Page 118 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

commissions to the wares produced by Cixi, who also referenced her palace within her

reign marks, giving both reign marks legitimacy and stability. The adherence to the

customary imperial reign mark indicates that Yuan wanted to be included within the

lineage of Chinese emperors. This desire for posterity is shared with the empress

dowager, who also attempted to use a reign mark to elevate her legacy to that of an

emperor.

2.5 Visual Analysis of Collections

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Scholars in the 20 and 21 centuries often disregarded Hongxian wares, claiming
that they were poor reproductions of earlier imperial wares, especially as China pushed

toward modernization and ultimately moved away from the more traditional aspects of

Chinese culture. One area that scholars particularly believe was stunted was the creation

of porcelain during this transition period. Few of these pieces are known to the scholarly

community, and they have not been widely studied because they were previously

regarded as being of poor quality and therefore not worthy of in-depth analysis.

However, a closer investigation of this porcelain reveals that they are not of poor quality

and are instead “ceramics of surprisingly fine quality.” 145 Due to the short reign of the

Hongxian Emperor, production of Hongxian or Jurentang-marked porcelain occurred

over an extremely short timeframe. Unfortunately, this resulted in few documented

pieces dating to this era of production. Along with this obstacle, many pieces of

porcelain were made utilizing these reign marks long after the era had passed. The large

market for reproductions has resulted in wares of the Hongxian reign being difficult to

145 Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, 242.

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