明永樂時期,御窯大膽創新,能工巧匠苦心鑽研,不斷探
索,新穎器型、各式釉色疊出不窮,燒制工藝精湛無兩,成
熟細緻,其中不乏被後世奉為經典之品類。
御窯廠精於嘗試,探索不同種類之顏色釉,佳器琳琅,永樂
朝甜白、鮮紅、祭藍釉等,均極負盛名,廣受推崇。明朝陶
匠借鑒經典,尤尚宋瓷之青釉,多加試驗,燒制出各品類之
青釉瓷器,雖統稱青色,卻實存微妙差異,須詳加區分,嚴
謹燒造,細加品鑒。
永樂朝之青瓷者,其一為翠青,其二為冬青,其三為影青。
翠青釉色澤清亮明麗,光潤欲滴,頗具靈透飄渺之感;冬青
釉內斂素雅,青郁蒼翠,襲承龍泉之韻;影青釉輕盈剔透,
美如青玉,仿效宋朝青白瓷燒造,多刻暗花紋飾。
故宮博物院藏有一器型相似之翠青釉罐,為清宮舊藏,然而
罐蓋缺失;另藏一連蓋翠青釉罐,罐肩附三個環形小系,
收錄於《明代洪武永樂御窯瓷器》,北京,2015年,圖版
122。台北故宮亦藏有一例三系連蓋罐,展出於《適於心:
明代永樂皇帝的瓷器》,台北,2017年,頁82-83。美國波
士頓美術館藏有一例無蓋者,亦附三系,錄於吳同,《Earth
Transformed: Chinese Ceramics in the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston》,波士頓,1998年,頁112-3,並作為書封。紐約
佳士得於2010年9月16至17日售出一無蓋例,罐原有三系經
截,編號1357。
With its superbly designed form and the softly rounded cover, the
present jar was probably designed to hold chess pieces. The glaze
is particularly attractive for its luminous, glassy, blue-green tinted
surface, presenting the exquisite quality that only available in the
Yongle period (1403-1424).
As evidenced by the excavations of the kilns' waste heaps, the
imperial porcelain workshops in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province,
increased both the quantity and the quality of their production
incredibly quickly. Technological advancement was so significant
as new glaze colors, forms, and designs were developed. At
the imperial kilns during this time, a wide range of glaze colors
were tested. One of the rarest monochrome pieces successfully
produced at that time is the cuiqing, ‘jadeite green’, porcelain.
So far only five other pieces glazed in such color have been found
in the existing records. The pair to this jar, which is identical in
shape but lacks a cover, is in the collection of the Palace Museum
in Beijing.
The Qing court collection preserves two closely related jars with this
type of glaze. One is at the Palace Museum in Beijing, illustrated
in Mingdai Hongwu Yongle yuyao ciqi [Imperial Porcelains from the
Reigns of Hongwu and Yongle in the Ming Dynasty], Beijing, 2015,
pl. 122 and further in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum: Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl.
123. The other, now in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, was
displayed in the exhibition catalogue, Shi yu xin: Mingdai Yongle
huangdi de ciqi [Pleasingly Pure and Lustrous: Porcelains from the
Yongle Reign (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty], Taipei, 2017, pp.
82-3.
明永樂 翠青釉三繫蓋罐
©故宮博物院藏
A wintergreen-glazed jar and cover with
three loop handles, Yongle period
©The Palace Museum
48
Peak of Grandeur: A Fine Selection of Imperial Treasures
頤華:宮廷藝術珍品選粹