Last year, on December second, a large watercolored-crystal dish measuring 51 centimeters in diameter was sold for NT$1 million in a charity sale.
In recent years it has been difficult to see such watercolored-crystal glaze porcelains domestically. Sometimes the change in the crystal glaze layers is like the overlapping of flower petals. While at other times it resembles the opening of the delicate wings of a butterfly waiting to catch the wind.
These similes accurately describe the "crystal glaze" porcelain created by Sun Chao, winner of this year's National Arts Award.
Crystal glaze is not something that was invented in recent years. On the contrary, it appeared over one thousand years ago during the Sung dynasty when it was known as chien yao or kemmoku. It was during this time that the two forms of crystal glaze were known as yao pien (dazzling changes) and yuti (oil spot).
The so-called crystal glaze refers to the metal oxide crystal which appears on the surface of the glaze; the most common type is transparent. After different glaze compounds have been passed through heat, various crystal formations are created, each with its own special characteristic.
Yao pien and oil spot glaze compounds use ferric oxide as the major component. It's heated to a temperature above 1,250℃. This is the earliest appearance of high-temperature crystal glaze in the history of porcelain. Due to the difficulty of making such glazed work as well as the scarcity of information in historical documents, this art has long been lost. Now, however, one thousand years later, Sun Chao has rekindled the art of crystal glaze by using zinc oxide as the major component.
Sun Chao's zinc crystal flower form is even more beautiful than the yao pien and oil spot of former times. In terms of technology, the formation of zinc crystal is more difficult to achieve than ferric crystal. The reason for this is that it must be heated to a temperature of 1,300℃. A mere five-degree difference in temperature will affect the crystallization.
Ten years ago, when instruments for heating were not as accurate as they are today, Sun Chao had to rely on his own eyesight to determine the approximate temperature.
He recalls, "At that time I was living in an illegal dwelling on Hoping East Road, and it was there I carried out my experiments. Every day I would put on a pair of sunglasses and look on while sitting on a small stool. Every ten minutes I would take out the stopper and stare at the flame of more than one thousand degrees."
At that time the weather was scorching. After spending day and night in front of the furnace he created under his tin-roof dwelling, Sun Chao was overcome by fumes on two occasions. He came down with a fever of 105.8°Ｆ and ended up taking a month's "rest" in the hospital.
Afterwards, for all the effort he had exerted he finally got something in return. His colored crystalline glaze porcelain came in first in the National Arts Contest. Then, in 1981, in the Chinese Japanese Porcelain Exhibition his large and fabulously beautiful crystalline glaze astonished the Japanese. Later, a Japanese porcelain critic by the name of Kozo Yoshida wrote a special article about Sun Chao in a specialist Japanese magazine. And for four straight years since 1983, he has won the "Best Export Product Design Award" sponsored by the China External Trade Development Council. Last year he didn't participate in the contest. His wife, a graduate from the department of sociology at National Taiwan University, jokingly says, "We didn't think it was a good idea to keep swindling money."
In fact, Sun Chao's most recent work "swindled" NT$1 million on behalf of former soldiers--the same price paid for a painting by Huang Chun-pi. How is it that his crystal glaze is worth so much?
Strictly speaking, crystal glaze has not been considered particularly rare and precious in recent years. At present there are probably twenty or thirty people following in the footsteps of Sun Chao, and crystal glaze porcelain has already appeared abroad.
On the other hand there are those who consider zinc crystal glaze to be too flashy. They feel that in the chemical compound of the glaze and the technique of controlling the flame, the artisan is more important than the art itself.
"Most people view zinc crystal as such," says Sung Lung-fei, editor-in-chief of The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art and a critic of the art of porcelain. "Therefore, most vases have a flat surface of 'dead flowers,' lacking any feeling. However, Sun Chao has surpassed this level of artistry. He arranges the crystal flowers with a strong artistic sense and creates 'paintings' by careful use of the flame."
Sun Chao was born in 1929 in Hsuchou. During the war he lost his family and was left to face life on his own at the age of eight.
Following the advice of his aunt, he joined a student military unit and accompanied them to Taiwan.
After 14 or 15 years in the military, Sun Chao finally decided to call it quits and prepare himself to take the entrance exam for the National Academy of Arts. Intending to save up NT$30,000 in the bank so he could collect interest and study with fewer worries, he started raising chickens with his friend Li Ching-chih.
His dream of saving money was shattered when his chickens were wiped out by a terrible plague brought on by several bouts of rain. However, he still recalled his mother's advice to him as a child--"It doesn't matter how old you are, just so long as you have drive and ambition. If you don't, you'll live your whole life in vain."
Realizing the importance of education, he completed his study of sculpture. From 1969 to 1978 he worked at the National Palace Museum. He sculptured the two bronze lion statues placed at the main gate of the museum. In the ten years he spent at the museum, he has successfully imitated colored pottery, black pottery, the three-colored pottery of the T'ang dynasty, and so forth.
During the first year after he stopped working at the National Palace Museum, he took on the task of sculpturing an image of the Goddess of Mercy. Most craftsmen would usually finish the job in six weeks, but Sun Chao spent eight months on the project. "It was more difficult than giving birth," his wife recalls.
A perfectionist, Sun Chao holds the same attitude when it comes to crystal glaze. He continues to research various glazing methods.
Sun Chao believes that if one is diligent, he can reach the "ingenious." Getting to the "crude" takes wisdom and talent.
He hopes to take a further step and create a simple, native, yet impressive beauty. Therefore, in glaze coloring, in addition to the yellow of zinc crystal and cobalt blue, he's also tried a new system of oxidizing a coffee color, giving the zinc crystal a new appearance.
"My only fear is that I won't be able to make further progress. It's a feeling similar to the flame having reached its highest temperature; although it desires to go even higher, it can't."
Perhaps Sun Chao can be praised in the same way in which critics have praised his work--"A crystallization of painstaking care; a burgeoning blossom sprung from the flames."
[Picture Caption]
The personal history of the artist, like his work, has passed through the fire step-by-step.
Zinc crystal flowers, large and fabulously beautiful.(photo of Sun Chao)
In the process of Sun Chao's research of crystal, he has produced porcelain typical of different dynasties. (courtesy of Sun Chao) Top to bottom: Tri-colored terra cotta T'ang horse (T'ang), celadon green bowl (Sung), oil spot bowl (Sung), hawksbill turtle skin temmoku bowl (Sung).
In the process of Sun Chao's research of crystal, he has produced porcelain typical of different dynasties. Top to bottom: Chun red small plate (Yuan), copper red bowl (Ming), grinded tea leaf colored vase (Ch'ing), and his own creation of a zinc crystal vase.
Sun Chao, his jeans splattered with glaze powder, stands in front of his studio.
"A Light Colored Dream" (left), "Forest Reflection" (right) (courtesy of Sun Chao)
Zinc crystal flowers, large and fabulously beautiful.
Tri-colored terra cotta T'ang horse （T'ang.
celadon green bowl （Sung）
hawksbill turtle skin temmoku bowl （Sung）
Chun red small plate （Yuan）
grinded tea leaf colored vase （Ch'ing）
and his own creation of a zinc crystal vase.
Sun Chao, his jeans splattered with glaze powder, stands in front of his studio.
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