Page 75 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

time, much less the operation of the imperial porcelain factories. Even though the

imperial porcelains were produced with their marks, any innovations came from the

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Empress Dowager, who ruled in both the political and domestic spheres.” The
emperors’ lack of involvement in the patronage of porcelain indicates that Cixi herself

was the force behind porcelain production during the late Qing dynasty.

Along with the reign marks that she utilized while acting as regent for the

emperors, Cixi had multiple personal reign marks including several that reference palaces

such as chuxiugong zhi 儲秀宮製 (Palace of gathering elegance) that she resided in

within the Forbidden City. The most well-known of these marks is dayazhai, or “abode

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of great refinement.” This is a critical element to consider, because each reign mark

indicates that Cixi alone was the patron approving the porcelain. This was a drastic

progression within the field of patronage, because the laws of the time would have

prohibited anyone other than the emperor from having “imperial wares.” The use of

these unique reign marks that were not the emperors’ nianhao allowed Cixi to bend the

legal requirements. Despite being somewhat different than the emperors’ reign marks,

she managed to create her own nianhao on the porcelain, establishing herself not only as

a major patron of the arts but also as the imperial center of China. The imperial kilns also

produced porcelain using the reign marks of the emperors that Cixi oversaw as regent,

but it is evident that Cixi’s was the distinct aesthetic taste behind the styles being

produced whether the porcelain displayed her reign mark or the reign mark of the current

67 Ronald W. Longsdorf, “Dayazhai Ware: Porcelains of the Empress Dowager,” Orientations 23,
no. 3 (1992): 45–56.
68 For a list of reign marks see Appendix B.

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