Page 87 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

traditions of Chinese ink painting, directly forming another connection between Cixi’s

painting and porcelain patronage. The covered bowl relates to the styles cultivated on the

dayazhai wares, harnessing the same color palette as the second spring and autumn

patterns. From this analysis, a well-defined style of Cixi’s porcelain emerges revealing

the repetitive use of floral iconography, artistic brushwork and color palettes. Examples

like this one provide evidence that Cixi’s patronage was highly artistic and, ultimately,

consistently resulted in high-quality wares.

Another point worth noting within this evaluation of patronage is Cixi’s

consistent use of text within dayazhai porcelain. Traditional Chinese painting frequently

includes calligraphy, which is considered as artistic an act as the art of painting itself.

Cixi uniquely utilized specific inclusion of calligraphy in the majority of her

commissioned works, choosing to feature a dayazhai mark purposely incorporated into

the actual design of the vessel and prominently displayed on the porcelain beneath the

upper rim. Typically, in examples of Cixi’s porcelain, an oval mark appears next to this

calligraphy with interwoven dragons circling the characters’ tian di yi jia chun 天地一家

春 (Heaven and earth united in spring). These visible marks on the porcelain act

similarly to an artist’s signature on a traditional Chinese painting, perhaps drawing a

parallel with painting as an art form. Along with these two reign marks, yet another mark

reading yong qing chuang chun 永慶長春 (Eternal prosperity and enduring spring) is

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found on the bottom base of the vessels. All of these reign marks refer to Cixi as the
patron because they refer to the Changchungong, or Palace of Enduring Spring, where

90 For a list of reign marks see Appendix B.

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