Page 119 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

identify with accuracy. For these reasons, this study examines Hongxian-dated porcelain

that has strong provenance and was acquired in close proximity to the date it was

produced.

To begin to reevaluate the characteristics of Hongxian wares, an assortment of

porcelain had to be examined to establish a consistent quality. One of the major

collections of Hongxian and early republic-era porcelain in the Western world is the

Georg Weishaupt collection which was exhibited at the Museum für Kunsthandwerk in

Frankfurt, Germany from June 24-August 30, 1987. This collection must be considered

since it contains nearly 900 pieces of late Chinese porcelain. The scholar H.A. van Oort,

one of the first experts on Hongxian porcelain, advised the institution on exhibiting the

porcelain and scholar Gunhild Avitabile wrote the exhibition catalog. Due to this

distinction, the porcelain within the Weishaupt collection maintains a strong provenance,

allowing it to serve as an example of the porcelain typical of the Hongxian reign. The

first aspect that this study investigates is the establishment of the porcelain dating to the

Hongxian as being of high quality. The claim that vessels were poorly potted was not

substantiated during the course of this research. Vessels dating to the Hongxian era

expressed the same range of potting that was found in earlier Qing dynasty examples.

The examples in which the porcelain itself was most emphasized were monochrome

wares, where the enamel color accents the thin potting. Examples from the Weishaupt

collection, which includes a Pair of wine cups in a vivid imperial yellow, emphasize the

skill associated with fine porcelain (Figure 30). 146 The cups themselves were carefully

incised with a flying dragon chasing a pearl around the exterior of the vessel. These cups

146 Avitabile, From the Dragon’s Treasure: Chinese Porcelain from the Nineteenth and Twentieth
Centuries in the Weishaupt Collection, 125.
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