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从粉彩到广彩

热度 10已有 402 次阅读2021-3-28 22:03 |个人分类:科学实验

2021-3-26

正如十三世纪以前景德镇的青花瓷，得益于中东伊斯兰世界苏麻沥青的使用和市场需要一样。十八世纪初雍正粉彩瓷器的生产与发扬光大，也最早起源于十七世纪欧洲卡西乌斯紫（Purple of Cassius）的发明和市场推动：

2 AuCl3 + 3 SnCl2 + 12 H2O → 2 Au↓ + 3 Sn(OH)4 + 12 HCl

1684年，老安德烈．卡西乌斯（Andreas Cassius the elder，1673年卒）（的儿子小安德烈．卡西乌斯，笔者注）首次发表以金发红之技，是以该色又称卡西乌斯紫（purple of Cassius）。然须待至1716年，德国玻璃工艺兼冶金家约翰．孔克尔（Johann Kunckel，1630年代至1703年）出版专书，以金制红之法才多为人识、广受采纳。当时在欧洲，意、德、法国之炼金术士纷纷钻研金属嬗变，又力以金制宝石红玻璃。

Dr Cassius (the son) succeeded in making a very fine ruby flux and sold the secret of this in various places for a certain sum so that it is to be seen here and there, and even today some of it is still made at Freysing although it is kept very secret. Only Kunckel, by his special knowledge of chemistry and of glass making, succeeded in producing ruby glass consistently and on a large scale, but it was clearly Glauber who preceded both Kunckel and Cassius in devising the colloidal precipitate that was and still is the most economical and effective means of obtaining the red colour. Its use soon spread farther afield. By 1719 at the latest it was employed in the decoration of porcelain in the new factory at Meissen and a note-book compiled by Samuel Stöltzel, preserved in the archives at Meissen, gives essentially the same recipe. It must also have been used by enamellers on metal work, and it was by this route that the secret reached China, almost certainly conveyed by Jesuit missionaries trained in the arts and crafts, so that by about 1723 it formed the basis of the famous Familie Rose Chinese porcelain.

Purple of Cassius was used in some of the most world-famous porcelain from Meissen, and Sevres, and the art of making it travelled to China where it was used from 1723 in Chinese Famille Rose porcelain. The presence of gold explains its extremely high cost, but it has immense colouring power and is still used today in very high quality tableware.

By the early seventeen-twenties the secret of Purple of Cassius had reached China and been put to excellent use in the production of the famous Familie Rose porcelain. Chinese ceramists quickly (for the seventeenth century) caught wind of Cassius’ developments, and the first famille rose pieces began appearing during the relatively short reign of Emperor Yongzhen from 1723-1736. Things fully matured under his successor, Emperor Qianlong whose lengthy rule from 1736-1796 was closely knit with the profitable exchanges that took place between Orient and Occident during the era.

和欧亚大陆瓷器生产相比，英国是粉彩瓷器中的后起之秀，青出于蓝，体型硕大，物美价廉，以至于寻常百姓，也能够自泡一壶来自于广州的中国大碗茶。下面这一把茶壶，就是英国粉彩瓷器中的代表：

In many ways, English factories were capitalising on the public esteem held for Chinese and Continental European porcelain prototypes, producing strikingly similar replications in a more affordable material.

Antique English Staffordshire Pearlware Rose Decorated Teapot, c. 1790 - 1825. This beautiful pearlware teapot is a fine example with a beautiful and a bright Queen's rose decoration. This early teapot has an ovoid shape to the body with a raised rim and a fluted body. The pearlware rose decorated covered teapot is possibly a Leed's example, but many British factories made rose decorated pearlware during this period.

景德镇粉彩比英国粉彩的高明之处，在于继承了中国传统绘画中的墨分五色、没骨与写意的画法，有柳暗花明夺人心魄的东方神秘情色。以至于当代英籍俄裔女作家Kate Furnivall在《俄罗斯妾》这本小说中，对中国瓷器推崇备至，赞不绝口：

There was a purity about Li Mei, a kind of untouched sexuality that no Western woman could match. Like Chinese porcelain next to Wedgwood. Only one broke your heart with its beauty（纯洁的李梅，有一种西方女人无法比拟的风情。就像西洋古董韦奇伍德瓷器旁边放一个中国瓷器，无与伦比，美艳惊人）。

不过人怕出名猪怕壮，世上的好东西，大凡一经确立，就开始群起效尤而泛滥成灾。尤其是在中国，到了后来的广彩、刷花和浅绛彩，一路高歌，江河日下，也都离不开卡西乌斯紫的功劳：