Page 94 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

Empress Dowager Cixi commissioned similar porcelain wares for the wedding of

Emperor Guangxu in 1889. These wares have often been mistaken as a part of the

Tongzhi wedding porcelain, but scholars have now concluded that they were produced at

different times. Scholar H.A. van Oort has ultimately concluded that in 1888,

approximately 868 pieces of imperial wedding porcelain of a fine quality were

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commissioned for the emperor. While most of the wares within the two wedding sets

look extremely similar, some of the wares do appear quite different and allow a careful

viewer to find distinct characteristics that separate and delineate the two types. For

example, unique to the Guangxu wedding porcelain is a pair of covered bowls in a vivid

red ground with medallions containing dragons circling a shuangxi character (Figure 24).

While the form and styles of the two wedding porcelains are somewhat different, the use

of the same character and the recurrence of some floral elements connect both wedding

wares. Unlike the earlier Tongzhi Butterfly bowl, this covered bowl with dragons appears

quite rigidly structured. The spontaneity with which the butterflies were painted is not

visible in this ware. Instead, a strong pattern is followed with virtually no sense of

movement visible in the composition. This ware is known as the “Wedding Chamber”

pattern, which ties directly to Cixi’s earlier porcelain designs. This piece was designed

for use in a specific space in the Forbidden City just like Cixi’s dayazhai wares, which

were designed expressly for use in a particular palatial structure.

The Guangxu wedding porcelain clearly contains better-formed pieces in

comparison to the earlier Tongzhi wedding porcelain, which, in certain places, appear

thick and heavy. However, the advances in technology only aided in the appearance of

th
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98 H.A. van Oort, Chinese Porcelain of the 19 and 20 Centuries (Netherlands:
Uitgeversmaatschappij de Tijdstroom, 1977), 56.
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