from reputable kilns or craftsmen. Our commitment is to introduce this intangible cultural heritage to the rest of the world, supporting and preserving this ancient art.
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