Chapter 1611 What is the qualification of a top collector
Especially during the thirty years from Shenzong Yuanfeng to Huizong Chongning, Yaozhou kiln once fired tribute porcelain for the imperial court, with its extraordinary porcelain making skills and free and easy The lively style had a great influence on kilns all over the country at that time and was widely promoted, thus forming a wide-ranging Yaozhou kiln system from north to south.
The Yaozhou kiln system is centered on Huangbao Town and includes kilns such as Chenlu Town, Lidi Town, Shangdian Town and Yuhua Palace. It was one of the main producing areas of northern folk celadon in the Song Dynasty.
As the craftsmanship spread, it later included many kilns such as Henan Yiyang Kiln, Baofeng Kiln, Xin'an Chengguan Kiln, Guangdong Xicun Kiln, Guangxi Yongfu Kiln, Neixiang Dayaodian Kiln, etc. .
The products of each kiln are similar to those of Tongchuan kiln. Only due to the differences in the raw materials used, the texture and glaze color are also slightly different.
Ellsworth's collection mainly consists of celadon from the late Song Dynasty, which has a thin and solid body, smooth and even glaze, green and translucent color, and is very elegant. Decorated with engravings and prints, the structure is rigorous and plump, and the lines are free and smooth. There are many kinds of decorations on the inside and outside of the vessel, including peonies, chrysanthemums, lotus, fish, ducks, dragons and phoenixes, etc. The style is rough, vigorous, vivid and natural. The shapes of utensils include bowls, plates, bottles, jars, pots, incense burners, incense burners, lamp holders, injection bowls, bowls, etc.
The main feature is that the decorations are very clear and have the character of northerners. There is a saying in history, which is called "a knife sees the mud".
This characteristic is particularly evident in the three top-quality Yaozhou kiln porcelains collected by Ellsworth - the Taishi young lion cover button, the celadon-glazed lion ornament, and the celadon-glazed Yaohuang Temple statue. .
These three porcelain carvings are lifelike, powerful and extremely rare among all Yaozhou kiln porcelains. After careful inquiry, I found out that they were collected by Ellsworth when he traveled to and from central Shaanxi in the 1970s and 1980s. When painting, I got it from hunting rabbits.
Among them, the lion ornaments are the most outstanding, with protruding eyes, flaring nostrils, exposed fangs, and straight neck, which seem to be superior in skill.
Moreover, the fur on the back of the lion's head, the collar around its neck, its upturned tail, its powerful paws, and the definition of its toe bones are extremely finely crafted, and are the only surviving works from Yaozhou Kiln.
This lion was originally a component of the temple building. Ellsworth specially equipped it with a rosewood base and turned it into an ornament.
After Zhou Zhi got his hands on it, he felt that the size was quite heavy; the fine texture of the light gray body, and the "turmeric glaze" stains revealed in the thin or shrunken glaze of the body. All indicate that he was born in Huangbao Town, Tongchuan, Song Dynasty.
This time Ellsworth decided to keep only three porcelain sculptures, as well as a few authentic celadon-glazed handle-back pouring kettles and a kiln celadon-glazed engraved vase with peony patterns, and eliminate the rest from the auction.
Zhou Zhi and An Siyuan have a lot in common in terms of their collecting tastes, except that one belongs to Pixiu and can only go in and out, and the other belongs to Duck and eats and pulls at the same time.
For example, calligraphy and inscriptions. Although Zhou Zhi doesn't have much in his collection, his attainments are much higher than An Siyuan's. He can even be called a calligrapher. He learned calligraphy from Liu Gongquan, Huang Shanshangu and Wen Zhengming. He also learned the skills from inscriptions on inscriptions. Recently, After two years of learning with Mr. Qi, I am no longer a layman in the study of inscriptions.
For example, Zhou Zhi has collected a lot of works by famous modern calligraphers and painters. He also has a series of his own, which is the Sichuan Painters Series.
Shi Lu is also among them, and what makes Zhou Zhi most proud is that he has collected Zhang Daqian's system, from the most common maid's words, antique landscape paintings, Dunhuang copying of Buddha paintings, animal paintings, to the most difficult The small splash-colored landscape and the large splash-colored landscape were finally completed before the year.
There are also calligraphy works such as couplets and letters in the central hall of modern celebrities, but these now have historical and cultural value greater than market value.
In terms of porcelain, Zhou Zhi’s collection was relatively late, but it also formed several systems. The most important one is of course the five major official kiln porcelains of the Song Dynasty, but this is a bit unrealistic, with only one or two pieces of each type. Among them, the Jun kiln is small in size and can only be dated to the Jin Dynasty at most. The second one is the unpopular Qiong Kiln system. This one occupies a favorable location and can earn a lot, but its scientific research value is still much higher than the market value.
The third one is the Hutian kiln system of the Song Dynasty. This was the earliest collection system formed by Zhou Zhi. However, the items received were numerous but not refined, and only a few batches were representative. Those who were not representative were directly eliminated to Shudu Gongmei after Zhou Zhi's vision sharply increased.
The fourth is the low value area. The blue and white of Yuan and Ming Dynasties, especially the blank period and Chongzhen blue and white, Zhou Zhi obtained a very complete system.
The fifth one is the Qing Dynasty monochromatic porcelain series, including kiln-variable glazes such as the third generation Jun kiln glaze. This one was also picked up when the value was low, but these beautiful gadgets were owned by my mother. A big part of it.
The biggest leakage is Hongxian porcelain, Mao porcelain, 5060 porcelain, Zhushan Bayou porcelain plate paintings and other fine modern porcelains.
Except for the first two of these things, the rest are still in the trough area, and Zhou Zhi is still smiling.
The furniture is also a large collection system of Zhou Zhi, but he has no effort at all in this aspect, most of them come from Mr. Wang's collection.
As for the rest of the messy collection, although the value is extremely high, as a top collector, it is far from being able to develop a "system".
Or to put it conversely, if you don’t have a systematic top-level collection, you will not become a top-level collector recognized by the world.
In addition to these systems, Ellsworth also has a vast collection of miscellaneous items. All kinds of porcelain and bronzes from various periods in ancient China can be found in these more than 20 rooms.
It just so happened that the two people's collecting tastes and systems were very similar, so Zhou Zhi and Ellsworth had no shortage of topics to talk about. Even when Zhou Zhi was counting and appraising the collections, Ellsworth was sitting not far away. I chatted with him while smoking a pipe and drinking coffee on the small coffee table. Later, I was interviewed one after another, and all the receptions were held in the same room, which allowed Zhou Zhi to see the style of many important people.
Seven days later, the repair tools and materials Zhou Zhi needed finally arrived, and Zhou Zhi also sorted out the catalog for Ellsworth’s auction collection, decided on the grade, wrote the introduction, and entered into the process of shooting and making the album. stage.
This auction is hosted by Guardian. A total of 257 paintings by modern painters, 126 pieces of porcelain, as well as bronzes, jades, lacquerwares, stonewares, etc. will be auctioned. Two hundred and thirty-three miscellaneous items.
It is almost impossible for such a large collection to be auctioned at one time for a world-class auction house with many customers such as Guardian. Therefore, under thoughtful suggestions, the auction will be based on the 24 Chinese solar terms. The spring equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox, and winter solstice were divided into four events. Zhou Zhi also wrote a theme for the auction house - "Jinse recalls the passing of time for no reason · Chronological equinox (summer solstice, autumnal equinox, winter solstice) · Ellsworth Collection Auction ".
Then, regardless of calligraphy, painting, porcelain and miscellaneous items, the auction items try their best to fit the seasonal theme. This way, it gives the auction more classic connotations of oriental culture. Both Guardian and Ellsworth like this very much. Tune it in, and that's how it's settled.
Later, Ellsworth discovered that Zhou Zhi was not even an amateur in photography. He allowed him to observe the shooting scene, and Zhou Zhi also learned a lot.
Of course, the work at hand cannot be thrown away. In addition to observing and filming, we also have to exchange copywriting with the team sent by Guardian. Although the foreigners are already very professional, there are still many problems in the translation of many proper nouns and even the identified categories. , Zhou Zhi found it wrong.