User:Joe.sharon/sandbox

IMPERIAL RU WARE THE EMPEROR HUIZONG COMMISSIONED DURING THE NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY
I've collected a hoard of Ru/Ju wares and these wares were hidden away and the Qianlong Emperor did not have the ability to collect such pieces, the pieces he collected were from the wealthy merchant class pieces. The merchant Wares that were collected by the Qianlong Emperor during the Qing Dynasty are all that was known to exist until China has opened up to the world and many fine pieces and collection that were hidden have reached the market place. I realize this will clear up some of the questions about the Ru/Ju Kiln wares and Emperor Huizong reign. For many years everyone had to rely on the pieces that are from the Qianlong Emperor's collection, those pieces are very nice but they are not the real Imperial Ru/Ju wares that Emperor Huizong commissioned the Ru/Ju Kiln to produce for himself and his court. The Ru/Ju Kiln produced three types of wares. The first wares were being sold to the wealthy merchant class and these wares didn't have the fire gilded bands and didn't have crushed agate stone in the glaze. Any wares that had firing flaws would be sold to the population at a much cheaper price. The second wares they produced were the tribute wares that were given to the Emperor and his court as tribute.

All tribute wares have the fire gilded bands that are around the rim and base and sometimes only the rim. These bands have extensive layered cuprite and malachite corrosion that only occurs in nature and can't be faked. (From the book Copper and bronze in art by David Scott The existence of malachite formation over a layer of cuprite is supported by analytical and metallographic studies is a good indication of the authenticity of an artifact.) This is more reliable than a TL test. These tribute wares have several colors and many forms and didn't have crushed agate in the glaze, they all were glazed on the foot rings and have spur marks. One of the tribute pieces is marked Feng Wang a tribute to the Emperor, these are not the commissioned pieces because the Emperor would never give tribute to himself. The third wares they produced were the Imperial wares that Emperor Huizong commissioned the Ru/Ju Kiln to produce for him and his court, They produced two types of the imperial wares that were made for Emperor Huizong and his court. Emperor Huizong was unhappy with all the opulent tribute wares he was receiving from several kilns and also the Ru/Ju Kiln.

These tribute wares were too flamboyant with the fire gilded bands and their opulent forms and colors. Emperor Huizong was an artist and a modest man and he saw beauty in simplicity. Emperor Huizong had contact with the Korean Koryo Dynasty celadon wares because the color he chose is similar to the Koryo celadon wares. Emperor Huizong decided to commission the Ru/Ju Kiln because they were producing the finest wares. The 1st commissioned Imperial wares are very special because they were the first wares ever commissioned by an Emperor and made exclusively for the Emperor and his court. There was two separate groups of Imperial commissioned Ru wares by Emperor Huizong, the first group of wares are very modest and refined, the second group the wares are very elegant and luxurious. Both groups of wares you can see traces of agate flakes in the glaze with a 20x power loupe under the right lighting. The first Imperial wares are not opulent like the merchant or tribute wares they are very understated and have modest and refined forms with only one color Celadon and they have some texture. They used crushed agate stone that was put into their glaze mix. Agate melts at 2912 degrees F and the Song dynasty kilns temperature only reached 1250 degrees F at best, so this is a fallacy that the crushed agate melted in the glaze, also it would be very difficult to crush agate into a complete powder this is why you can clearly see traces of the agate stone in the glaze using a 20x loupe or better. The Prototypes the foot rings were glazed and you could see spur marks, Emperor Huizong didn't like the spur marks and he requested they remove them so they stopped glazing the foot rings and the final version was fired flat in the kiln. Many vases have marks scratched on the bases like Feng Hua

and also other marks. All of the first commissioned Imperial wares have cracked ice crackle in the glaze and all the 1st commissioned wares have similar crackle. Emperor Huizong had a vision to produce wares that would be very understated, refined, and modest and look like they were formed from jade stone, he wanted to produce wares similar to wares from the past. It didn't matter if a piece had flaws, because each piece has its own character. Any flawed pieces would be distributed to the court and no pieces were sold to anyone. Only the Emperor and his court owned these wares. The Emperor was a modest man and saw each piece as individual piece, and even if they had flaws, he saw beauty. Almost like human beings with all the flaws, they’re beautiful. It is very apparent that Emperor Huizong worked very closely with the Ru/Ju Kiln to develop these first commissioned Imperial wares. The Ru/Ju Kiln certainly fulfilled Emperor Huizong's vision and produced these wonderful modest wares exclusively for him and his Court. The wares are very important because they are the first wares ever commissioned by any Emperor in China's history. After a while many of Emperor Huizong's court wanted finer wares from the Ru Kiln, so the Emperor ordered the Ru kiln to produce the second Imperial wares. The second Imperial wares Huizong commissioned are not modest they are very elegant, luxurious and beautiful with very rich glaze. Both the first and second imperial wares have crushed agate in the glaze and both are not glazed on the foot rings they were fired flat in the kiln. The second commissioned Imperial wares generally have no crackle in the glaze except for the wares with Gilded silver bands they have a few lines. The Emperor wanted the 2nd commissioned wares to be the best wares possible for his court, he wanted the Ru Kiln to produce the finest celadon wares ever produced, more refined wares than the Korean Koyro Dynasty wares. I have attached photos of two Vases of the 2nd commissioned Ru wares that have fire gilded bands that clearly show the cuprite and malachite corrosion, this proves these wares are ancient. Also I have attached photos that you can see on the first Imperial Ru ware Vase they didn't crush the agate stone enough, the glaze has tiny holes caused by the agate and there is tiny drip of glaze attached to foot ring which you can clearly see agate chips in the drip of glaze. All of this is clear conclusive evidence these are the first and second Imperial Ru ware that Emperor Huizong developed and commissioned the Ru/Ju Kiln to produce for him and his court

== '''These Vases are the Imperial Ru ware that Emperor Huizong commissioned the Ru Kiln to produce for Himself and his Court exclusively during the Northern Song Dynasty. The 1st commissioned wares are generally larger than the merchant or tribute wares they have a ash colored biscuit that turns brown after firing. The Foot rings are unglazed and they were fired flat in the kiln, They have many modest and refined forms of Vases which clearly show the great creativity of the Ru kiln artisans. These wares have crushed agate in the glaze that can be seen with a 20x loupe under the right lighting. Emperor Huizong wanted the wares to be very modest and simplistic like the wares from the past. The second commissioned wares were made at the request of the court to Emperor Huizong, they wanted finer wares. So Emperor Huizong commissioned the Ru Kiln to produce the finest celadon wares ever and they surely did. These wares are the finest most luxurious celadon wares China has ever produce. The 2nd commissioned wares have an off white color body that turns brownish after firing, They are larger than the merchant and tribute wares, The foot rings are unglazed and were fired flat in the kiln. They used crushed agate in the glaze and this can be seen with 20x loupe and the right lighting. They produce many spectacular forms of vases and they show the true genius of the Ru Kiln Artisans. The glaze they used was very rich and smooth to the touch. Some pieces have fire gilded on copper or silver bands. The pieces with the gilded silver bands have a few lines of crackle, the pieces with gilded copper bands and without bands have no crackle in the glaze. ''' == {| class="wikitable"

! == '''The first wares shown are the 1st Commissioned Imperial Ru Ware Vases they are from the first wares Emperor Huizong commissioned the Ru/ Ju Kiln to Produce, they're very simplistic, modest, and understated. These vases clearly show crushed agate in the glaze, this can be seen with a 20x loupe also the foot rings are unglazed. Emperor Huizong saw beauty in simplicity and he saw each of these pieces as a work of art regardless if they had any flaws. The first piece shows a closeup photo of a drip of glaze that stuck to the foot ring and clearly shows chips of agate in in the glaze. All of the 1st commissioned Ru Ware have a fine cracked ice crackle in the glaze, these wares are also glazed on the inside. The 1st commissioned wares were made exclusively for the Emperor and his court. Vases have often have a trumpet formed mouth and they generally are larger than the merchant and tribute wares. Often the wares have marks scratched in the base and they usually say Feng Hua. They used a ash colored biscuit that turns brown after firing.''' == ! == '''The 2nd Imperial Ru Wares that were commissioned by Emperor Huizong are the finest celadon wares China ever produced. Those in the Emperor's court requested finer wares so Emperor Huizong commissioned the Ru Kiln to produce these fabulous wares for him and his court. The wares are very elegant, luxurious and beautiful. They are larger than both the merchant wares and tribute wares. These wares have crushed agate in the glaze this can be seen with a 20x loupe. Their foot rings are unglazed and they were fired flat in the Kiln. The Imperial vases shown have fire gilded over copper bands that are corroded with cuprite and malachite and this proves they are ancient pieces because this can't be faked. They used a off white biscuit that turns brownish after firing. These wares have a very rich beautiful glaze without any crackle also they have fire gilded copper bands and pieces that have no bands also have no crackle in the glaze.''' ==

! =='''These three 2nd commissioned Imperial Ru Vases shown have fire gilded over silver bands that have thick black corrosion where the gilding has worn. The pieces with the gilded silver bands have a slight bit of crackle in the glaze a few lines. They used crushed agate in the glaze and this can be seen with a 20x loupe also the glaze is very rich and smooth to the touch. The foot rings are not glazed they were fired flat in the kiln. These vases have a fire gilded over silver band around the rim only. == ! ==This is a group photo which the first three rows are twelve Ru Ware Tribute pieces and the back row has two 1st commissioned Imperial Ru Vases. Also their three Tribute vases shown. The tribute wares are generally small with fire gilded over copper Bands, these bands have cuprite and malachite corrosion and this confirms they're ancient. Tribute wares are glazed all over and they're fired on setters with prongs that hold the piece off the kiln floor. The prongs leave spur marks on the base and these marks are sesame seed size and shape. Tribute wares have a beautiful smooth glaze and they don't have any crushed agate stone in the glaze. Only Imperial wares have crushed agate in the glaze. The Tribute Wares either have an off white or ash colored biscuit. '''==                                                                                                               t]]

! =='''The Three Ru Kiln Vases shown are Merchant wares. Merchant wares were sold to the wealthy merchants and any flawed merchant wares were sold to the population at a very cheap price. The merchant Wares that were collected by the Qianlong Emperor during the Qing Dynasty are all that was known to exist until China has opened up to the world and many fine pieces and collection that were hidden have reached the market place. The merchant ware pieces are smaller than the Imperial wares and they're glazed all over including the foot ring. They were fired using setters with prongs to lift the pieces of the kiln floor. Because of this they have spur marks that are sesame seed size and shape and these spur marks can only be seen on merchant wares and tribute wares. The merchant wares are similar to the tribute wares but they don't have the Fire gilded bands that the tribute wares have and they're generally not as finely done.'''==