Messier and his wife: love for cloisonne

Core Tip: Messier and his wife loved China's cloisonne and collected it with his lifetime. In their view, Chinese classical art is extensive and profound, and the history of bronze ware is far-reaching. The cultural connotation of ceramics is complex. Only the cloisonne with its intense color and exotic atmosphere is straightforward.

Before Beatrice Mercier came to Beijing to attend the "Special Exhibition of Pierre Mercier's Tibetan Mastiff" held at the Poly Museum of Art. A small request was made, whether the interview could be arranged on the last day of the trip. She hoped to spend as much time as possible to see the ancient capital and feel its breath. Mrs. Messier was nearly 80 years old. Before that, she and her late husband, Mr. Pierre Messier, both passed China in the future, but they have collected hundreds of Chinese cloisonne.

“Our story started with a small saucer...” Mrs. Messier murmured to me. “A long time ago when my husband, Pierre, was very young, he met a Chinese. They The two had very good friendships.One day, the Chinese friend wanted to return home and gave Pierre a small saucer as a gift. At that time, we did not know that it was a crockery made in the late 19th century. I just thought it was good to see it. Has been at home." For Messier, this is a passionate and simple beginning. In fact, in the last century, the Messier family had always been furnished with various types of Chinese art. The dishes used were exported porcelain from China to Europe in the 19th century.

Cedric Curien is a collection consultant for Messier. He said that the collection is a long-standing custom for the French upper class. In the 17th century, they collected European works of art and began to pursue Chinese things in the 18th century. Therefore, many European families and Chinese antiques can be seen in many French families. The Messier family is one of the representatives.

Initially, the Messier and his wife did not have a clear purpose for collection. They were only interested in old things. They would collect classical music and old records, European landscape paintings from 1860 to 1880, and different versions of stamps from various periods. Until one day in 1988, they traveled to Paris and passed a boutique called Eymery, a boutique that specializes in Asian antique art. A window was placed in the window of a medium-term copper feast, and Bajan Bazhen, and Mrs. Beatrice Messier was Deeply attracted.

“Bazhen” is a pre-Buddha supply device, which is known as the “eight auspicious phase” in Tibetan language. It consists of eight kinds of legal objects, namely, **, Falu, Baozi, Canopy, Lotus, Baoguan, goldfish, and plate-length. Among them, the ** represents the Buddha saying that ** turns round and looting in vain; the magic screw represents the Bodhisattva Bodhisattva Bodhisattva is auspicious; the parasol represents Zhang Zhang freely, and the song is bent over all sentient beings; the canopy represents over 3,000, and the net is all joy; the lotus represents five turbid Nothing is dyed; the cans represent Fuzhi’s completeness and completeness; the goldfish represent sturdy and lively, and can destroy the robbery; the leader of the circle represents the implementation of the ring, and everything is bright.

This set of Bazhen became the first collection of brass fetal silk silkware for Messier. "At the time, I thought this thing was too beautiful, but we didn't know about it. The owner, Michel Duchange, explained all the questions in detail for us." Duchamp was a contemporary European with Spearman of England. The famous antiques connoisseurs of the older generation learned Chinese antiques before World War II. At that time, many European knowledge of Chinese antiques was obtained from them. Duchamp is particularly adept at the copper fetal silk device, and his patience explains that the Messier was brought into a professional and serious collection field. Before that, Chinese antiques were various pieces of debris in Mr. Messier's memory, and now they are joined together to form a whole.

Gu Runxi, a student of Duchamp, added to my side: “In the 1980s, the Chinese antiques in Europe were very low in price, not the concept of today. The antiques that were seen in Europe at that time were almost all of the last century. Or earlier, as the family continued, they were not exposed and they were not exposed to Chinese connoisseurs, so the price is entirely what the collectors who really love these antiques are willing to pay.”

Pierre Messier lives in Italy and works in the insurance industry. He is a member of the French and Italian Chamber of Commerce. Because of the working relationship, they need to travel abroad frequently, which also brings convenience to their collections. They often find antiques on the go, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Nice... all have left their good times and have left many interesting memories. Madame Messier pointed to an early-morning three-foot smashing furnace of copper fetal silk, silk, and tangled flowers. Let me see this stove as an antique design, with the appearance of a bronze urn as its form, and its rules and styles. specification. The instrument table is painted and decorated with silk enamel. The center of the abdomen is made of purple glaze. Messier said, this is her favorite one. At the time, after an auction house in France appeared, they were very fond of it. They thought that there would be a lot of people fighting when they bid. When they were ready to put a lot of money on the scene, they found that the entire venue was empty. It turns out that France often has big megaphones. It happened to catch up with the airlines in the past few days. People who wanted to bid on the plane couldn't get on the plane and couldn't come to the scene. So Messier and the couple bought the censer at a very cheap price.

"This is the fate that your Chinese people often say, a great result." Mrs. Messier said with a smile. "Of course, we have already apprenticeships and we can sneak far away like hunters. To the prey, for cloisonne, when you look at colors, you know one thing or two, and there is a sense of weight after you get started. This is a process of continuous practice and perfection." Like all collectors just starting out, Mr. Pierre liked it. His passion, intuition, and intuition began to build his first collection. Gradually, as the number of collections increased, he realized that building a high-quality antique collection faced more challenges than he expected. The quality, authenticity, and rareness of artworks are the basic principles for establishing an excellent collection. Knowing the true meaning of the artworks can only be achieved with profound knowledge. In the days when Messier made his debut, the expertise in the field of antiques was still a hidden secret. Only the few experts in the circle communicated with each other, and there was a lack of literature books. Duchamp played a key role in their collection. When encountering some rare sarcophagus, they will call Messier and invite them to appreciate it. In the process, Messier’s eyesight has also been quickened. The promotion.

In the past 10 years of auctions, it can be found that most of the good brass tire coilers are provided by European collectors. Ancient Runxi said that for Europeans, the vastness of Chinese classical art, porcelain is too difficult to understand, and it is difficult to learn. The cultural connotation of other works of art is so strong, except that the silk wares are more straightforward in terms of form, weight, and color. Mrs. Messier added: “Their colors are intense, they have exotic styles and they are the feeling of sunshine. I love their blues the most.”

Mrs. Messier’s feelings may best represent the preferences of Europeans. The silkworm cocoon is an exotic species that was introduced into China from the Arab region during the Yuan Dynasty. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Cao Zhao’s “Theory of Gegu Yao” was recorded under the “Dai Shi Yao” entry: “If you take copper as your body and use herbs to burn colored flowers, similar to the Buddha's inlay, you can taste censer, vase, box, etc. Like the scorpion, but it can be used among the women in the ancestral hall, and the non-bureaucrats play in wenwan and clear play, also known as the "Ghost Country Kiln." "Big Food" is a collective name for the Arab region in the past, "Ghost Country Kiln." It is a nickname. The Chinese people's faces are relatively peaceful and their outlines are not highlighted by the Arabs. The introduction of Jingtailan into China in the Yuan Dynasty took two stages. The first was the physical stage. Through the trade, the clotted material was directly introduced into China; the second was the technology's entry into China. Chinese people are smart. For foreign items, as long as they like it, they will learn to use their skills and burn themselves. Although cloisonne is a foreign art, it has been praised by the imperial courts of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties and, with the unremitting efforts of craftsmen, it has become a wonderful work in the history of Chinese arts and crafts.

China's silk reeling process has been inextricably linked with Europe for centuries. The history of the metal reeling process can be traced back to ancient times. The earliest reelings found in the mainland of Greece, Rhode Island and Cyprus were in the 13th century BC. The jewelry of the Sirena period was very common during the Byzantine period. Some of the most rare works, such as the gold pots and round studs found in the St. Maurice Monastery in Agium, Switzerland, are now collections of some of the world's most important museums. The earliest Europeans touched silk reed devices in the 17th century, and Dutch merchants brought them to Europe, but these artifacts were not valued at the time.

In fact, it was only in the 19th century that public collection agencies and private collectors in Europe began to collect a large number of Chinese silk and silk crafts, which in turn became a real fashion. At the request of French Queen Eugenie, in 1860 Barbedienne Workshop created a large number of chandelier and chimney accessories. Later, at the World Expo in Paris in 1867, jewelry makers such as Reiber, Falize and Martz, and artists such as Barbtierna and Christoffle, etc. Manufacturers have also launched their silk reel works. Boucheron also used the silk enamel process, but added elements of Japanese craftsmanship to it. It can be clearly seen that regardless of the artistic style, all of these handicraft makers have absorbed the production process of Chinese silk reeds in varying degrees.

Now, Mrs. Messier no longer buys any artwork. She said: “Collection is a common hobby for two people. It makes us more intimate and in love. Now that Pierre has passed away, we have had the most beautiful time and left the private sweetness in memory. ."