I have told you that plaque is an important feature of the Sumali Blue dye. In some Blue and White wares of the Yongle period, plaques are plentiful. In some cases, they are not only plentiful, but they are really beautiful. I am going to show you a ware that bears these beautiful plaques. Mind you, however plentiful the plaques are in the Yongle B & Ws, they are a lot less than many of the late Yuan B & Ws.

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This is a large Yongle bowl, B & W, measuring slightly less than 50 cm (49.6 cm) in diameter. The height is 15.25 cm. It is quite rare to see a Yongle bowl of this size (Figure 1).

Figure 1

The rather uncommon feature of this large bowl is that the main theme, the three white

dragons, are carved out in a background of waves painted in blue and white. As is the tradition in those periods, the eyes of the dragons are also painted in small blue dots.

I label this bowl a Yongle because the characteristic features of the blue dye conforms perfectly  to special features of the Sumali Blue dye of the Yongle period. Normally, if the dye pigment is of that period, the other features that are important in the classical way of evaluation will just fall into place. I do not doubt experts in Yongle B & Ws will dispute that this bowl is a Yongle. I am now going to show you these features.

I have told you that plaques are very important in late Yuan and Yongle periods, a little less so with Xuande wares. And many a time, the plaques in Yongle wares is a little different from those of Yuan and Xuande periods. So let me first show you the plaques in this large plate.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Look at these photos carefully (Figures 2, 3, and 4). Are the plaques not beautiful—both the shapes and the color? Note also the sizes of the plaques. That is why, I have often said that the variations in plaques are much more than the bubbles.

Figure 5

You will also note that plaques adjacent to each other can look quite different.

Figure 6

Here in figure 6, aside from the plaque in the bottom, I want to show you  the other features of the Sumali Blue dye. I’ll first talk to you about the bubbles. Please refer to both Figure 6 and Figure 7 at the same time, Figure 7 being an enlarged portion of Figure 6. You’ll note that the very dark part of the blue represents the majority of the blue area. If you look at Figure 7, you’ll note that there are many large bubbles, the majority lie in the dark blue shade. This is always the case. Whenever there are large bubbles lying within a small pool of rather deep blue color, if there is a very dark, almost black area nearby, inside that particular area, you always have a lot of large bubbles. The trouble is that the area is so very dark that you cannot see them, unless you shine a very bright light on that area.

Figure 7

Also, in this photo, if I were to tell you that the bubbles are either large or small, I don’t think you’ll find that statement convincing. You need to understand that when people say that Yongle B &8 Ws only have large and small bubbles, it is only true in certain wares. the statement does not apply universally. You’ll also note that the small bubbles are not very closely packed. That is why, I keep saying that the variations in bubble presentation is quite significant and large in different wares. You need to remember that and get used to that. All that I can say here is that bubbles in these two photos are quite normal in Yongle B & W, quite within the acceptable range.

Figure 8

To prove my point, I’ll show you another photo (Figure 8) that does not have much dark blue areas. You can easily see some large bubbles in a small pool of blue. The large bubbles, you must note, is semi-transparent, not completely opaque, but semi-opaque. This is quite characteristic of Sumali Blue dye. Look at the small bubbles again, and carefully. they are not tiny, not very closely packed. You may also note another feature here. There are small numbers of bubbles, 10 or so in a group, that, together, sort of map out an empty space, sometimes an incompletely enclosed space. Such spaces are everywhere. I call these spaces lacunae. Lacunae are found in almost any blue and white, but if the dye pigment is not Sumali Blue, you do not see many of them. If you see many many lacunae, far more than in here, it is definitely Sumali Blue dye. Here, the number is large enough to be consistent with Sumali Blue dye. Taken with other special features, you can be sure you are dealing with this special dye.

Figure 9

Here is another photo showing you another aspect of bubbles in Yongle B & W. Note the size of the bubbles, note that the large bubbles are semi-opaque and sitting in a pool of darker blue. The small bubbles are far from tightly packed, so that the lacunae are not well formed. But one thing I have not told you is that in here, you can see a phenomenon where two or three bubbles  seem to link together, with a bond that can actually be seen. With the presence of these, again you are dealing with something beautiful, and that the ware is genuine.

Let us now deal with another special feature of the dye, dripping, which is well shown in Figures 8 and 9. Considering the fact that the dye is not very thick, the dripping is quite significant. You’ll also note that the dripping here is not too faint, and is seen clearly.

Figure 10

In figure 10 here, it shows clearly that the severity of the dripping is very much related to the thickness of the dye.

Figure

Here in Figure 11, it is just another example. I would advise you that in all these photos, it is best if you can pay attention to every aspect of the dye features, just to get conversant with them.

Figure 12

Figure 13

There is another point that I want to make about flare and dripping of thick dyes (Figures 12 and 13). Note that at the margin, the lowest part of the dripping, there is a faint greenish hue. This appearance not only indicates that the dye is Sumali Blue dye, but that the dye is of good quality.

With all these special features that are consistent with the Sumali Blue dye, there is no doubt that the ware belongs to either the Yuan or early Ming period. But the bubbles and plaques are not those of Yuan’s, so the ware is either Yongle and Xuande. And in the literature, critics have often said that it is difficult to tell if a ware is a Yongle or a Xuande, and most people agree with that. But here, the very sharp edge plaques, and very many of them, make it more like that it is a Yongle rather than a Xuande.

Finally, I must not forget the white carved dragon. Figure 14 shows what it is like.

Figure 14

Note that there are a lot more bubbles over the carved out groove. It should be noted that this kind of B & W with the motif being carved out in a white glaze is rather uncommon, if not rare.

Let me, right from the start, show you a most beautiful Yongle Blue and White charger (Figure 1). I don’t want to say that it is the best B & W of Yongle, but it certainly is the best that I have ever seen. It measures 40 cm in diameter. The motif is beautifully drawn. We have seen similar motifs before, but are they as elegantly drawn? You’ll have to decide for yourself. But the most eye-catching feature is the color. It is the classical sapphire blue, a color that makes you think that it is made from sapphire itself.

Figure 1

Now, one may say, no matter how beautiful you may want to describe it, and you can go on and on with that for pages and pages, how does one know that it is genuine and of the Yongle period. To me, this is the most sensible and logical question to ask. What are the good reasons to say that it is a Yongle B & W? Here, I don’t want to follow the traditional way to evaluate it—by its shape, its style, its painting, the motif, the color and so on and so forth. I just want to tell you that it is a Yongle because the features and characteristics associated with the dye pigment and the blue color are Yongle.

The Sumali Blue dye pigment that was imported to China spanned from the late Yuan period to at around the end of Xuande, a total of half a century or so. But we must not assume that the Sumali Blue dye pigment has very good quality throughout all those years, and that the composition of the dye constant, and the ingredients the same. This is very far from the truth, as the presentation of the blue dye shows. I would imagine that the import of the dye is in batches. When a batch was about to finish, the potters imported another batch. We have no idea who the suppliers are, nor where they live. But more than 600 years ago, the world was technologically very primitive, we cannot expect too much from the suppliers. It is only natural that the product they exported varies, and varies over a rather wide range of quality. It follows that when we examine the special features of the blue dye of these periods, they also showed significant differences. Any collector of ceramics of those periods will understand this.

Here, I will show you these specific features and tell you why the charger is a Yongle, without even telling you the traditional way of evaluating such a ware.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Bubbles are one of the most important feature of the Sumali Blue dye. We always look at the bubbles first. Beautiful bubbles are a pleasure to look at. Some appearances of the bubbles are unique to the Yongle period, as shown in here. Critics in the old days did mention about bubbles of Yongle wares. One characteristic is about the size of the bubble. They have only large and small bubbles, critics used to say. For a beginner, they do not understand why there are no medium size bubbles in between. With only writing that is not supplemented by illustrations, reader might get confused, and doubt if there is something wrong somewhere. But there you are, as shown in these two photos, figure 3 being an enlargement of part of Figure 2, the bubbles are either large or small. The large bubbles many times the size of a small bubble, while the number of small bubbles are many, many times more than the large ones.

Figure 4

Figure 4 is just another photo showing you the relayive sizes of the large and small bubbles. You will also note that the small bubbles are tightly packed, and they seem to be rising in that
rather thin layer of glaze, trying to get to the surface. This is not shown very well here because the enlargement of the photo is still not enough. But in the future, I definitely will show you this feature in some other photos.

You will also note that most large bubbles are sitting in a small pool of dark blue dye. Some of these dark blue areas are without any bubbles, though many a time, a large number of large bubbles would cluster in such blue pools, but will not be seen clearly because of the deep blue color. Please also take note of the varied appearances of the large bubbles. Typically, they are not transparent, but rather semi-transparent, as shown here.

The deep blue coloration is note-worthy too. This is about the best blue color that one can see in a B & W. Even in Yongle wares, you rarely see this beautiful blue.

But, don’t ever imagine that small bubbles always out number the large ones, in that relative ratio, as in the photos that I just showed you. The relative number, the distribution of these bubbles vary immensely, as Figure 5 and Figure 6 will tell.

Figure 5

Figure 6

In Figure 5, aside from the bubbles, there are a few special features of the Sumali Blue dye that I want to draw your attention. Look at the plaques that lie along the longish patch of blue. I call them plaques, but in books, they are called heap and pile effect, or if you want to translate directly from Chinese, these are called rusty iron marks. Whatever you may want to call them, they are constant features in Yongle B & Ws. In Yuan ware, many a time, there are plentiful of plaques. I’ll show you when we come to the Yuan wares. In Xuande B & Ws, this feature varies quite a bit, from a lot to the almost complete absence of these plaques. Then, look at the upper margin of the head of the fish. Note the very uneven and rugged edge. It is caused by the phenomenon we call flare, which is another noted property of the blue dye. It is quite similar to dropping a drop of ink onto rice paper, the paper on which Chinese painters paint their paintings. Finally, I want you to pay attention to the mottling in the light blue part of the photo. This mottling in fact is quite uncommon in Yongle wares, more common in Yuan wares, and much less so in Xuande B & Ws. My experience with this mottling effect in Yongle wares is that, its presence normally indicates the dye is of good quality, and the wares are extremely likely to be very nice ones. Mottling is not something deliberately done by the potters that drew the motif. It is a random deposition of blue dye pigments on the bluish background. It relates to the nature of the dye rather than any conscious effort by the potters.

Figure 6 shows you the relative number of the large and small bubbles. By contrast to previous photos, the relative number is much reduced.

 

Figure 7

Figure 7 is another photo showing all the features that we have just described—the bubbles, the plaques, the flares and the mottling. It is worthwhile for collectors to get used to these features, and know them well by examining any wares that they can get hold of. The variation of these features, I say it once again, is limitless. At this stage, I must not forget to tell you that examination of these wares is best done under sunlight, and try to observe any differences in indirect sunlight.

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Like Figure 7, Figures 8, 9 and 10 are three more photos showing you the specific features of
the Sumali Blue Dye, just to let you get acquainted with their appearances. In Figure 11, on
the upper margin of the leaf, you can see quite a number of large bubbles
arranged in a manner as though they are strung up by a piece of string, a string of bubbles, I
call it. Not a common seen phenomenon, but its presence again normally indicates that the dye is very good, and the ware beautiful.

From these photos, you will note that the plaques show a lot of variations.This is also true with bubbles, as I have told you. But, I would say, the variations in plaques are much more than with bubbles. You should bear that in mind. Many a time, plaques in The Yongle period have features that are not shared by Xuande and late You B & Ws. They often have rather sharp contours, and a lot finer than plaques in the Yuan period.

Figure 12

Figure 13

 

Figure 14

Figures 12, 13 and 14 illustrate my point of a sharp, jagged edge. In Xuande and Yuan wares, such edges are very rare.

Under the sun, the reflection of the plaques can be very colorful, as in Figure 15, and Figure 16 and Figure 17 on the following pages show.

Figure 15

Figure 16

Figure 17

Now, All the features that I have shown you are on the flat surface of a plate. Some of these might change as the contour of the ceramic ware alters, as over and near a ribbed edge (Figure 18).

Figure 18

Right at the center, the rib extends from top to bottom. From its appearance, you know something about the dye that the potters used to draw the motif. The dye is, of course, a liquid. But in that liquid there is a lot of granules in suspensions—some are fine, others are of a more coarse nature. The two prominent features of the dye, the bubbles and the plaques, are both from the suspension granules. The fine granules would give rise to small bubbles. The coarse granules, which obviously have a different composition, give rise to the large bubbles and the lovely bluish hue. When the dye is painted over a rib, as in here shown, the suspended granules, obeying the law of gravity, all fall along the sloping edge of the rib, leaving very few bubbles, both large and small, on the top and the upper portion of sloping rib. In fact you never see large bubbles on the top of the ridge. At the base of the slope, where a lot of small granules accumulate, small bubbles are abundant.

From this observation alone, we can tell that the suppliers, when they exported their goods to China, tried to do a good job by removing as much coarse granules as possible, leaving only very few larger granules. And when I show you the plaques, which are from the coarse granules, of the Yuan wares, you know that the these coarse granules are far more abundant than in the Yongle period. This is, in fact, an indication of improvement of the manufacturing process, or, an improvement of technology, a term that we are now addicted to today, over that short period of perhaps around three to four decades.

Figure 19

Figure 20

Both Figure 19 and Figure 20 are additional photos showing the effect that the rib has over the dye. But note that in Figure 20, at the lower left hand corner, the flare, which is at the base of the slope of the rib, is exaggerated. As I have said, these darker blue colorations are generated from granules suspended in the liquid dye, though we can be sure that the granules here must be very small. As such, they are subjected to gravitational force, and the flare extends for a longer distance than they would have been if the surface is flat. That is why, on the vertical portion of a ware, the flare turns to a dripping, as shown in the following photos (Figures 21, 22, 23 and 24).

Figure 21

Figure 22

Figure 23

Figure 24

Look at the decorative lines here. The dripping varies. The gravitation force is equal, but the granules in the liquid dye is not evenly distributed. That is the only reason.

As you can see, I can go on showing you more photos of each and every aspect of the special features of the Sumali Blue dye. But I think you will learn more if I am going to show you other wares. Before I leave here, I just want you to understand that description of these features in very accurate terms is not possible by words, and that past critics had their reasons why they did not do that. They could only do that in broad strokes with nothing very specific. That is all that they can do. Modern technology has redeemed this, and most of the fine features of the dye can be recorded and shared by those who are interested in the topic. What is more important is that these specific features allow one to say if the ware is genuine and of the period.