Timeless Artifact

Chernysh Family Estate Collection

Measurements with stand: 3-3/4″ Height X 6-1/2″ Diameter

Measurements without stand: 2-5/8″ Height X 6-1/2″ Diameter

With this absolutely exquisite Junyao Narcissus Bowl, we find the earliest such bowl we have ever seen or authenticated, and it should be considered one of the truly oldest Narcissus Bowls in existence today. While the Junyao Kiln is considered by many to have started with the Song Dynasty in exactly the year 960 CE, we would have to question that to a great degree. Written history and the claims that certain potteries and glazes came during such an exacting period, to us, seem more stories for history books and general explanations than we actually find when looking at authentic period artifacts. In short, the fabulous glazes of this period, and any other, were not just created on just one day, or even over the period of one year, but rather were extenuations of glaze experimentations dating back hundreds of years, and giving credit to those who came before, with their constant vigilance in experimentation; this should be explored much more in depth than it is today. Granted, the Song Dynasty did favor certain “Royal Kilns”, and the wonderful pieces of the Ruyao and Junyao kilns (and others) were certainly among those favored by the Royalty of the period. We have seen it written that only thirty-six pieces of Junyao ware were allowed to be built in any given year during the Song Dynasty, and commoners were forbidden to own it. Of this we are also doubtful. Perhaps as the kiln gained Imperial favor during the the beginning of the Song Dynasty this could have been true, but later in the period, we believe, many more than just thirty-six pieces were made by this famous kiln site. From what we have seen in 12Th – 13Th Century pieces, when the kilns were numbered up to ten (as high as we have seen), it seems somewhat incredible to have ten kilns producing only thirty-six pieces of Junyao ware. As to the declared ‘fact’ that the several different glazes ~ the white ‘phosphorus’, the blues, the purple ‘splashes’ and exquisite iron red glazes, were all developed (each taking a different thickness and firing heat to produce, for the high-copper-content glaze), in a period of one year, strains the imagination and seems more than a bit too simplified. While anything is possible, we will present here what to us, seems much more realistic and logical, given the science of clay formulations and qualities and applications of each, and the science of glaze formulations, with their multitude of variations of mineral compositions, hardness, firing ranges and environments, fuel factors, and numerous other technical (and not so technical) components of glazed pottery creation.

In the above three photographs, we are starting to see some of the first signs of an extremely early Junyao ware of the beginning of the Song Dynasty Period. As will be explained in later photographs, the white with blue ‘phosphorus’ glazes had already been on their path to perfection during the Tang Dynasty period (618 – 960 CE). The particular type of brilliant ‘iron red’, as seen on the exterior of this exquisite bowl, begins to make its appearance during the very early Song Dynasty Era. Later, in the 11Th – 12Th Century period, we believe this iron red gave way to more of the classic blues and purples, as we do not see this brilliant red from the later periods of the Song Dynasty, and indeed, it seems to have been ‘re-discovered’ during the Qing Dynasty in their famous Iron Red Porcelains of the period. The wonderful ‘orange peel’ texture of the exterior red glaze can be easily discerned in the photographs above, as well as the beginnings of the Song Dynasty simplicity of shape, of which the Song Dynasty artisans were (and alway will be) the true masters, along with their exquisite glazings, which make them my own personal favorites of all Chinese porcelains and proto-porcelains. The fact that the original piece was broken from its sagger at the bottoms of the the legs, with no polishing or trimming around the feet, is another indication of an extremely early work (as will be better shown in the following microscopic photographs). Additionally, that this narcissus bowl stands on three very simple legs, added after to replace the ones that broke off  (much like an old Bronze Ding, made for Royalty since the Shang Period), is another indicator of an older period piece (in the later 11-Th – 12Th century Narcissus bowls, we see the later style of the three Lianzhu Fungus feet). The wonderful drip we see on the inner edge of the bottom rim is representative of a quality that has always been considered a most desirable trait on Song Dynasty glazed porcelains, and remains today as one of the most sought-after features of truly great pieces.

The custom-made rosewood stand in the three photographs above easily attests to the time period when this marvelous bowl was exhumed from the ground. It is, in our opinion, an 1800′s era stand that was custom-made to fit the bowl after it was removed from its original burial place, and the bowl’s legs fit on this stand in one position only. In the last photo above, we can see the obvious, natural ‘shelf wear’ the wooden stand has endured over time. These wonderful Song Dynasty buried items were not the same as we find in the Tang Dynasty, as by the the time of the Song Dynasty, the ‘excesses’ of burial items had been outlawed, and Song Dynastic funeral pieces exhibit a much cruder look than their elaborate predecessors from the Tang Dynasty. Rather, the finest of the Song Dynasty burial items were cache-buried to hide the best of their National and Royal Treasures from the advancing Mongols, who later set up the short-lived Yuan Dynasty. As the Northern Song culture was progressively overrun by the Mongols, the people systematically buried their finest treasures, and even common household storage jars; we have some original jars with their original contents of sorghum and coal oil, and even the straw and cloth stoppers and original Song period woven strings remain attached. The main purpose of showing the old, custom-made rosewood stand is to establish, at minimum, when the item first was unburied, and as it has been incontestably in the Naples, Florida USA area since long before the UNESCO treaty with China, it is a legal and very desirable early Junyao Narcissus Bowl.

In our last two full, close-up photographs above (before we start the microscopic examination), we would like to explain a bit more about the progression of glazes in China in general. As stated earlier, glazes did not just appear overnight, in any period throughout Chinese history (or any other, for that matter). There was always a progression, with much experimentation, from the earliest ‘true glazes’ in the world, most likely dating from the end of the Shang Period to the beginning of the Western Zhou Period. There is so much left to be learned about the early exploration of this unique Chinese form of decoration of common pottery items, that we believe we will never see everything fully unveiled in our lifetime. Just a few years ago, the plain pottery items themselves were only known to have existed in China back to the earlier years of the Neolithic Period (approximately 6,500 BCE), and now they have definitively dated pottery items back to almost 20,000 BCE. As information from more archeological digs, and the knowledge they provide, becomes more accessible and contributory to the public database, the more we will understand about the cultures and environments that produced  them; this is as with every culture studied (the likes of which often first start out with what now seem ludicrous speculations, such as early Clovis man only living in Clovis, New Mexico, USA ~ now, Clovis points have been found in every state of the US and as far south as Oaxaca, Mexico ~ and they are currently ‘building the bridge’ to Europe. The same happens with Chinese glazes. There were times of expansion and broad experimentation (with the 350 CE through to the late 18Th Century period being the most productive, from our standpoint), and times where there were natural digressions, due to war, famine, or other non-supportive periods in their history. But, the overall growth in quality and advancement of technique is hardly questionable. What you are seeing in the above two photographs is the white and blue that is well-known to have been established in the Tang Dynastic period, and can be found on Tang brown-ware with the white and blue phosphoric splashes, and the purple splashes which were not found during the Tang era. These represent a melange of techniques developed at differing times, and incorporated together. This took time, experimentation, and ingenuity, which did not happen on a selected date on a calendar.

In these first three microscopic photographs of this article, we are showing the bottom of one the three ding-style legs on the narcissus bowl. All microscopic photographs will be shown at 10X, 20X, and 30X respectively, as they are the most common of the loupe powers used, and with the wider field of vision from our microscope, will allow the viewer to see very clearly what we wish to identify as age and authentication indicators. In the first photo above, we can see the impurities in what was considered ‘pure’ porcelain. The vessel was fired high enough to vitrify the proto-porcelain, yet still does not have the that ring of a later, higher-temperature-fired piece. Still, this is quite a high firing for the period, as many other kilns in China did not reach this type of vitrification until a bit later in their time-frames. The fact that the legs were broken directly off the sagger, leaving jagged edges, is also an indication of an earlier firing of Junyao ware. The bottoms of all three legs have been smoothed by wear over time, yet there are many areas around the feet which show the result of jagged snapping-off of the legs, where the glaze flowed down and then adhered to the sagger.

In the three microscopic photographs above, we are showing a top indicator of true age which is very difficult to see with only the usual 10X power loupe. Porcelains and glazes can be extremely hard (ie:  porcelain knife sharpeners are very effective), and we have a Song Dynasty Cizhou shipwreck bowl with the bottom covered in coral growth, and yet, if viewed with a 10X loupe (even after rolling in sandy silt for hundreds of years), the inside looks like it was made yesterday. It really takes a higher power to start to see some of the anomalies which occur to high-fired porcelains over time. It the first photo above, we see two scratches to the red outer portion of the narcissus bowl which look as if they could have been made around the same time period – both looking jagged, which is an indicator of a newer scratch. However, in the second and the third photos, we start to see under higher magnification the differences between the two scratches. In all three photos, we see the scratch to the viewer’s left is jagged, like a new scratch, but under 20X power, the scratch to the right not only begins to look smoothed, but it also shows oxidation iridescence. The same can be seen in the last photo above, with the tip of the right scratch being at the bottom of the photo. The scratch to the viewer’s left was most likely made after the narcissus bowl was removed from burial, and the one to the right, prior to its burial. Minuscule cleaning scratches also start to show up between the natural crazings in the last photo at 30X power.

In the three photographs above, the use-wear (scratching) on the narcissus bowl is much more easily discerned. This is a particularly roughed-up area of the top rim which took a lot of abrasion over the period of time when the bowl was used. Some parts of the rim have much less abrasion, and this area shown may be just a particularly high spot of the rim which took more abrasion. What is most definite in the photos above is the different types of scratching and the differing depths to which these original period-scratches go. Some are deeply scratched, and some are just minor cleaning scratches, but the fact that they run in all different directions is an indicator of true age-wear. These are not the intentional sanded areas we find on modern replications, nor the marks from pieces being carried back and forth to market. Natural wear always looks natural, and old Song Dynasty pottery items have some natural wear because they were used items. It is true that some piece were collected for display during the Song Period, but even those that were rarely used, or used only on special occasions, still were cleaned from time to time, and will, under higher powers, show their natural scratching from use and cleaning. If a piece shows none, or very little wear (and usually on the interior bases of bowls from stacking, and taking them to market), they should be considered highly suspicious. It is also somewhat safe to assume that a narcissus bowl, used for 200-300 years, before being rapidly cache-buried ahead of invading forces, would see more use wear than one from the later Northern Song Dynasty period.

The three microscopic photos above were taken on the interior of the narcissus bowl in a area where the white glaze is the heaviest. Most of the naturally-occurring damage from burial conditions is exhibited on the white portion of the glaze on the interior of this bowl. Best seen in photograph one, the areas with the heaviest glaze loss are the portions where the deeply infused bubbles (so common to the Junyao kiln items) are now exposed, and soil has intruded. The more shiny areas, with no open bubbles, are the original surface of the glaze. We have seen the same type of glaze loss on deeper, exterior white ‘phosphorous splashes’ on Tang Dynasty ewers. Whether or not it is caused from a higher firing temperature in a more naturally thick area of the glaze, we do not yet know. The cause would probably be best known in China, but as yet we have not seen anything in publication as to why this effect occurs (there are some 200,000 relevant publications written in Chinese that have yet to be translated to English). In the photos above, we can easily see the glaze loss areas, the original penetration of burial soils, and the fact that the the white-glazed areas flow over the tops and around the sides of the underlying naturally blue areas of glaze. We expect this is a result of the combination of factors; the depth of the glaze, temperature, and the mineral compounds which make up these marvelous Junyao kiln glazes. This white glaze effect, to the best of our knowledge, is also found mostly on the earlier pieces of the Tang and Song Dynasties, as we do not see this thick white sheen of glaze on later items we have seen, both in publications and under personal microscopic study.

In the three microscopic photographs above, we are looking at an area best seen in the third photograph of this article, as the portion which lies between the brighter blue area at the bottom and the large purple splash portion above it. It is an area that would best be described here in the US as a “robin’s egg” color. What we are looking at is one of the great indicators of true Song Dynasty Junyao authenticators; it is these areas which lie between the cracks, of which we have not seen a replication ever having been made. It is these thick areas of whitened degradation to the originally small crazing cracks that we find on truly old Song burial pieces. The bowl must have sat upright during its burial, with water collecting inside over hundreds of years; we believe that this is the main reason we find almost all the degradation to the inside of the narcissus bowl. These deep, side-to-side degradations to the original blue/green glazed portion of the bowl will also be explored in other microscopic photos of the different colors inside the bowl, but the fact that they do not occur on the exterior red portion tells us this bowl collected and held the water inside. The natural remaining soils from burial can also be easily seen in the photos above. It is also appropriate to note here that we have Junyao artifacts in our personal collection that exhibit the deep, side-to-side degradation right next to restored areas on the same piece of pottery; on one item, the restorers did a marvelous job of crazing the piece widely enough to be able to mimic the whitened degradation by rubbing some substance into the cracks, but there will never be the side-to-side degradation, such as what is seen above. The replicators also use this technique on many fine Tang Dynasty reproductions, crackling the glazes and rubbing into the fine cracks substances that are intended to mimic the potassium salts and mineralization, but without the consistent wear from tectonic scratching, and other indicating factors, these fine Tang Dynasty replications can be fairly readily discerned. The big trick in this is in not going so fast that one misses the authentication indicators of a restored item which has been over-glazed.

With the three microscopic photographs above, we are again looking down inside the narcissus bowl to the area of the brightest blue glazed portion, pooling at the bottom of the bowl. For some reason, we suspect due to the way the blue glaze pooled around the slighter higher mound in the center of the base, forming a thicker layer, this area degraded less than the white and purple crazed areas inside the remainder of the bowl. However, we can still see some of the side-to-side degradation to the cracked areas in the three photos above. This portion of the glazed interior also shows us the best views of the highly infused bubbles, most likely because of its glaze depth. This area has beautiful, natural oxidation iridescence, as well as a minor triangular glaze loss, which can easily be seen in all three photographs.

The three microscopic photographs above show a particular area in the purple slash portion on the interior of the narcissus bowl, which has an effect we had never seen before, which is of particular interest to us from an authentication standpoint. As can be easily discerned, this part of the glaze was much more stable than the whitened areas, and sustained much less degradation and glaze loss than the side with the white phosphorous glaze. However, we still find the deep side-to-side degradation to the cracked areas, but with one amazing difference – the color of the purple splash somehow continued to spread through the whitened degradation over the hundreds of years of burial. In some areas of the photographs above, it appears that the red flows right through the white and could actually be just under the surface, and reflecting back with the lighting. However, there are clear areas also shown (which can be extremely well-discerned under direct microscopic viewing), where the purple, copper-based glaze actually has continued to flow up and into the whitened degradation. The fact that the copper alloys were actually still traveling is much like the ion exchanges we see when viewing pseudomorphs and other anomalies in jade (which can be best seen in articles at Timeless Jade). This is a wonderful phenomena to have discovered on this marvelous early Song Dynasty Junyao Narcissus Bowl, and one not so unlikely, given the moist conditions and approximately 750 years of burial.

In the three microscopic photos above, we are looking at an area of extremely degraded white glaze that is exactly across from the purple splash area in the three preceding photos. This is a portion of the interior which is very high up toward the rim, and as a result, received the least amount of cleaning when it was removed from burial. This bowl, same as all our authenticated pieces, underwent both a long acetone bath and a very short oxalic acid bath to determine if any modern waxes or coatings had been applied. The only coating that showed up came with the ten-minute oxalic acid bath, as someone had put a modern spray wax coating on the piece, which came right off. The only other residue found was that of old bees-wax, which still remains, and was most likely put on the bowl during the time it was first cleaned of its potassium salts (as some minuscule areas remain). This bees-wax application is considered to be prior to the 1900 period, as it was not affected by the acetone at all, and remained its original color, with no whitening as more modern waxes do. The minute particles of wax were so old, they would not scratch off with a fingernail, and so we decided to leave them on as an authenticating factor. In the photos above, we can see how some of the ‘glassy’ surface of the white glaze remained intact, while other portions of it have flaked away, exposing the bubbles in the glaze below. We can also see the different, side-to-side detritus penetration in the cracks, best shown in photo three above at 30X power. The blue glaze under the white can also be seen, as in prior microscopic photographs above. What we love the most with this set of photographs is the penetration of the white glaze by soils and detritus, and even the minuscule, worn-out scratches that can be barely discerned upon the original surface (best seen in the 20X and 30X power photos).

In the three microscopic photographs above, we are again looking at the brilliant blue area, deep in the center of the narcissus bowl. This is an area which shows new cleaning scratches to the mineralized glaze. These minute scratches, and the mineralization, showed up after the ten-minute soaking in the weak oxalic acid solution, which dissolved the modern Pledge-like wax that had been applied in recent times. After this cleaning, the minerals could not be removed with either a further soaking in acetone, nor with a vigorous scrubbing with Tub and Tile Cleaner (which does a great job with recent accumulations of dust and grime). This left us with a wonderful view of the original mineral deposits on the bowl that had been left from its earlier cleaning (most likely with a weak vinegar solution) after removal from its burial site. The beautiful oxidation iridescence  can be seen best in the last two photos (it was very difficult to capture this iridescence on this particular bowl, as the fluorescent lighting around the microscope kept ‘washing-out’ the colors).  In the first photograph above at 10X power, the degradation to the cracking can be best seen, as can the soil and detritus penetration of the cracks. We can see in this area how much less the degradation effected it, as there is very little glaze loss, which is found much more in the white glazed areas.

With the three photos above, we are looking at an area on the iron red exterior portion of the narcissus bowl (this iron red portion is just breath-taking), which shows none of the side-to-side, white degradation to the crazed areas. Again, we believe this was a result of the bowl being buried upright and the moisture collecting inside, leading to much more interior degradation. If the bowl had been artificially aged, we would not be seeing the same types of effects shown with all the microscopic photographs. The outside of the iron red glaze simply did not have the moisture retention which occurred on the interior surface. We can also again see the mineralization to the exterior, which became apparent after the light oxalic acid bath, and the accompanying minor scratching from cleaning of these mineralized areas when the bowl was first removed from its place of burial.

With these last three microscopic photographs of this article, we are looking at a particular phenomena which was not discovered until after the final cleaning of the bowl, while I was taking the photographs for this article. Under a 10X power loupe it probably would never have been discovered. What we believe we are looking at here are traces of minerals (agreed upon by myself and Dr. Timothy Jones PhD) in the exterior glaze in the central portion of the indented base of the narcissus bowl. Due to the fact that we can not get a wide enough photograph of the glaze displaying the effect that we are going to explain here, which occurs over the entire base and portions of the sides, it can not all be seen here, but can be easily viewed in person under the microscope. It appears that these minute, linear mineral particles started lining up in relation to the earth’s magnetic field at the time, either during the firing, or during the cooling period just following, while the glaze was still in a fluid state. Some of these linear particles form lines that are over an inch long, and some form into complete circles, part of one which can be seen close to the bottom in the photographs above. Over these particles, you can see the the remaining mineralization over the surface of the glazed area. To see these particulates lining up in such a manner is truly a wonder to behold, and while this effect is not a new discovery, it is an extremely rare event.

In closing, we have no doubts as to the correct dating of this Royal piece of China’s history, and would encourage any qualified professional from China (and especially the Beijing Museum) to come and view it in person, as we truly believe, like many items in our collection and others we represent, that they should ultimately be returned home to be displayed with their mated pieces in the land where the culture first expressed and produced such genius and creativity. This wonderful Junyao Kiln Narcissus Bowl could well be one of only thirty-six pieces allowed to have been made for the Royal family in the early 10Th Century.

[ Note: Any qualified person interested in sales or research on any items in our personal collection, or those we represent, should contact        Dr. Timothy William Jones, PhD, at timothywilliamjones@gmail.com ]

David Fredericks — Yulongwei

Antiquities, Plus…

Timeless Artifact

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Robert Rieger Family Estate Collection

Chenghua Emperor Covered Bowl Measurements: 6″ Diameter X 3-1/4″ Height

Hongzhi Emperor Rice Bowl Measurements: 6-3/4″ Diameter X 3″ Height

We have been blessed to be able to authenticate and represent these two Imperial Emperor’s bowls for the last two years. They were first legally acquired by Mr Robert Rieger, businessman and former Director of the MBA Program, College of Management, University of Arizona, on one his  more than forty-six long- ago trips to China. Mr. Rieger was not a prolific collector of antiquities, and as such, had very few pieces he purchased in the Orient. Of the several pieces we did authenticate for him and his family, most were newer reproductions that he liked because of their intricacy, and the fact that he has long worked in the industrial porcelain business. The two particular bowls featured above are the result of a distant approach by a old Chinese man offering these bowls for purchase. It was a wise decision he made when he agreed to buy them, and his ‘feel’ for the pieces was perfect, as he loved their delicate construction – especially the exquisite Hongzhi rice bowl that he felt was a piece of perfection. In this microscopic study you will see why these pieces had that ‘special feel’ he described to us when we first saw the bowls.

Both of these bowls initially underwent an intensive, month-long cleaning and extensive study by myself and Dr. Timothy William Jones, PhD, before we first announced their authenticity. In preparation for the composition of this article, I personally re-cleaned the bowls, as initially performed, in acetone and then a strong solution of soap and water, to determine that all remaining deposits were indeed natural to the bowls, and not later replicators’ attempts at deception, nor hiding a repair. In the last cleaning, we even briefly used a solution of oxalic acid to make sure no aliphatic cements or petroleum based glues had been used. Initially these bowls were most likely cleaned in China, in a weak vinegar solution to remove any deposits that were on them (later microscopic photographs will show where this had occurred and the accompanying, minuscule new scratches that are associated with this cleaning).

These two truly Imperial Bowls are Pre-UNESCO Treaty Legal and have been displayed at our last two jade shows, including our Jade Through The Ages Show. We will be showing, with the progressive microscopic photographs throughout this article, authenticating identifiers, in response to which some skeptics might say the usual “Oh, the Chinese replicators can do that” – they cannot! These are authentic Ming Dynasty Imperial Porcelain Bowls and carry the ‘Antiquities, Plus… Guarantee’ as long as they are in our possession to sell. Out of respect to the father of the Emperor Hongzhi, we will be starting this article with the Emperor Chenghua’s Covered bowl, and will be ending it with the Hongzhi Emperor’s rice bowl.

In the three photographs above, we show the top of the Chenghua Emperor’s covered bowl, the bottom of the bowl, and a close-up of the reign mark and part of the foot rim. For those who do not know, the Chenghua Emperor preferred as his reign mark a calligraphy of his own making, done while he was a child; these marks do not have the usual perfection of a ‘typical’ reign mark. The bowl in general is not quite as finely produced as is the Hongzhi Emperor’s bowl, and is a bit heavier in construction, but still is a masterpiece for a porcelain made at the start of the Emperor’s reign in 1465 CE (remembering that this is not just an Imperial factory porcelain, but actually made for Imperial use). Additional research will lead the reader to the many different types and colors of Imperial Family porcelains which were traditionally produced for each Emperor upon his ascension to the throne; however, in this article we will be dealing only with these two bowls and their history of usage, along with their burial conditions. The exact  ’how and why’ particulars of their burial may never be known (unless some record exists in the archives in China), but we suspect these two items may have been among those known objects, which upon retirement from service when the new Emperor took the throne, were appropriated by eunuchs of the Forbidden City and ‘hidden away’ for posterity, or perhaps they were ‘discovered’ when the foreign industrialists routed the old railways through the Ming Dynasty tomb areas. However they were found, they are at least now safe and ready for their possible return home.

The three microscopic photographs above, taken at 10X, 20X and 30X microscopic power (as will be all the microscopic photograph sets in this article), will show much clearer detail than using the three common loupe powers, because we have a much wider field of view under the microscope, and much less shaky hand movement common to loupe usage. The three photos above show only a portion of the Chinese word for ‘Great’ in the reign sign; however, over the entire bottom surface we can see the pitting of the glaze, and glaze loss from extended burial. The main feature to be seen in the photos above, and which will be shown on many following photographs of both bowls, is the track of a tree root just to the right of the word Great in the first photo, and shown at greater detail in the following higher powers (look for a shallow depression in a Y-shape). What is easily discernible, in all three photographs, is the natural degradation and pitting caused by the tree root to this portion of the bowl from the root’s extended time of attachment to the high-fired glaze. The large firing bubbles, which are a natural condition of old wood-fired kiln pieces, will be seen throughout this article (some in clearer detail where the bowls, in some areas, took less damage from degrading conditions, which is exactly what one finds in almost all naturally covered and buried artifacts). Even old Tang Dynasty Sancai items, which have seen extremely degrading conditions, will have some portions of the smaller triangular crazing still shiny and with iridescence, while all around it will be degraded areas with potassium salts and a total lack of the fine outer, glass-like surface (this will be shown in future articles). It is also true that some glazes show more oxidation iridescence than others, due to their various components, burial conditions and associated burial objects, among a myriad of other conditions.

We are looking at the foot rim of the Chenghua bowl in the three above microscopic photographs. The high kaolin content and general quality of porcelain used in the making of this bowl is quite obvious, as is the lack of extensive wear often seen in more utilitarian items from the same period. As different colored sets were made  for each Emperor, one would expect to see less wear than what we find on daily use items; however, the bottom of the foot rim on both bowls are wonderfully smoothed, as they should be, and show the slight reddish tinge of an originally wood-fired Ming Dynasty porcelain of Imperial Factory quality. The trimming and perfection of the foot rim itself is another indicator of Imperial quality.

With the above three microscopic photographs, we find in an area on the side of the bottom of the Chenghua covered bowl many ‘tree-root-eaten’ areas like the example magnified above. This one was taken near the cloud decorations next to one of the celestial dragons. The trail the tree roots took in most portions of the two bowls were in the lower lying areas of the exterior of the Ming Dynasty’s famous ‘orange peel’-textured areas, as they generally took the path of least resistance. In our last article, we showed a root track on an old Indus Valley bead which went over two raised areas and through a shallow area. It does occur; however, on this much younger glazed burial bowl, the tracks seem to have preferred following the lower areas. In all three microscopic photographs above, we can see not only the tracks the roots took but the natural pitting and degradation that has followed  after the root had eaten away at the glazed portions on the exterior. Both of the bowls we are presenting in this article must have been well-covered when buried, as the tree-root track growth occurs only on the exterior of the bowls. The interior of both bowls have deposits remaining from minor soil and water penetration, but do not exhibit these tracks, where the roots were free to roam over the surface in a natural way. The effect we see above can not be equally simulated by using any acids or high alkalis. Acids and alkalis will effect stone and jade items to differing degrees of depth, as they are not as homogenous (having harder and softer areas) as a cleanly-fired-on high-vitrification glaze. They also penetrate the jades to differing depths, which we do not see in the photos above. We have seen many replications of Song Dynasty and later items on which acids were used to produce a more matte finish, and all of the surface, under microscopic analysis, looks exactly the same and never has these natural tree- root patterns eaten through the glaze. We have seen the effects of acids to make an identical reproduction of an original Ming Dynasty porcelain (so as to replace one of a pair), but the one which was aged with acid, and the repaired top of the original, were completely homogenous in nature, and it could be easily discerned which was the original surface and which had been acid-etched. Many other microscopic photos to follow in this article will show other identifiers of natural age, so we start here and work our way through to conclusion.

The three photographs above, taken at 10X, 20X and 30X microscopic power of a minor iron particle (which can be seen inside the Chenghua bowl in the third opening photo of this article), examines the result of a slight imperfection in the initial cleaning of the porcelain, or an iron particle that was imbedded under the glazed portion before final firing of the bowl. Through use wear on the interior, with subsequent cleanings and burial, this slightly raised spot has been worn through to the point where the glaze was sufficiently thin to allow the iron particle to oxide with the moisture it had received over the years. Obviously, this is not an effect of acids or any other treatments, as the glaze next to the particle inside the bowl is in almost perfect condition, as can easily be seen in the large bubble areas around it. Acids or high alkalis would have dulled the entire surface to which they were applied.

In the above three microscopic photographs, we are looking at the only true damage to the Chenghua Emperor’s bowl. It is a slight hairline fracture which extends down from the top rim of the bottom bowl, approximately 1″ in length. We believe this small hairline developed at some date after the piece was first buried. The bottom-third portion of the hairline is ‘fresh’ and has no soil intrusion, and may well have been a minor continuation of the hairline after the item was recovered, as we find the soil-penetration in only the upper portion of the crack. This hairline has been stabilized using low viscosity Paleo Bond glue. On the top portion of the rim, we left an extra little drop of 100 viscosity Paleo Bond (seen in the photos above) for protection, knowing the bowl would be handled and inspected, and we wished to give it a bit of extra insurance while this was occurring. This extra drop can easily be removed by us for the final owner of the bowl, but in the meantime we prefer to keep this delicate piece of important Chinese history better protected. The low viscosity glue has penetrated the hairline, and we know of no finer stabilization solution, other than a re-fire of the porcelain itself, which presents its own set of risks, complications, and drawbacks, and we personally feel this is unnecessary, and would not benefit the item. There are no other chips or hairlines to either of the bowls. With the minor soil penetration seen in the photos above, it is assumed this hairline either occurred late in the burial (as burial for a longer period would have caused more side-to-side penetration), or the bowl may have sustained the fracture when it was exhumed long ago. From the condition of the cleaned surfaces, we expect this bowl has been out of burial conditions for many years now, well cared for, and most likely was sold as an urgent financial necessity rather than an actual attempt to properly market it.

In the three microscopic photographs above (and the three to follow), we are going to show a particular affect which occurs on this type of covered bowl. This style of bowl was used to serve food  (as with the Hongzhi rice bowl); however, the food served in this kind of bowl was not eaten directly from the bowl itself, but rather was scooped into the lid, and then eaten out of the lid, held in the hand. What we see above are old, natural scratches on the top portion of the lid, as it was the part which received the most natural wear from being used and set down again, over and over, while the bottom portion remained more stable as it was used only to bring the food to the dining surface. This type of wear use is to be found all over the top portion of the Chenghua Emperor’s bowl and the sides of the lid. The original wear, pitting and smoothing to the scratches is due to the repeated cleanings after the meal, which smoothed the scratches when washing and drying with cloth, and then again while underground, by natural wear that occurred from minor tectonic activity and degradation while in their burial environment. We have never seen this natural effect duplicated successfully in any of the hundreds of reproductions and restored areas that we have studied under microscopic conditions. Natural wear looks natural, and forced wear scratches always appear to be much more defined, with the look of fresh abrasion, being much more ‘jagged’ in appearance, resembling fresh sanding marks.

The three above photographs are of an area on the side of the lid of the covered bowl. What we are looking at is the same type of scratches we saw on the top portion of the bowl, the only difference being the angle of the photos, and consequently, the lighting is a bit different, causing the bright yellow of the glaze to appear a bit more faded. Again, we can see the natural scratches caused from the heavier use of the lid portion and their further degradation from burial wear, but the main aspect of these photos shows that not all of the scratches are going in the same direction. This is what we find on authentic artifacts – the scratches follow a much more random pattern than on artificially abraded surfaces.The other aspect seen in these photos is best viewed in the last of the three, at 30X power. While this bowl does not quite show the same oxidation iridescence as the Hongzhi Emperor’s rice bowl, we still can see the iridescence in the yellow of the high portions of glaze, above the old, worn, scratched areas. The natural pitting of the scratches shows up extremely well as we reach the higher power photographs, which by far out-perform what can be normally seen using only the usual 10 power loupe.

With this next set of three microscopic photographs, we again find on the top of the lid of the Chenghua Emperor’s bowl an area of the clouds, next to one of the five claws of the Celestial Dragon, which has the same type of naturally-pitted use-scratches, but with the addition of an obvious tree-root track running mostly in the opposite direction to the scratches. We know of absolutely no way this effect can be faked by any replicator, as they have never used microscopic drills and polishing tools, and then naturally aged the artifacts to this extent. Parts of the original glaze also show oxidation iridescence in the photographs above, giving us conclusive evidence of an original burial artifact. The wear and root growth patterns extend to all portions of the exterior of both of the bowls presented in this article – all in the same random patterns we see here, and all with the exact type of natural pitting one finds from almost all long-term burial items. Burial pieces from extremely dry areas of the furthest reaches of the old Chinese Empires will obviously show less root growth tracks, but they are still sometimes found on items even from the driest of regions.

The three microscopic photographs above illuminate an area of high iridescence on the Chenghua bowl lid where the original degradation, potassium salts and detritus still remain. The scratching we find in all three of the microscopic photographs above are from the cleaning of the bowl after it was removed from the burial surroundings. We can easily see the difference in these new cleaning scratches compared to the original, worn and pitted ones we saw above.

In these last three microscopic photographs of the Chenghua Emperor’s covered bowl, we are looking into the interior of the lid, which was the portion which was actually used for eating. What are seeing is very hard to see with the highly fired, blue-white glaze, and even harder to photograph because of the illumination from the florescent light around the microscope, but with an additional light we managed to capture enough shadows to show the very shallow scratching from the eating surface of the bowl. These scratches would be from both the utensils used while eating and from abrasion during the  cleaning process, after the bowl was used. While this last process is rarely considered from a layman’s viewpoint, it is a valid authentication method, as not all water used in the cleaning process of old porcelains was totally free of abrasive materials. It is also good to mention the difference in the depths of the outside scratches to those we see in the interior of the bowl. We would not expect to see the depth of scratches inside as we would on the outside of the bowl (and eating utensils such as bamboo or wooden chopsticks would abrade much less than metal, despite the high silica content in bamboo, although porcelain spoons were also known at this time), since it was the exterior that would have been subject to the heaviest abrasion from use, tectonic activity, tree root growth, water penetration and mineralization.

In these first three photographs of the Hongzhi Emperor’s rice bowl (on the viewer’s right in the first photo above), we can see the advances that had been made by the Imperial Factory in the brighter yellow (which almost matches the lemon yellows of the Kangxi to those of the Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasties), the more thinly-constructed walls of the bowl, and the finer incising of the designs (the discussion of which we will save for the final three photographs of this article). Also, very apparent is the much more common Imperial reign mark on the bottom of the bowl. Perfectly centered, exquisite calligraphy are the hallmarks of a true Hongzhi Emperor Imperial reign mark. The slightly cloudy areas seen in the reign mark (and are also on the sides in the green Celestial Dragons, fire and clouds) on the last photo above are only slight degradation from burial and original mineral deposits left from its cleaning. The microscopic photos to follow will leave no doubt as to the original burial condition this bowl had endured, the same as the Chenghua Imperial bowl addressed in the first portion of this article.

In the first three microscopic photographs above, taken on top of the Chinese word for Ming, we are looking at the glaze wear, degradation, pitting, and natural soil and detritus inside of the glaze loss. The obviously larger wood- firing bubbles of the period piece can also easily be discerned (under higher powers the microscope will actually penetrate the glaze all the way to the high-kaolin-content porcelain below).The glazing on the Hongzhi Emperor’s bowl was superior to that of the Chenghua bowl glaze, as many strides had been made during the numerous periods of advancement, throughout the entire illustrious Chinese history of ceramics and glazes; relatively speaking, significant advancements occurred in amazingly short period of times. The Chenghua Imperial pieces used by the father would have been made in approximately the year 1465 CE, and the Hongzhi Emperor’s Imperial pieces, used by the son, would have been made during approximately the year 1488 CE. In the following microscopic photos we will all be able to see the differences, despite the degradation due to natural burial conditions, made by some of these historic advances. [But for all the advances, which tend to cluster in times of peace and prosperity, there also come times of regression during war, invasion, and unrest; the arts are later brought back to life by the Chinese in their never ending attempts at perfection].

In this next set of microscopic photographs, we see at 10X, 20X and 30X the foot rim of an Imperial Factory bowl.The perfect trimming is much like the one we examined in the Chenghua bowl; in this case, the rim on the rice bowl is thinner and more exquisite in every detail. This bowl saw less use-wear than the covered bowl, yet it is still smoothed from slight wear and cleaning, with no artificial colorings added (the same as with the covered bowl above). In the last two photos above we can see an area where old dark red lacquer had gotten into the minuscule pores of the foot rim, and has remained there ever since. We believe these lacquer spots are original to the era and have been on the bowl since before burial, as they will not come off even with a high pressure water- gun blasting. Most likely they became attached through their use on an old red lacquer table and have now become a portion of the rim through adhesion. Under higher powers, the red lacquer becomes much more obvious, and at 90X you can view the lacquer all by itself.

Believing these two bowls may well have been from the exact same burial conditions, and may have been appropriated by the Palace eunuchs some 500-plus years ago (it is just too hard to believe that one man ended up with these two bowls from two different Emperors’ tombs), we see in the above microscopic photographs the start of what we believe were the same exacting conditions working on two different glazes. In the first photograph above (taken at an incised area of the Celestial Clouds), we see that minor scratching has occurred to the viewer’s left side of the photograph, with a tree root track crossing over, and then around it. In the following higher magnification photos, we can see the effect the tree root had on eroding the finer, shinier glaze finish of the Hongzhi Emperor’s bowl. The apparently more glassy finish to the bowl will be seen in many of the following photographs. The fine crazing to the thinner and glassier surface also shows the effect of long-term burial pressures (as this bowl was never intentionally crazed when produced). The iridescence we see on this bowl is also much higher on the remaining glassy surface where glaze loss, degradation and trailings of the same type of tree roots have removed portions naturally.

In the three photographs above, we are looking at an incised area on the Celestial Dragon in which the green glaze can be seen as being much thicker in depth inside the incised line (best seen in the first photo). This thicker area seems to have held its original shine and integrity more than the surrounding thinner areas of glaze. While there is still some crazing to this area, it is in remarkable condition considering its having been through burial conditions for such a long period of time. The section of yellow to the right of the incised line bears the marks of tree root tracks in the deeper ‘eaten away’ areas, and these appear to be very fine ‘feeder’ root tracks. The natural crazing to this yellow area between the root tracks can be best seen in the second photograph above. With their incredible natural oxidation iridescence, these photographs show just how beautiful an original burial porcelain can appear. Even with the degradation, mineralization, and natural wear, these items have a special power of their own, not to mention the important historical aspects of both of these exquisite bowls from the famous Imperial Kilns of Jiangdezhen, made exclusively for Imperial use.

Even though these wonderful bowls, when gazed upon with the naked eye, show high glazing and wonderful shine, it is in these types of microscopic photographs that we can view them in their true conditions. As this is a microscopic study, this is what you truly see on old burial artifacts when viewing under clear, higher powers. In all three of the microscopic powers above, all the true iridescence, crazing to the glaze, root tracks, original burial soil, and detritus can be well discerned. Even the minute flaking of the exterior glassy portions of the glaze can be easily seen in the second and third photos above. These effects show aspects of authentication of old porcelain artifacts that have not been duplicatable by the replicators of any age.

In the above three photographs, we are looking into the interior of the Hongzhi Emperor’s rice bowl. As with the inside of the Chenghua Emperor’s covered bowl, we would expect to see use-wear on the inside. The surprising aspect of this particular bowl is that  it does not show as much extensive use-wear as his father’s covered bowl; however, it does have ample wear to verify the bowl. As seen in the photographs above, it was either more gently used, or not used as frequently during the Hongzhi Emperor’s reign. Whether the Emperor preferred the other colors of his sets more, or as suggested before, more gently used in this period, we do not know. However, the scratches found inside the bowl are original to its period, as can be determined by the obvious iridescence which can be seen best in the last photo above at 30X power. In the first photograph above, we can also see one of the incised decoration lines, just above the scratching, which will be highlighted in the final photographs of this article.

In these final three microscopic photographs of this article, we are looking at a portion on the rim of the Hongzhi Emperor’s bowl (just found after many viewings, while I was taking these photographs) which shows what we would most definitely consider an utter impossibility to fake. It is an area which can be viewed best directly under the microscope, as the field of view is larger than those taken in the photos, and the bowl can be rotated slightly to take in the entire original, worn fingerprint, which can still be well discerned in the three photographs above. The natural curving lines of the fingerprint can still be seen, as can all the subsequent wearing away of the depressions left on the bowl more than 500 years ago. These lines are most definitely not scratch marks that have been worn away, as under the microscope they have all the characteristics that are to be found with original fingerprints, which occur on artifact pottery throughout the ages. It was truly a wonderful discovery, and a very exciting one for any verifier of artifacts to discover. It is doubtful this fingerprint has ever really been seen, even in the past, as it lies so subtly on the rim of the Hongzhi Emperor’s bowl. The three following photographs will not be microscopic, but are taken with our regular camera and lens and will be the last three of this article.

With these last three photographs, we show with back-lighting the exquisite incising on the Hongzhi Emperor’s rice bowl. While the same type of incising was used in the making of the Chenghua Emperor’s bowl, the extreme fineness and magnificent workmanship of original Ming Dynasty Imperial Jiangdezhen porcelain, made especially for the Hongzhi Emperor, shows the advancements made in such a short period of time, as mentioned before.

In closing, it has been our extreme pleasure to be chosen to verify and authenticate these marvelous two pieces of truly Imperial Porcelain, and also to be chosen to represent them. It has been our further grace to have met a man such as Mr. Rieger who placed so much trust in us, not only for the authentication, but for just being the kind man he truly is – unassuming and gracious to a fault.

All regular photos taken with Canon EOS XSi using Canon EF 24-70mm f/2,8L Lens

All microscopic photos taken with Canon EOS XSi under microscopic power

[ Note: Any qualified person interested in sales or research on any items in our personal collection, or those we represent, should contact Dr. Timothy William Jones, PhD, at timothywilliamjones@gmail.com ]

David Fredericks — Yulongwei

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