Posts Tagged ‘classic period’

Ceramic production during the reign of Hongzhi maintained the fine quality associated with wares produced in the Chenghua period. However, during the reign of Zhengde there was a notable decline in draughtsmanship and potting, which lasted until the end of the Ming Dynasty.
POLYCHROME WARES
From the Chenghua period the use of lead-fluxed, overglaze enamels became increasingly common. Underglaze blue was combined with these colours, which were fired a second time at a much lower temperature. On the finest wares known as doucai ..contrasted colours”) pieces, the outline of the design was traced in underglaze blue, and then yellow, green, aubergine-purple, and red enamels were painted on hcfore a second firing to create a jewel-like effect. Douche pieces arc generally small, fine, and extremely well made; decoration includes figures, plants, and animals, often in briefly painted landscapes. Wares include “chicken cups” – small wine-cups with designs of hens and cockerels with peonies.
The wucai (”five colours”) style, using the same palette as doucai, was introduced in the Jiajing reign period. While underglaze-blue outlines were still used, they were often replaced with overglaze black or red. The decoration developed along different lines, with fish, water-weed, ducks, and figure scenes becoming increasingly popular. Dragons appear in all manner of wises, with wings, and with flowers or jewels in their Months, arranged around bowls and jars or as circular medallions. Wucai decoration was used on large as well as small pieces and is generally not as neat or refined Lis doucai. The colour yellow, which had imperial connotations, was used together with bold designs of fruits and flowers in underglaze blue from the Xuande to the Jiajing reign period. For example, in the Zhengde period a common design consisted of green dragons on a white background, achieved by marking the design in wax resist then glazing the ground with white, firing, painting the reserved design in green enamel, and finally refiring at a lower temperature.
BLUE-AND-WHITE WARES
Blue-and-white wares made during the Chenghua period are regarded as some of the finest porcelains ever produced. Technically they arc superb, with light, thin bodies and a glassy glaze. The blue on early Chenghua pieces is dark – an almost blue-black associated with the use of imported cobalt; the later wares have a much lighter, clearer blue derived from local ore from the Raozhou Prefecture around Jingdezhen. It is applied very evenly, in designs of dragons and phoenixes, landscape scenes, or the very fine flower scrolls that adorn the so-called “Palace” ware. This was made in the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, the most typical item being a bowl with everted rim, known as a “Palace” bowl.
The reign period of Hongzhi is largely a continuation of the Chenghua style, but it may be viewed as a watershed in the Ming dynasty since after it standards clearly began to decline. Even the best of the later Ming wares never reached the heights of the 15th-century work. As the 16th century advanced, the deterioration manifested itself in the increasing number of flaws in the poorly refined clay, and in the more casual brushwork, although the latter often has great appeal. During the reign of Jiajing the quality of blue improved. A rich, saturated purplish cobalt, termed “Muhammadan” blue, was introduced and was used on many porcelains in this and the later Ming reigns of Longqing and Wanli. Imperial quality wares are dressed in a thickish and smooth glassy glaze with a strong bluish cast. Almost all later Ming porcelains oxidized during firing, and while this thin reddish veneer may be worn by the passage of time, it is usually still visible at the margin of the glaze oil the base or foot rim.
EXPORT WARES
During the reign of Wanli the export of Chinese porcelain expanded, with large numbers of blue-and wares made purely for export. Among these pieces, kraak ware, which was produced from the Wanli period, is particularly important. It takes its name from the Dutch rendering of the Portuguese for “carrack”, Or merchant ship, two of which, carrying Chinese porcelain, were captured by the Dutch in 1602 and 1604. Kraak ware of this period has a fairly thin, light body, which is prone to chipping at the edges. The blue,
often evenly applied in washes, is inclined to be rather watery and thin.
The use of panels on bowls and dishes increased in the late 16th century; all wares of
this type are called kraak ware. On kraak howls and dishes the decoration radiates from a central circular panel. After c.1570 the most common
themes found on kraak porcelain are floral, including a highly stylized and barely recognizable form of the peony, lotuses, chrysanthemums, and other flowers issuing from rocks. Other motifs were also popular, such as precious objects or symbols tied with ribbons, and crickets, beetles, and butterflies.
DECORATIVE THEMES
Dragons and phoenixes remained the most important decorative motifs throughout the Ming period, but other designs also became increasingly popular. In the Chenghua period a very fine arrangement of lilies and Other flowers in underglaze blue seas used to decorate the exteriors of the dishes known as “Palace” bowls. Emperor Chenghua was a devout Buddhist, and this is reflected in the use of Buddhist symbols on some pieces from this period. During the reign of Zhengde, who was tolerant of the Islamic religion in China, a unique style of decoration using Arabic or Persian script was applied to a wide range of blue-and-white wares that were predominantly intended for the scholar’s desk. These included pen rests, small lamps, incense burners, and, in a few very rare instances, bowls. The script is enclosed within medallions against a background of scrolls and sometimes stylized lotus designs. These wares always carry the six-character mark of Zhengde, whereas almost all other dishes of this period have a four-character mark.
The decoration of 16th-century Ming wares is less refined, more chaotic in its arrangement, and much more freely drawn than that of the 15th century. The designs show the influence Of illustrations from popular literature, which was becoming widely available at this time. On wares of the Jiajing period, children, scholars, animals, and flowers are depicted in gardens, on terraces, or in open landscapes. Daoist subjects, for example the sage Laozi and the Eight Immortals (legendary or historical individuals who arc associated with the philosophy of Dao), were increasingly incorporated into the decoration on these wares, as were the associated symbols of long life, such as the lingzhi fungus, deer, cranes, peaches, pine trees, the Chinese character short (often elaborated into the form of a peach tree), and herons.
Doucai wares
• BODY fine white porcelain
• COLOURS underglaze-blue outlines with overglaze enamels in red, green, yellow, and aubergine
• SHAPES small, neat pieces: wine-cups, stem cups, howls, and jars
• DECORATION chickens and peonies; dragons, plants, and floral motifs; neat and jewel-like
Wucai wares• BODY white porcelain of variable quality
• COLOURS overglaze enamels in yellow, red, green, turquoise, and aubergine, with some outlines in red or [)lack and others in underglaze blue
• FORMS small and large pieces, such as huge cisterns
• DECORATION dragons, fish, landscapes, and figures; not as neatly drawn as doucai wares
Export wares
• BODY relatively thin and light porcelain of reasonable quality; the glaze has a tendency to break away from the edges in an irregular way – this is often referred to as “moth-eaten” or “tender” edges
• GLAZE highhigh
gloss, reasonably thick over the body, tending to be thin on the base
• SHAPES kendi (Hindu ritual vessels) and “Persian” flasks, jars, and dishesBLUE
• watery and thin, often applied in washes, sometimes rather silvery grey
• DECORATION division into panels radiating from a Central circular field, with animals, birds, plants, landscapes, or baskets of flowers, and often ribbons and medallions between the panels
• FOOT-RIM there is often grit in the glaze

Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty (960-1279) is regarded as the classic period of Chinese ceramics, when simple, elegant wares decorated with attractive monochrome glazes were produced. The five “classic wares” – Ding, Jun, Ru, Guano, and Ge – were produced for imperial use, while other wares, notably Cizhou and some of the northern celadons, were made for a much wider market.
CELADONS
The most characteristic Song ceramics are the celadons, with their iron-derived, semi-translucent, usually greenish glaze. When the Song court was situated in northern China (960-1126), such centres of production as Yaozhou in Shaanxi Province became important for celadons; the most distinctive northern celadons are those with incised or moulded decoration of floral scrolls covered with an olive-green glaze. The later Longquan or southern celadon usually has a pale-grey body that shows the thick, opaque, bluish-green, slightly bubbly glaze to advantage. The best Longquan wares include archaic forms and items for the scholar’s desk, bowls, and vases. Jun wares made in Yu xian and Linru in Henan Province are thickly potted stonewares with a lavender-blue glaze often splashed with purple derived from copper oxide and, very rarely, green. Typical forms include chunky globular jars. Ru wares, the rarest and most coveted of all Song ceramics, are simple, elegant stonewares with a crackled blue-green glaze. Guan wares have light buff or dark stoneware bodies with a very thick, pale-greyish glaze that is usually strongly crackled and may be black, brown, or clear. The bodies show dark brown or black on the unglazed rims and feet.
OTHER WARES
Ding wares, made in Ding xian in Hebei Province, are fine porcellaneous stonewares with a warm ivory glaze, made in delicate shapes, including ewers and vases as well as small plates and bowls. Most flatware was fired upside down – the rims were left unglazed, and were bound with gold-coloured metal (now
patinated). Moulded decoration was introduced in the 11th cenrury; in this a reusable stoneware mould was impressed onto the hard clay, creating closely meshed designs; the earlier, more fluid, hand-carved ornament was also used. Qingbai (bluish white) wares from
Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province have a fine white porcelain body and a glassy blue glaze that tends to pool. These items are very delicate and elegant, and include thinly potted conical bowls and beautifully proportioned vases.
Fine black-glazed stonewares were produced during the Song period in Henan Province and at Jian in Jiangxi Province. Blackwares were sometimes decorated with red-brown floral designs. Cizhou wares, named after the kilns in Cizhou in Hebei Province, are sturdy stonewares with robust designs in black-and-white slip; often part of the black slip was scraped away to create a textured pattern (sgraffito), while on other wares the designs were sometimes painted on. Common shapes include “pillows” and meiping (an inverted-pear-shaped vase).
Marks
Song wares are generally unmarked, although a few stoneware moulds have survived with 12th- or 13th-century dates incised on the surface

• BODY most Song wares are stonewares, although Ding and Qinghai wares are porcellaneousSTYLE
• subtle and scholarly, in contrast to the flamboyance of the preceding Tang period and the subsequent Yuan period; from the 12th century there is a strong archaizing tendency, with a fashion for classic jade and bronze shapes
• DECORATION many Song wares are without ornament, relying for effect on the harmony between glaze and form; early Ding and northern celadons are decorated with restrained carved designs – some later wares have busier moulded floral and foliate decoration; Cizhou wares show the greatest variety of decorative techniques