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Manmade Gems: Four Famous Jingdezhen Porcelains
During the Kangxi
reign, there were only a few works of famille -rose porcelain, whose
color paintings were also very simple -- mainly patterns of flowers, clouds and
dragons
. During the Yongzheng reign, the porcelain enjoyed great improvements. Both the
porcelain and decorations produced in this period featured a most delicate
quality and brilliant color; these pieces are among the most highly prized works
of this type of porcelain.
The famille-rose porcelain produced in the Qianlong
reign saw an obvious change -- other colors such as green, yellow, blue, carmine
or purple, were added to the white porcelain. At that time, the porcelain was no
longer as delicate, crystal-like and colorful as that produced in the Yongzheng
reign. When it came to the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns, famille - rose porcelain mainly inherited a form of
traditional development and did not witness much improvement. The ceramic glaze
used was not very refined and featured strong hues.
During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns, the composition of
famille-rose pictures became quite complicated, although the painting
skills were simple and the materials used were rough. The famille-rose
porcelain produced during these periods featured comparatively faint hues, and, in order to make the
colors more brilliant, gold was applied to the famille -rose base.
The characteristics listed above are the major criteria used
to distinguish famille -rose porcelain produced in different periods
during the Qing Dynasty.
Famille-rose porcelain wares in the Qing Dynasty mainly included
pots, bottles, wine vessels, jars, basins, plates, urns, boxes, and so on. The
patterns mostly included dragons and phoenixes, flowers, landscapes, human
figures and themes from legends. Subjects on the porcelains often came from
paintings of famous painters at that time.
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