Zhuo Yu Feng Yang Chapter 27

Chapter 27 Visitors from Xianyunzhai, the secret of enamel color

The day we returned to Antique Street, the sky was clear and clear.As soon as the wooden door of Xianyunzhai was opened, a faint scent of ink mixed with the smell of wood came out. The blue and white vase on the ancient shelf faced the light, and the gold foil lines shone finely.

As soon as Jiang Zhuo hung up the orchid sketch he brought back from southern Yunnan, familiar footsteps came from outside the door.Mr. Lin was leaning on a cane, followed by two young men holding wooden boxes, with a somewhat solemn look on their faces.

“Xiaojiang, Jingyang, I hope you are back.” Mr. Lin walked in with a smile, his eyes fell on Lan’s sketch, he praised “What a painting!”, then turned to signal to the people behind him, “Bring the things in.”

The two young men carefully placed the wooden box on the table, opened the layers of brocade wrapping, and revealed a broken porcelain bottle.

It was an enamel vase with flower and bird patterns from the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty. The vase was painted with entwining lotus patterns, occasionally dotted with a few singing ribbon birds. The glaze color was bright and the painting was delicate. Even though the vase had a diagonal line running through it and a corner was missing from the bottle mouth, it still couldn’t conceal the splendor of a royal artifact.

Lu Jingyang’s eyes suddenly lit up. He moved forward, not daring to touch it. He only used a magnifying glass to take a closer look: “This is… the enamel color from the Yongzheng official kiln? There are very few genuine ones on the market. How could it be damaged like this?”

Mr. Lin sighed and touched the body of the porcelain bottle, his eyes full of regret: “This is an heirloom of an old friend of mine. It was not protected during the war in the early years. The overhang and missing corners were left from that time. Before my old friend died, he asked me to find a reliable person to repair it. After much thinking, in the entire antique street, you, Jiang Zhuo, are the only one who can take on this important task.”

Jiang Zhuo had already stretched out his hand, and his fingertips gently brushed the traces of crossing the line. The system’s prompt sounded in his mind:

[Ding——Item detected: Qing Yongzheng enamel flower and bird pattern official kiln bottle]

[Material: Jingdezhen kaolin clay tire, white glaze.The underground palace enamels are colored with imported borax and arsenic, which is a typical feature of the Yongzheng Dynasty]

[Damage: The diagonal line of the bottle body is 12cm long and penetrates the carcass; the corner of the bottle mouth is about 3cm×2cm, the carcass is severely worn at the missing corner; there are many small deglazing spots on the glaze surface]

[Difficulties in repair: There is a big difference in the composition of enamel color materials and modern imitation materials, and the phenomenon of “glaze non-melting” is easy to occur when repairing the glaze; the carcass penetrates at the punching line, and the carcass needs to be reinforced to avoid secondary cracking]

Jiang Zhuo put down the porcelain vase and frowned slightly: “This job is not easy to do. The color formula of enamel is a palace secret. It is difficult for modern imitation materials to be exactly the same. After refilling the glaze, it is easy to have a color difference with the original glaze.”

“I know it’s difficult.” Mr. Lin nodded, took out a cloth bag from his arms, opened it, and found a small box of yellowing powder inside. “This was left by an old friend. He said it was the enamel material used in the palace’s manufacturing office. There is only this little left. See if you can use it.”

Jiang Zhuo took the powder, twisted it a little with his fingertips, put it to the tip of his nose and sniffed it, feeling a faint smell of borax mixed with minerals.His eyes lit up: “It’s real palace paint! With this, most of the problem of color difference in the glaze can be solved.”

Lu Jingyang also breathed a sigh of relief, and then became excited again: “Then we can use the technique of repairing porcelain with gold to fix the line! The gold pattern and the luxury of enamel complement each other, it will definitely look good!”

“It’s not that simple.” Jiang Zhuo shook his head and pointed to the position of the punching line. “This punching line runs through the carcass. It is repaired directly with gold. Over time, it will easily crack from the inside. The carcass must be reinforced first. Use old porcelain clay from Jingdezhen mixed with glutinous rice slurry. Fill the cracks in the carcass little by little. After it is completely dry, the surface can be treated with gold repairing.”

He paused and looked at Lu Jingyang, with a rare hint of expectation in his eyes: “I can’t handle this job alone, do you want to help?”

Lu Jingyang’s eyes instantly lit up like stars, and he nodded vigorously: “Of course! It is the dream of many cultural relic restorers to be able to participate in the restoration of Yongzheng enamel!”

Mr. Lin watched the two of them singing in harmony and smiled happily: “Okay, okay, with the two of you joining forces, this porcelain vase will definitely regain its glory. My old friend can rest in peace despite being under the Nine Springs.”

Mr. Lin gave a few more words, saying that after the restoration was completed, he wanted to hold a small tasting party in the antique street to let more people see the elegance of this enamel vase, and then left with a cane.

There were only two people left in Xianyunzhai. Lu Jingyang was still admiring the porcelain vase. He looked at the glaze color and the painter at one moment and wished he could put a magnifying glass on the vase.

“Look at the feathers of this ribbon bird,” he pointed to the bottle with an excited tone. “It uses the ‘rolling process’. It first rolls out small patterns on the glaze, and then fills in the colors. The three-dimensional effect is super strong! The enamel color of the Yongzheng Dynasty is indeed well-deserved!”

Jiang Zhuo looked at the enthusiasm in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved unconsciously.He turned around and walked into the back room and took out a tool box containing various small tools.

“Let’s start work.” Jiang Zhuo said.

“Okay!”

The two of them stood side by side in front of the table. The sunlight filtered through the window lattice, fell on the porcelain vase, and fell on their lowered eyebrows.Lu Jingyang was responsible for mixing old porcelain clay and glutinous rice slurry, working carefully and adding water accurately to the milliliter every time; Jiang Zhuo held a miniature shovel and carefully cleaned the dust and impurities in the punching line.

Time passed quietly amidst the sounds of sandpaper rubbing and glaze stirring. The setting sun outside the window gradually set, stretching the shadow of Xianyunzhai very long.

Lu Jingyang rubbed his sore wrist, looked up at Jiang Zhuo, and found that there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, but he was still focused, and the shovel on his fingertips seemed to be frozen.

“Boss Jiang, can you take a break?” Lu Jingyang handed over a glass of warm water.

Jiang Zhuo took the water, took a sip, his eyes fell on the porcelain bottle, and suddenly said: “I’m afraid this porcelain bottle has another story.”

“Huh?” Lu Jingyang was stunned.

“Look at the inscription on the bottom of the bottle.” Jiang Zhuo pointed to the six-character regular script inscription “Made in the Yongzheng Year of the Qing Dynasty” on the bottom of the bottle. “The spacing of the fonts is one point narrower than that on ordinary official kiln models, and there seems to be other lines hidden under the glaze of the inscription.”

Lu Jingyang quickly picked up the magnifying glass and approached the bottom of the bottle.

Sure enough, under the glaze of the logo, there is a faint circle of very light lines, like a small dragon mark. If you don’t look carefully, you can’t notice it at all.

“This…” Lu Jingyang frowned, “The dragon pattern is hidden in the official kiln mark. Isn’t this a routine operation? Does this porcelain vase have any special origin?”

Jiang Zhuo’s eyes darkened.

The story of this enamel vase may be more than they imagined.

As the night grew darker, the lights of Xianyunzhai came on, reflecting the porcelain bottles on the table and the inquiring eyes of the two young people.

The restoration work has just begun, and the secrets hidden in the enamel bottle are waiting for them to be revealed bit by bit.