Seventy years of inheritance, the context is here.
As a well-known large-scale museum of ancient Chinese art at home and abroad, since its establishment in 1952, the Shanghai Museum has always adhered to the collection, protection and research of ancient Chinese art as its own responsibility, and attaches great importance to the inheritance of cultural relics research and protection.
The Paper, An ancient art, and the Shanghai Museum exclusively launched a series of reports "70 Years of Looking at the Bo", this issue focuses on the research and development of ancient ceramics.
Shangbo ancient ceramics collection in 1952 when the establishment of the museum is a blank state, through the efforts of several generations of Shangbo people, has now gathered more than 20,000 pieces of ceramic collection, of which the collection of Ru kiln porcelain can be according to the top three at home and abroad, official kiln, ge kiln, Ding kiln have excellent works, Yuan Ming And Qing Jingdezhen porcelain is recognized by the industry collection essence. Behind the continuous adjustment and upgrading of the Shangbo Ceramics Museum, we can also see the past and future of the East Pavilion of shangbo's "self-made".
Northern Song Dynasty Ru kiln plate Shanghai Museum collection
From "self-made" to the collection of ceramics in the Grand View
The Shanghai Museum now has two permanent exhibitions on ceramics, one is the exhibition of ancient Chinese ceramics located on the second floor of the Ceramics Museum, displaying more than 400 representative porcelains from the Neolithic period to the Qing Dynasty, constituting a condensed history of ancient Chinese ceramics; the other is the "Temporary Building Ceramics Museum" specially established in 1996 with the donation of cultural relics donated by the famous Hong Kong collector Hu Huichun, which exhibits Mr. Hu Huichun's lifelong collection in the field of ceramics. The two permanent exhibitions witness the construction process of Shangbo ceramic collection from "starting from scratch" to having a collection system of Yangyang Grand View, which not only embodies the painstaking efforts of several generations of Shangbo people, but also reflects the deep friendship between collectors and Shangbo.
"Shangbogu Ceramics was in a blank state when it was built in 1952, and initially there were only a few collections, but it slowly developed, and the older generation of experts played a very big role, and they put the first task on enriching the collection of Shangbo." Lu Minghua, a researcher at the Shanghai Museum and former director of the Ceramics Research Department, told the surging news reporter.
"In the initial stage, the collection of ancient ceramic relics in Shangbo is slow, with the entry of the old generation of appraisal talents and the growth of a new generation of experts, the collection of ancient ceramics has made new breakthroughs, especially before the mid-1960s, Shangbo through market acquisition and collector donations, a large number of ceramic cultural relics into the collection, it can be said that a large number of collection of cultural relics in the fifties and sixties laid the foundation for the collection thereafter."
Shanghai Museum in the early 1950s
In the 1950s and 1960s, the research strength of Shangbo ceramics was mainly concentrated in the research and identification of utensils, and important ceramics entered, there will always be several experts to check, new and old experts work together, so that the collection of cultural relics including ceramics has achieved very important gains. Such as Shang Yehuang, Mr. Li Hongye, they are responsible for the early collection of cultural relics in Shangbo, involved in a wide range, often understand both ceramics, but also understand the knowledge of cultural relics of other categories, for Shangbo to collect a lot of ancient ceramic treasures. Shen Lingxin and several other experts engaged in the research of various artifacts such as ancient ceramics also contributed to the development of Shangbo ceramics research and collections. After the mid-1970s, Mr. Wang Qingzheng became a leader in the field of Shangbo ancient ceramics, and he later served as the deputy director of the Shanghai Museum, and was a well-known expert in ancient ceramics research. Mr. Zhou Juemin from Jingdezhen, who originally worked in the Ceramic Research Institute of the Ministry of Light Industry, is very familiar with the ceramic production process and has a unique research on the ceramic process of Shangbo.
According to Chen Kelun, former deputy director of the Shanghai Museum, from the collection of 1950s to 1960s, it can be seen that before 1966, Shangbo often went to the cultural relics markets in Shanghai and Beijing to buy things. First, at that time, the opportunities were good, there were many things on the market, and the price was not expensive; second, at that time, Mayor Chen Yi was very supportive of Shangbo's work, and Shangbo's cultural relics collection funds have always been relatively abundant.
"A lot of heritage stores across the country have records of us buying things. In Shanghai, before the company joint venture in 1956, there were many antique shops, Shangbo often went to Beijing to buy things, the Forbidden City in Beijing often went to Shanghai to buy things, and the two families went to each other (the site) to buy things. Chen Kelun said.
For example, the "Qianlong Pastel Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea Bottle" now collected in Shangbo was purchased by Shangbo from the cultural relics market in Beijing, and the Forbidden City in Beijing also bought the earliest "Kangxi Pastel Porcelain Plate" in the cultural relics store in Shanghai. Referring to this Kangxi pastel porcelain plate, Chen Kelun still regrets to say, "The pastel porcelain of the late Kangxi Dynasty found such a one, with the Kangxi model, which is a standard for judging Kangxi pastels, which is very important." ”
In addition to market acquisitions, early collection of artifacts spared no effort in securing donations or transfers from collectors. The collectors are familiar with collectors, do people with hearts, often contact them, communicate, for a long time, many collectors are willing to make friends with Shangbo, sell or even donate their collections.
Qing Yongzheng Jingdezhen kiln pastel bat pattern bottle
"For example, Mr. Wang Qingzheng often went to Mr. Wu Hufan's home to help him do some small things, establish emotional contact with him, and when Mr. Wu Hufan needed money, Mr. Wang encouraged Wu Hufan to transfer things to Shangbo, so some of Wu Hufan's calligraphy and painting collection and several pieces of Ru kiln porcelain were transferred to Shangbo as early as the 1950s."
During the Republic of China period, Shanghai was half of China's collection. After 1949, some famous collectors generously donated cultural relics to Shangbo in order to support the construction of the Shanghai Museum. Among them, the famous collector of cultural relics Hu Huichun, who had already served as a member of the Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Management Committee in 1949, believed that a metropolis like Shanghai could not do without a decent museum, and in 1950, he took the lead in donating more than 280 cultural relics (including more than 100 pieces of Ming and Qing Dynasty official kiln porcelain) to the Shanghai Municipal Cultural Administration. In 1986, he donated more than 80 pieces of porcelain relics deposited in Shangbo during the Cultural Revolution to Shangbo.
In 1996, when the new museum of Shangbo People's Square was completed, the "Temporary Building Ceramics Museum" was specially set up to display the ceramic cultural relics donated by Hu Huichun as a reward.
Hu Huichun and Fan Jirong
Last year (2021), Hu Huichun's descendants donated four pieces of temporarily old Porcelain from the Old Collection of Temporary Buildings to the Shanghai Museum in the name of Hu Huichun, including a pair of green glazed printing boxes of apples from the Jingdezhen kiln of the Qing Dynasty. "This pair of printing boxes is one of Mr. Hu Huichun's favorite collections during his lifetime, and its color is very special, it is a color that is only occasionally burned, which is very precious." Chen Kelun said that Director Wang loved it after seeing it in Mr. Hu Huichun's daughter's home in his early years, but Shangbo never took the initiative to let collectors donate things, which hurt his feelings. His son-in-law said last year that in honor of Director Wang, he donated the pair of printing boxes to Shangbo. "It can be seen that the relationship between collectors and Shangbo is very deep.
Qing Kangxi Jingdezhen kiln cowpea red glaze printing box
There are many similar collector donation stories, in addition to Hu Huichun, there are also Wu Zhongyi, Xue Guisheng, Chen Ping, Zhang Yongzhen, etc., and of course, there are many people, whose names and donated cultural relics will be passed on from generation to generation in the exhibition hall of Shangbo.
After the "grass-roots period", Shangbo's reputation at home and abroad is growing, more and more collectors transfer their treasures to the Shanghai Museum by donation or transfer, the collection of cultural relics has entered a virtuous circle, and the collection of Shangbo has reached an unprecedented new realm.
Qing Yongzheng Jingdezhen kiln imitation Ru glaze string pattern pots (a pair), Hu Huichun, Wang Huayun donated in 1950
After nearly 70 years of accumulation, what is the family foundation of Shangbogu ceramics?
Lu Minghua told the surging news reporter that the collection of ceramics in the Shangbo Museum has a certain degree of systematicness, among which the colorful and rich tang sancai products can definitely rank among the best in the collection of heirlooms; the Song and Liaojin periods in the stage of a hundred flowers can be said to be a collection of famous products, and the collection of Ru kiln porcelain can be ranked among the top three at home and abroad, and the official kiln, the brother kiln, and the Ding kiln have excellent works... However, the most exciting part of the industry's recognized collection is the Yuan, Ming and Qing Jingdezhen porcelain, which is not only large in quantity, but also of good quality.
Tang Colorful glazed pottery riding figurines
Five generations of kiln white glaze "official" character stroke Hualien petal pattern lid jar
"Shangbo now has such a good collection of cultural relics and the hard work of the predecessors of cultural relics workers is inseparable." Chen Kelun said, "I often tell later comrades that sitting in the office can not buy things, things will not fly on their own, including for donations, for transfer, all need our comrades to do a lot of work." ”
In recent years, according to the needs of research and display, Shangbo has also been constantly supplementing new collections, such as porcelain from the "transformation period" of the Ming Dynasty, which has always been a hot spot in the field of Chinese porcelain research, as well as export porcelain that reflects the cultural exchange between China and the West.
Song Jizhou kiln black glazed wood leaf pattern cup
Northern Song Dynasty Yaozhou kiln green glaze carved flower peony pattern bottle
Ming Orthodox Jingdezhen kiln blue and white cloud dragon pattern vat
Ming Xuande Jingdezhen kiln glaze red three fish pattern goblet
The first general history exhibition of ancient Chinese ceramics in China
Thanks to the solid cultural relics foundation laid by the older generation of experts in Shangbo, the Shanghai Museum launched the country's first "Chinese Ceramics Exhibition" as early as 1972, and the research of ancient ceramics has also entered a new track. In 1995, a year before the completion of the new museum in Shangbo People's Square, the "Museum of Ancient Chinese Ceramics" was opened to the public as the first permanent exhibition of the new museum, which is the only general history exhibition of ancient Chinese ceramics in the country, which caused strong social repercussions as soon as it was opened.
"It has been more than 20 years since the opening of the Ancient Chinese Ceramics Museum, and although we will make some adjustments to the exhibits according to some new archaeological discoveries and research results, the large framework is basically the same as that year." Lu Minghua said that they were preparing the ceramics museum in the temporary shed in front of the construction site of the new museum, and the past is still vividly remembered.
Video: Lu Minghua talks about the experience of preparing for the construction of the People's Square building in 1996. Edited by Lu Linhan (02:00)
"In the 1990s, we wanted to build a new museum, and since 1993, we have moved away from the old building on Henan South Road and divided into several locations. All the professionals moved to a two-story building on Longwu Road that we call the 'Little White Building', and the collector's business in the warehouse borrowed the warehouse of the Shanghai Archives. ”
In 1995, a year before the completion of the new museum, Lu Minghua's ceramics department, bronze department and display design department took the lead in moving to People's Square and working in a row of temporary sheds opposite the museum site. "Why did these departments of ours move to People's Square first?" Because according to the arrangement of the museum, before the official opening of the new museum, the two major exhibitions of ceramics and bronze will be opened as the first batch of permanent exhibitions of the new museum, and we must first come to prepare for the exhibition of the Chinese Ceramics Museum and the China Bronze Pavilion. ”
"Of course, it is very inconvenient for us to work in the shed, and the food and accommodation are relatively simple, but through the shed, we see that the directors on the opposite side are more difficult than us, and they have been busy on the construction site and in the shed, which also motivates us to work hard." "When the museum officially opened in 1996, the large troops were all withdrawn, and we returned here (the current office) and really entered Shangbo..." Lu Minghua said.
In 1994, the construction site of the People's Square building of the Shanghai Museum
The ceramic exhibition of the new museum is based on the 1972 Chinese ceramics exhibition, after partial transformation in the early 1980s and remodeling in 1989, by the time it opened in 1996, a complete Chinese ceramics development system had been formed. Therefore, after the opening of the new Ancient Chinese Ceramics Museum, the social response at that time was very good, attracting many people inside and outside the industry to visit, and everyone had a high evaluation of Shangbo's ceramic display.
Exhibition of the Shanghai Museum of Ancient Chinese Ceramics
"At that time, the domestic cultural relics and archaeology work has achieved great results after decades of development. Our exhibition has also been improved on the basis of new archaeological excavations, reflecting many new ideas, and many ceramics that were not known in the past have been re-recognized and displayed through archaeological revelations. Our starting point is to integrate the latest cultural relics knowledge of the time as much as possible and spread and popularize it to the audience. Lu Minghua said.
Neolithic Liangzhu culture black pottery high-handle lid jar
Until now, there are still only a few museums at home and abroad that have opened ancient Chinese ceramics exhibitions, and the Ancient Chinese Ceramics Museum in Shangbo is a rare comprehensive exhibition hall integrating cultural relics art appreciation, research, identification and science and technology.
Qing Kangxi Jingdezhen kiln blue and white fruit tree pattern double tube bottle
After 25 years, looking back at the Ancient Chinese Ceramics Museum in Shangbo again, the exhibition hall has been slightly old, but it is still simple and thick. Lu Minghua said that in the past, cultural relics came with a sense of mystery, highlighting cultural relics on the exhibition, letting the cultural relics speak for themselves, so the auxiliary exhibition chen is relatively simple, and now the knowledge of literature and history is more popular, and the visiting group is expanding, so in recent years, the exhibition has been strengthened in the auxiliary exhibition Chen, the exhibition sign explanation, etc., which will be reflected in the ancient ceramic display of the Shangbo East Pavilion.
Ming Xuande Jingdezhen kiln blue glaze dark flower dragon pattern plate
Out of the ceramics hall, look up to catch a glimpse of the entrance hall "Xu Zhantang Ceramics Hall", "Xu Zhantang" a few words are also telling the past of the construction of the new museum in Shangbo that year: when Shangbo built a new museum, the financial budget was not generous, people from all walks of life have extended a helping hand to Shangbo, there are donations, there are donations of cultural relics, Mr. Xu Zhantang, a Hong Kong collector, is one of them, he donated 1 million US dollars as the construction and decoration funds of the ceramic museum exhibition hall, in order to commemorate the good deeds of collectors, the ceramics museum of Shangbo was crowned with the name of Mr. Xu Zhantang.
Pay attention to the academic frontier, "Yuan Qinghua" and "Blank Period" special exhibitions have caused a sensation
Talking about the development and research of ancient ceramics in the Shanghai Museum, it is necessary to mention that one of the predecessor scholars is Wang Qingzheng, who is recognized as a scholar and a former deputy director of the Shanghai Museum, and last year coincided with the 90th anniversary of Mr. Wang Qingzheng's birth.
Mr. Wang Qingzheng has served as the deputy director of the Shanghai Museum since 1985, and his academic research involves coins, inscriptions, ceramics and other fields. He once said that he started the latest in the study of ancient ceramics, and the effort spent was listed after coins and inscriptions, but he enjoyed a great reputation for the research and identification of ancient ceramics at home and abroad, and could be said to be the leader in the field of Shangbo ancient ceramics.
Mr. Wang Qingzheng investigates the site of the white porcelain kiln
In March 2002, Chen Kelun (left) and Mr. Wang Qingzheng (right) inspected Chenghua Doucai at the Bauer Museum in Geneva.
Academically, Wang Qingzheng has a strong academic sensitivity, very concerned about some major topics in the history of ceramic development, in the 1980s he identified the discovery of the Ru kiln site, which had a strong impact on the academic community.
In terms of porcelain identification, Wang Qingzheng pays attention to summarizing the essentials of identification from the perspective of ceramic production technology. He said, "Although the shape of ancient ceramic ornaments is important, if you do not pay attention to some of the process characteristics in the manufacturing process of utensils, you will often fall into the trap of counterfeiter design." "In terms of ceramic identification, he introduced new scientific and technological means very early, and under its influence, the Cultural Relics Protection Center of Shanghai Museum attaches great importance to the use of new scientific and technological equipment, and the means of scientific and technological identification are rich.
Lu Minghua delivered a speech at the 1995 Shanghai Yue Kiln Secret Color Porcelain International Symposium
Since 1993, Shangbo has hosted various academic seminars on important academic issues in the history of ceramic development. For example, the "International Symposium on GeYao Kiln" in 1993, the "International Academic Symposium on Yue Kiln Secret Color Porcelain" in 1995, and the "International Academic Symposium on White Porcelain" in 2002. Since then, holding international academic seminars has almost become the standard of important thematic exhibitions in Shanghai.
The exhibition site of "Baoli Wind Objects - Black Stone Water Relics Exhibition"
Since the 1980s, Shangbo has held special exhibitions in the field of ancient ceramics, including the Ming Dynasty Blue and White Porcelain Exhibition in 1986, the Shaanxi Yaozhou Kiln Porcelain Exhibition in 1991, the Hong Kong Tianminlou Blue and White Porcelain Exhibition in 1996, the 17th Century Jingdezhen Porcelain Exhibition in 2005, and the Ming and Qing Porcelain Exhibition donated by Nihank in the Netherlands in 2009. Since 2012, Shangbo has successively held several high-standard academic exhibitions such as "Youlan Shencai - Yuan Dynasty Blue and White Porcelain Exhibition", "Scorching Reappearance: Jingdezhen Porcelain Exhibition in the Mid-15th Century", "Baoli Wind Objects - Black Stone Water Relics Exhibition" and "East-West Convergence - Sino-European Ceramics Cultural Exchange Special Exhibition", which epitomize the collection and research level of Shangbo ancient ceramics.
In 1995, the ceramic exhibition of the Saga Arita Shanghai Museum in Japan opened, and Lu Minghua explained to the guests.
Over the past few decades, Shangbo has published many ancient ceramic monographs and research atlases, published a large number of academic papers, and has had an important impact on the ceramics community at home and abroad. A large part of this is the result of the academic research of Shangbogu ceramics, and some of them are published and written specifically to cooperate with the exhibition.
"Yuan Qinghua" and the Ming Dynasty "blank period" porcelain has always been a hot spot in academic research, Shangbo has long included it in the exhibition planning, but from the initial brewing to the final trip has lasted more than 10 years, it can be called one of the most difficult exhibitions in the Shangbo ancient ceramic category.
"Yuan Qinghua" is not only highly concerned by the academic circles, but also has a very broad foundation among the general population, in many porcelain categories, Yuan Qinghua is the most concerned and loved, coupled with one of the exhibits of "Ghost Valley Down the Mountain Yuan Qinghua" has previously created a sky-high auction record, making the Yuan Qinghua exhibition of Shangbo unprecedentedly enthusiastic as soon as it opened, triggering a boom in Shanghai exhibition.
Yuan Qinghua Ghost Valley Downhill Picture Jar British Eskenazi.Ltd
Because the exhibition involves more than 30 exhibitors at home and abroad such as Iran, Britain, the United States, Japan, Russia, etc., the variables of the exhibition are also very large, and the organizers have spent a lot of energy to prepare for this exhibition, even so, the original Turkey, India and other cooperative units did not participate in the exhibition for various reasons.
"Scorching Reappearance: The Great Exhibition of Jingdezhen Porcelain in the Mid-15th Century" Exhibition Site Blue and White Cloud Dragon Pattern Large Jar Shanghai Museum Collection
The difficulty of preparing for the "blank period" exhibition of the Ming Dynasty is mainly focused on academics. It has always been a hot spot in the field of Chinese porcelain research, and Shangbo has long been concerned about this field. This was studied in the mid-1980s in the book "Blue and White Glaze in Red", which was the only Chinese representative at the early 1990s when Director Wang made a relevant academic report at an academic seminar held in the United States.
The exhibition site of "Scorching Re-enactment: The Great Exhibition of Jingdezhen Porcelain in the Mid-15th Century"
Because there are many academic problems of "blank period" porcelain that have not yet been clarified, there are still many academic problems that need to be solved after determining the curatorial ideas, and the preliminary preparations should go to many places to investigate, understand the collection of institutions, investigate the land, discuss the loan matters, etc., and also collect the "blank period" porcelain collection from the international market, thus ensuring the smooth progress of the exhibition.
This year, the Shanghai Museum will celebrate its 70th anniversary. As a landmark event of the museum's celebration, the new Shangbo East Pavilion will be completed and opened in the second half of the year.
Renderings of the East Hall of the Shanghai Museum
Nowadays, the ceramics department is busy preparing for the exhibition of ancient Chinese ceramics in the Bodong Pavilion. From the earliest "Chinese Ceramics Exhibition" launched in 1972 to the first "Ancient Chinese Ceramics Museum" opened in 1996, to the Ancient Chinese Ceramics Museum that will show a new look in 2021, several exhibitions have been upgraded, condensing the 70-year development and research process of Shangbo Ancient Ceramics.
Peng Tao, deputy director of the Ceramic Research Department of the Shanghai Museum, is arranging ceramic cultural relics
Peng Tao (center) with overseas museum directors
Peng Tao, deputy director of the Ceramic Research Department of the Shanghai Museum, told the surging news that the ancient Chinese ceramics museum of the Shangbo East Pavilion covers an area of about 1760 square meters, and there is another exhibition hall of 600 square meters. The overall structure of the exhibition of ancient Chinese ceramics will not change much, but it will be combined with the new research results in recent decades, archaeological discoveries and the newly supplemented collections in recent years to make some changes to the exhibits, and it is expected that more than 50% of the exhibits are new faces. The 600-square-meter small hall is used to display the "Ceramic Road", which will focus on ceramics and Cultural Exchanges between China and foreign countries, and show the development process of export porcelain.