Glorious Innovations – Imperial Porcelains of the Kangxi Era by Anthony Lin (Part 2)

Compiled from Arts of Asia (July-August 2001)

        In 1718, the Imperial Workshop was moved from Wuying Hall to the Yangxin Hall. In 1720, Yang Lin, the Governor of Canton met the French Jesuit, Father Jean-Baptiste Gravereau, who was dispatched to Beijing to work at the atelier for enamelware. The chronology of the preceding events and the numbers of Imperial porcelains painted at these workshops suggest that within a very short time span, the artists had mastered the art of enamelling porcelains in the Western palette.

        The style of the porcelains was a triumphant celebration of colour and decoration. For the most part, these Imperial famille rose wares were fully enamelled with coloured grounds in emulation of European enamels on metal (Pic 1). Bowls marked in blue or pink enamel with Kangxi Yuzhi (Made by Imperial Command for the Emperor Kangxi) form the main part of this repertoire. Dishes, vases and small boxes were made in much smaller quantities.

Pic 1: Orange ground Imperial famille rose bowl painted with orchids

Kangxi Yuzhi mark in blue enamel

Diameter: 11.3 cm

        The use of flowers was largely Chinese, with the peony, rose, lotus and chrysanthemum (Pic 2) foremost among them. Among these, bowls painted with rare variegated flowers such as rambling rose and bleeding heart are much rarer (Pic 3). The freedom with which the designs are interpreted was crucial to the development of freer, more naturalistic painting in the Yongzheng period. The style of these exclusive porcelains was a remarkable combination of European and Chinese aesthetics, best exemplified on the unique tripod censer of pure Chinese shape (Pic 4).

Pic 2: Ruby ground Imperial famille rose bowl with chrysanthemum scroll

Kangxi Yuzhi mark in pink enamel

Diameter: 14.5 cm

Pic 3: Yellow ground Imperial famille rose bowl with naturalistic flowers

Kangxi Yuzhi mark in pink enamel

Diameter: 14.2 cm

Pic 4: Ruby ground Imperial famille rose tripod censer

Kangxi Yuzhi mark in blue enamel

Diameter: 16.5 cm

        A bowl (cover) and cup (Pic 5) painted with lotus illustrates the new and highly successful combination of the styles. Great care was taken to shade the flowers to give them a three-dimensional appearance, and features such as the yellow edges of the decaying leaves are faithfully portrayed. The combination and highlight of the pink, yellow and blue flowers on the bowl is perhaps the most successful example among the series of lotus designs.

        The dichotomy between the ‘Chinese’ and the Manchu tastes is revealed in more equal proportions in the ceramics of the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns. This last great innovation of the famille rose palette was to give rise to another very important development in the Yongzheng period. While the porcelains produced for the Yongzheng Emperor never attained the extraordinary levels of innovation achieved under Kangxi, the virtuosity in the art of enamelling reached unprecedented heights in the group of porcelains referred to by the apocryphal term, Guyuexuan. 

Pic 5: Yellow ground Imperial famille rose cup with naturalistic lotus and wild reeds

Kangxi Yuzhi mark in pink enamel

Height: 4.8 cm