Chinese Porcelain

Chinese Porcelain

From the second pre-Christian millennium highly, developed ceramics were produced in China. In the late Tang period (618-906) the transition from fine stoneware to hard, white, translucent, porcelain with a ringing timbre took place. It was made from finely washed material enriched with kaolin which was fired between 1200 and 1300 degrees centigrade. As Chinese porcelain contains less kaolin than European it is more transparent and less dense. It appears more lively in its consistency.

Chinese porcelain is usually glazed before the first firing which makes a more painterly use of colour possible. The major part of the porcelain for the local market and export was produces from the 12th century onwards in the imperial manufactories in Jingdezhen in the southern province of Jiangxi. Among the most popular porcelain decors was an underglaze blue decoration using cobalt imported from the Missile East or of Chinese extraction. Blue and white porcelain from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and particularly from the reign of the Chinese emperor Kangxi (1662-1722), were very popular in the West. Porcelain in the style of famille verte decorated with gleaming overglaze colours dates from the of the 17th century. The overglaze decors known as famille rose with its delicate range of opaque colours were created under Emperor Yongzheng (1723-1735). (Source: The Royal Porcelain Collection, Zwinger, Dresden, Germany)

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