Prints on the bottom of Jianzhan bowls

The seals that are most often noticed are the dedications: these are inscriptions in the characters "供御" (pinyin Gòngyù) and "進琖" (pinyin Jìnzhǎn), both words literally meaning "dedication of gift." These inscriptions served to confirm that the corresponding item was presented as a gift to the imperial court of the Song Dynasty.

Dedication seals are evidence that such items could have been in the personal use of the Song emperors. Sometimes these inscriptions also left traces on the stands on which the items were placed in the kiln during firing; many such stands with traces of hieroglyphs have been found in the ruins of pottery settlements. At the same time, most dedication seals were engraved on the items by hand (as evidenced by the different handwriting of these inscriptions), and only very rarely with the help of seals (templates) as such.

In addition to the more common and neutral word "gongyu" (Chinese: 供御), as a seal of offering to the imperial court, on the bottom of products of that period you can also find the word "jinzhan" (Chinese: 進琖), which means "offering a jade cup" , but in this case the "cup" is a bowl (Chinese: 盏, pinyin: Zhǎn, pall. Zhān), since the characters for "cup" and "bowl" are pronounced the same in Chinese. The "jinzhan" seal is much less common than the "gongyu" seal, and almost always it is a template seal, so it looks the same on almost all products. Today, the vast majority of these seals can only be found in the form of fragments.

The reason for this may be as follows: since the characters on template seals look neater and more beautiful than those engraved by hand, scientists believe that template seals were placed on products made in special workshops that carried out state orders. The technical level in such workshops was very high, so it was not allowed for even failed or defective products to end up anywhere except to the direct customer, and all defective products were subject to disposal (that is, all defective bowls were broken). That is why today, although you can find products with "gongyu" and "jinzhan" seals on the market, they are only in the form of fragments; there are no whole ones among them.

Other types of seals

Name seals are surnames or given names, for example: Zhang (Chinese 张), Huang (Chinese 黄), Wu (Chinese 吴), Jin (Chinese 金), Li (Chinese 李), Meng (Chinese 孟), Wang (Chinese 王), Wangjia (Chinese 王甲), Chen (Chinese 陈), Chenqi (Chinese: 陈七), Yan (Chinese: 炎), Jianji (Chinese: 尖记), Zhongbao (Chinese: 中宝), Lan (Chinese: 郎). Some number seals are also sometimes interpreted as designations of names, for example: 5 and 7 (Chinese: 五七, pall. Wu Qi, that is, the potter's name could have been Wu Qi), 29 (Chinese: 廿九), "Senior 8" (Chinese: 大八), "Younger 9" (Chinese: 小九), 4 and 6 (Chinese: 四六), "Younger 7" (Chinese: 小七).

The number seals look like simple numbers written in Chinese characters, such as: 1 (Chinese: 一), 2 (Chinese: 二), 3 (Chinese: 三), 4 (Chinese: 四), 6 (Chinese: 六), 7 (Chinese: 七), 9 (Chinese: 九), 11 (Chinese: 十一), 12 (Chinese: 十二), 13 (Chinese: 十三), 20 (Chinese: 廿), 24 (Chinese: 廿四), 29 (Chinese: 廿九), 30 (Chinese: 丗). It is likely that potters made these marks to keep track of the number of pieces.

Examples of seal symbols include signs such as "≠", "×", and patterns like those on a turtle shell, which may have been the personal marks of master potters. In addition, characters such as 新 ("new"), 中 ("middle"), and 正 ("straight") are also found. These may have been used to indicate the position of the ware in the kiln during firing, and the character 新 ("new") may have indicated that the ware was made in a new kiln, or that the ware itself was being made for the first time.

At that time, a kiln owner could cooperate with other people, for example by renting out his “dragon kiln” (Chinese: 龙窑, pinyin: Lóngyáo, i.e. long kiln) to a craftsman making blanks, and thus achieve mutual benefit. Another type of cooperation was the production of a kiln by several families using common funds - this is why some products have such seals-symbols as 合 (can be translated as “Made in cooperation”), 合口 (same meaning), 二合 (“Cooperation of two people”) and 六合 (“Cooperation of six people”).

Nowadays, the seal on the bottom is most often one of the characters in the master's name, a kind of autograph. For example, the seal of master Li Da (Chinese: 李达, pinyin Lǐ Dá) is the character 达 (p.l. Da), the seal of master Sun Jianxing (Chinese: 孙建兴, pinyin Sūn Jiànxīng) is the character 建 (p.l. Jian) or 兴 (p.l. Xing), and so on.

In the photo: Bowl with Yudi pattern (“Oil drops”).

Lee Da

Li Da (Chinese: 李达, pinyin: Lǐ Dá) is a Chinese ceramic artist who has spent many years researching traditional iron-containing glazes.

The main features of Master Li Da's Jianzhan bowls are:

1. The bowl blank looks like iron;

2. The glaze colours are old-fashioned simple, yet recognizably classic in their sophistication. The mottled pattern is often unpredictable and changeable, like natural phenomena;

3. "Oil drops" (Yudi pattern) - large and round, with a white crystalline glow, the mirror effect is very pronounced.

Pictured: Hongcai Tianmu Bowl (Chinese: 红彩, pinyin: Hóngcǎi, literally "Bright Colors of Tianmu Mountain")

Sun Jianxing

At the age of 20, Sun Jianxing (Chinese: 孙建兴, pinyin: Sūn Jiànxīng) became a student of Hong Shude (Chinese: 洪树德, pinyin: Hóng Shùdé), a professor at the Xiamen Academy of Art and Design, affiliated with Fuzhou University. At the Hongqi Porcelain Factory in Dehua County, he learned the art of sculpture and ceramic firing, and also studied the composition of ceramic materials. He then became a staff member of the Northwest Academy of Light Industry (now Shaanxi Provincial University of Science and Technology), where he continued to study his specialty in depth. He is recognized by the state as a bearer of traditional intangible cultural heritage of China for his contribution to the preservation of the art of firing Jianzhan bowls. He was the first master to use wood in an electric kiln for firing.

The main features of the bowls created by Sun Jianxing are: glaze applied thickly in several layers, a rich variety of shapes and originality.

In the photo:
Height: about 7.2 cm Diameter at the edges: 12.2 cm
Base diameter: about 3.9 cm

Pictured: Large Jianzhan bowl with Golden Yudi glaze (Pekou shape).

Huang Meijin

Huang Meijin (Chinese: 黄美金, pinyin: Huáng Měijīn) is a man who has generated much controversy in the Jianchazhen bowl industry in the Jianyang area, and his products are very recognizable. Huang Meijin 's Yudi bowls have three main characteristics:

1. The golden spots on the glaze look very convex, Huang Meijin creates unique "Golden Yudi" bowls with large and voluminous "oil drops";

2. The shape of the bowls is very elegant;

3. His "Golden Judi" bowls are extremely expensive.

In the photo:
Height: 7.8 cm
Edge diameter: 21.8 cm Base diameter: 6.8 cm

In the photo: Bowl “Jingyao Yudi”.

Zhang Guiwei

Zhang Guiwei (Chinese: 张桂维, pinyin: Zhāng Guìwéi) is a Master of Arts from the Institute of Fine Arts, National Taiwan University of the Arts, where he studied under the late ceramicist Lin Baojia (Chinese: 林葆家, pinyin: Lín Bǎojiā), master Wu Yutang (Chinese: 吴毓棠, pinyin: Wú Yùtáng), and National Taiwan University of the Arts professor Lü Zhenzhou (Chinese: 刘镇洲, pinyin: Liú Zhènzhōu).

The Jinyao Yudi (Chinese: 金曜油滴, pinyin: Jīnyào Yóudī, literally "Oil Drops with Golden Glow") tea bowls created by Zhang Guiwei have the following features:

1. The "oil drops" are of the same size, and the pattern of these drops covers the entire bowl.

2. "Golden Oil Drops" are characterized by color gradation and a mirror reflection effect;

3. A combination of the features of the Yudi bowls in the northern Chinese style (the so-called Huabei Yudi) and the Yudi bowls in the Jianzhan style (i.e. using the "duckweed technology")

In the photo:
Height: 7.5 cm
Edge diameter: 11.5 cm Base diameter: 4.1 cm
Photos courtesy of Zhang Guiwei