Chinese Porcelain

Chinese export porcelain was executed in China and exported to the West.  When special orders were made, first by Europeans and later Americans, they were sometimes not understood by the Chinese artisans who shaped and decorated the ceramics.  This resulted in sometimes humorous or otherwise mistakes.

高麗青瓷在十二世紀的高度發展，一般認為係受到北宋汝窯的影響之說，向來是許多研究者的論點。台北故宮博物院在北宋大觀展時將館藏汝窯與高麗青瓷一同展出，更意欲突顯兩種瓷器之間密切的影響。然而本文認為北宋汝窯與高麗青瓷之間的關連性，似乎不若一般所言那樣確鑿。因此，本文擬從探討汝窯與高麗青瓷時所常提到的文獻記載、器型釉色(外觀)、燒造技術此三方面進行比較，透過一般論者拿來當作證據的紀錄當中，試圖重新釐清北宋汝窯與高麗青瓷兩者之間的關連性與相互影響的可能性。本文認為，這些關連性過於薄弱，若要視作北宋汝窯影響高麗青瓷的證據，仍顯不足。加之汝窯目前仍有許多課題尚待解決，因此高麗青瓷受到北宋汝窯的影響，此種說法似不應成立。

In May 1936 the steamship Sorrento sailed into the port of Piraeus, Greece. Aboard were sixteen crates with 452 items of Chinese pottery, destined to join another 341 already on display at the Benaki Museum in Athens. Over the past nine years the museum’s founder, Antonis Benakis, had been in contact with their donor, Greek-origin British businessman George Eumorfopoulos. His Chinese art collection was one of the most extensive the world had ever seen. In bestowing this gift, Eumorfopoulos wanted to introduce Greeks to the art of China through its best-known medium at the time, ceramics.

The years after the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911 witnessed an ‘opening up’ of China and the first archaeological excavations of its ancient cultures. A circle of enthusiasts and scholars, among which Eumorfopoulos was pivotal, grasped the opportunity to evaluate anew long-held preconceptions on Chinese civilisation. Situated in London, a centre of imperialist power and global finance, they acquired, assessed, and interpreted previously-unseen and fascinating objects. In addition, Eumorfopoulos acted as an intermediary between the contemporary art scene and Chinese antiquities, inspiring modern artists and ‘studio potters’.

China Rediscovered: The Benaki Museum Collection of Chinese Ceramics traces the roles ceramics assumed in this cultural interplay within the context of earlier encounters between China and the rest of the world. A selection of 88 items from the Benaki Museum are perceived as ‘actors’ within constantly evolving ‘sets’, as players in a game of knowledge, taste, and power.

https://www.benakishop.gr/en/books/world-cultures/china-rediscovered-the-benaki-museum-collection-of-chinese-ceramics-387.html
https://www.hauspublishing.com/product/china-rediscovered/

This essay is on pottery as art and archaeology and the role of touch and how we view pottery as artists, archaeologists and as viewers in the gallery or museum. To make pottery, the potter needs to touch and shape clay by hand. The potter uses fire to set those shapes and decoration for all time. People who use pottery touch the object in different ways depending on its purpose. The archaeologists who recover pottery from their sites, touch pottery to recover, conserve and interpret finds. The pottery on display in museums or art galleries moves against the very nature of pottery as storage vessels, serving dishes or cooking vessels and usually cannot be touched.

This research is arranged into three sections in order to elaborate on the hybrid innovation in yangcai. Firstly, the usage of pictorial techniques on porcelain will be discussed, followed by the argument that the modelling technique in the Qianlong period could be the revival of Buddhist tradition combined with European pictoriality. The second section continues the discussion of non-traditional attributes in terms of the ontology of porcelain patterns. Although it has been widely accepted that Western-style decorations were applied to the production of the Qing porcelain, the other possibility will be purported here by stating that the decorative pattern is a Chinese version of the multicultural product. The last section explores style and identity. By reviewing the history of Chinese painting technique, art historians can realise the difference between knowing and performing. Artworks produced in the Emperor Qianlong's reign were more about Emperor Qianlong's preference than the capability of the artists. This political reason differentiated the theory and practice in Chinese history of art. This essay argues that the design of yangcai is substantially part of the Emperor Qianlong's portrait, which represents his multicultural background, authority over various civilisations, and transcendental identity as an emperor bridging the East and the West.

Circa 826 an Arab ship sunk at the coast of Belitung in the Java Sea. This shipwreck permitted to clarify the 9th century Tang exportation via the Maritime Silk Route being the following text a summary of the kiln centers that furnished the wares found on the wreck.

The book tries to trace back the origins of a joint East and West cultural identity. It describes the development of a Eurasian decor by analyzing the cultural interactions, the trading routes, the merchants, customers and the economics of the trade. Porcelain is the carrier of culture; the trading routes and ships were the means; and the trade itself was the mechanism for the intercultural contacts.

Dossier : Vrai ou faux ? : qualifier les porcelaines de Chine (XVe-XXIe siècle)

L’imitation en porcelaine d’autres matériaux, ou porcelaine dite « en trompe-l’œil », est populaire depuis la fin des années Yongzheng jusqu’à la période Qianlong. Cette esthétique de l’imitation est considérée comme représentative des empereurs chinois et de l’iconographie du pouvoir à la cour. Plusieurs études ont été menées pour comprendre le lien qui existe entre la porcelaine et la culture de « connaisseurs » des empereurs. Cependant, cette recherche s'est souvent concentrée sur les caractéristiques physiques de la porcelaine et sur les images correspondantes, c’est-à-dire l'album de catalogage des antiquités peintes. Une telle méthodologie centrée sur les objets ignore le concept sous-jacent aux œuvres, qui est intrinsèquement lié à leur existence même, à savoir leur origine. S. Pierson caractérise cette approche traditionnelle comme étant « orientée vers l’extérieur » et suggère une nouvelle méthodologie pour remédier à ses lacunes. Ce papier est donc axé sur la littérature de l’époque afin de définir la compréhension de certaines esthétiques. C'est pourquoi, dans cet essai, de nombreux classiques chinois sont passés en revue de la période Lilun à la dynastie Qing Hong Lou Meng. Après une enquête terminologique sur la littérature classique chinoise, cette recherche propose des pistes pour comprendre les raisons d’un grand nombre de porcelaines en trompe-l'œil en provenance des ateliers impériaux Qing, qui semblent être ignorées dans le Huoji dang. En outre, en s’appuyant sur le Huoji dang, cet essai cherche à comprendre la réception d’œuvres en trompe-l’œil par les empereurs de la dynastie Qing et par l’atelier impérial, ainsi que leur charge iconographique.

This paper presents ceramics excavated during the archaeological survey at the Wisłoujście Fortress in seasons 2013–2014. A total number of 7527 ceramics has been analysed and presented in the form of descriptions, statistics, tables, drawings and photographs. The assembly consists of numerous potsherds, candlestick, crucible, marbles, figurines and a bottle stopper. The assembly has been dated to the period between the 15th and 20th centuries. The presented ceramics were produced by local as well as by German, Dutch, Italian, English and Asian craftsmen. The coherent stratighraphical contexts of finding two sub-assemblages dated to the 18th and 19th centuries were examined. These particular artefacts were used by inhabitants of the Fortress during two different
geopolitical contexts. Results of the research prompt for further study in the field of the use of everyday objects by the fortress’ garrison.

Die blau-weißen asiatischen Porzellane in Schloß Favorite bei Rastatt - Schätze aus unseren Schlössern 1, 1996

Schloß Favorite bei Rastatt erscheint heute als letztes und einzig erhaltenes „Porzellanschloß“, in dem die historisch gewachsenen Porzellanbestände noch an Ort und Stelle vorhanden sind. Gemäß den Chinamoden des Barock, wurde auch Schloß Favorite mit wertvollen asiatiatischen Porzellanen ausgestattet, wovon sich ein großer Teil bis heute erhalten hat. Ein Teil dieser Referenzsammlung wird hier im Bestandskatalog behandelt.

Insgesamt versammelt der Katalog in 136 Katalogeinträgen 368 blau-weiße Objekte von der Ming-Zeit um 1500 bis in die Qing-Zeit um 1730-50. Im Buch jedoch gehen dem Katalog drei Kapitel voran, die zum allgemeinen Verständnis der Sammlung notwendig erscheinen. In einem Kapitel wird die Herstellung des chinesischen Porzellanes beschrieben. Hier werden auch die Besonderheiten der Sammlungsobjekte vorgestellt, wobei auch verschiedene historisch gewachsene Eigenheiten, etwa bei Montierungen oder Vergoldungen, Einblicke bieten. Die Vorstellung der Geschichte des Porzellanbestandes, vermittelt auf der Grundlage der erhaltenen Akten und Inventare, gibt erstmalig einen Eindruck über die Entstehung der Sammlung.

Es fehlt das Vorwort von Ulrike Grimm.

Blue-and-white porcelains are undoubtedly emblematic of Chinese craftsmanship, and have been so for several centuries. However, in this paper, I analyze a quintessential piece of blue-and-white porcelain for the purpose of explicating a wider story about East-West Asian relations -- one of exchange, mercantilism, travel, transformation and craftsmanship. I explore how the ubiquity of cobalt blue on Chinese porcelains is evidence of flourishing trade and cultural exchange between East and the Middle East/West Asia (specifically, the areas today known as China, Iran and Iraq). On the level of the specific, I employ an artistic analysis of the artefact to demonstrate how the Yuan dynasty ushered in a widespread cultural transformation through the incorporation of vast regions of the globe into its umbrella of influence, and through the centralization this dynasty undertook thereafter. However, this paper ultimately questions the teleology of ownership as it relates to cultural claims in the context of contesting and changing powers.

Abstract: Safavid Adaptations of Chinese Kraak Porcelain Dishes consists of five chapters. The first one is dedicated to the theory of adaptation and explaining the notion adaptation as well as other notions used to describe derivative work, such as translation, transformation, or imitation. Adaptation is both a process and a product, therefore the first chapter also explores the dual nature of adaptation and four aspects of adaptation connected with the questions, that can be asked, while describing adaptations. The first chapter also explains what is the relation between the source and adaptation. Encounter with derivative artwork often leads to asking how faithful it was to the source and language of criticism marking adaptations as less valuable is often used while discussing the topic of adaptations. This in consequence leads to various hostilities towards adaptation addressed in the following subchapter.
The first chapter is closed with description of four measures of adaptation marking the degrees of similarity between the source and adaptation: literal, edited, altered, and free. Definitions of the four notions were given along with clear guidelines for assigning motifs into the four groups.
The second chapter is dedicated to the Safavid dynasty and its history and arts. It begins with highlighting early rulers and the establishment of the Safavid dynasty. It is followed by describing early Safavid art and the importance of manuscripts. The next subchapter illustrates Shāh ʿAbbās I rule (1587–1629) and his reforms such as centralization policy, that influenced the royal workshops and led to the flourishment of arts, mainly carpets described in the following subchapter. Later Safavid rulers mark a slow decline of the Safavid dynasty and slow weakening of Persia’s importance in the region. Later Safavid arts were made in a period of change, which brought approaching importance of the European art observable for example in the use of linear perspective in miniature paintings. The following subchapters are dedicated to the issues of making Safavid ceramics, brief history of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain export to Safavid Persia, as well as to portraying the Safavid potters, production centers, consumers, and explaining how both the adaptations and sources were made. The chapter ends with a description of overall characteristic of Safavid ceramics made along with the adaptations and constituting important background for the processes of adaptation.
The third chapter portrays the Chinese kraak porcelain dishes as models for adaptation. It opens with providing a detailed description of Chinese kraak porcelain dishes, which were divided by Maura Rinaldi into nine border types. The next subchapter is dedicated to iconography used on kraak porcelain dishes and is followed by description of variants of kraak porcelain motifs appearing on dishes, such as fruits, flowers, auspicious symbols, or dividers, and it is closed by remarks on that how they are arranged on dishes’ borders.
The fourth chapter is dedicated to the analysis of 120 dishes being Safavid adaptations of Chinese kraak porcelain, most of which are stored at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The dishes’ decorations were disjointed digitally into decorative parts such as petal panels, dividers, bracket frames, central compositions, cavetti, and lips. Each part with decoration was assigned to one of the four types of adaptation — literal, edited, altered, or free — and compared with possible Chinese or/and native sources. Each comparison is also supported with possible reasons, for which the particular motifs could have been adapted such as their mention in poetry, significant symbolic meaning, or association with Safavid religious beliefs. Backs of the dishes are also analyzed and the chapter is closed with portraying the relationship between backs and faces of the adapted dishes.
The last chapter explains what was the Safavid response to the Chinese stimuli and summarizes the reasons, for which certain motifs were preferred over other in the processes of adaptation. The author found out that importance of native culture, art, and Chinese decorations that did not have Persian parallels played very important roles in adaptation. The chapter is closed with portraying the relationship between the quality of adaptations towards the ends of the Safavid period and historical events such as shortages in Chinese porcelain exports or approaching importance of the European art. The author notices here that deterioration of style, often portrayed as a drawback of later Safavid adaptations of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, could in fact be a result of willingness to experiment with the already known for some time motifs and is connected to the evolution of forms. Another important issue is existence of adaptations of adaptations, in which the already established adaptations serve a role of sources.
The dissertation is complemented by three richly illustrated appendixes. The first one, Appendix A, contains illustrations portraying Safavid arts such as metalwork, miniature paintings, carpets, and architecture complementing the second chapter. Appendix B complements the third chapter dedicated to portraying Chinese kraak porcelain dishes as models for adaptation and the fourth chapter analyzing the Persian adaptations. The last Appendix C has back sides of some of the analyzed Persian adaptations and faces of all of the analyzed dishes.

Some images were removed due to copyrights.

明代藩王功臣墓出土至正樣式青花器的年代問題

本文試從藝術史角度切入，以紋飾系統化分析的方法，試解決20世紀50年代以來出
土於明代藩王功臣墓葬中至正樣式青花器的年代問題。本文將裝飾於青花器表的紋飾分為三
個層次分析，分別為：單一紋樣結構分析、紋樣與紋樣結組方式分析、以及整體紋飾整合方
式分析。藉此反思過去學界所依賴美國學者John Alexander Pope的元青花風格分析主張，以修
正青花至正樣式發展的年代下限。


"Re-Dating the “Yuan” Blue-and-White Porcelain Excavated
from Noble Tombs in the Ming Dynasty"

This essay examines the blue-and-white wares excavated from the tombs of
generals and princes in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Based on John Alexander Pope’s
definition of “fourteenth-century blue-and-white style,” the excavated wares have long
been recognized as products of the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), and thus considered to be
antiques or booty from the battles of the dead. However, the style of these wares can be
differentiated from the “fourteenth-century blue-and-white style” in terms of ornament
pattern and decoration composition. By referring to other well-dated Ming blue-andwhite
porcelain with similar ornament and the dating of these tombs, this essay suggests
that the excavated wares were from the Ming instead of Yuan dynasty.

Cette bouteille, chef-d'oeuvre de la porcelaine chinoise, a été fabriquée à la Cité interdite à Pékin sous le règne de l'empereur Qianlong (1736-1795). Elle illustre à plusieurs égards les relations riches et complexes qui existaient entre l'Occident et la Chine à l'époque moderne.