The Collection “Password” of Doucai

At the “Spring Auction of Important Chinese Porcelain and Handicrafts” held by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, which ended on April 8, the Meiyintang Collection Collection Mingchenghua color fighting chicken bowl cup was sold for 280 million Hong Kong dollars, setting a world auction record for Chinese porcelain. Why is the Little Chenghua Chicken Jar Cup so expensive?

Chenghua Doucai is difficult to find among the people

It is understood that during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, the porcelain kept improving and the quality was low. Today, it is even more difficult to find the authentic Chenghua porcelain. Only about ten of the remaining colored chicken bowl cups were left. In addition to this one from the Meiyintang Collection, three of them were private collections, and the rest were hidden in famous museums around the world, such as the Palace Museum in Taipei and the British Museum in London. It can be seen that this piece is extremely precious. Almost all of the Chenghua Doucai porcelain in the collection market are broken porcelain pieces, slightly larger than nail covers, and each piece is priced at several thousand yuan. Chenghua Doucai is the most popular porcelain of the Ming Dynasty. It needs to first outline all or most of the decorative patterns with blue and white under the glaze, then burn it with transparent glaze at high temperature, then fill the blue and white outline on the glaze with colored materials, and finally burn it twice at low temperature.

Qing Dynasty Doucai Collection Favored

Since it is impossible to find Chenghua Doucai in the folk market, many enthusiasts choose to start with Qing Dynasty Doucai. During the Qing Dynasty, the Yongzheng Dynasty achieved the greatest success in fighting colors, with new developments in the layout of patterns, color coordination, and color filling techniques. Unlike Chenghua Doucai, the Yongzheng period broke through the traditional technique of combining underglaze blue and white with overglaze five colors, making Doucai more beautiful and attractive.