Page 39 - Yuan Dynasty Ceramics

Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 368

The use of the colors blue, gold, and white on sapphire
blue wares, then, is significant given their links to status
and power. Excavated ceramics at Doufulong in
Jingdezhen exhibit the full range of decoration used for
this type of ware. In this cache some wares were un-
adorned, others were embellished with gilt decoration,
and still others featured reserve white motifs, such as
dragons chasing pearls. Famous examples of sapphire
blue include a distinctive spouted bowl; a wine cup and a
shallow dish were also found in the Baoding treasure. 162
Perhaps the most spectacular piece of sapphire-blue-
glazed ware to come to light in recent years is a wine flask
(meiping) with a reserve white dragon decoration held by
the Yangzhou Museum (see Fig. 7.31). 163 In Chinese lore,
C&C rescan to this size dragons rise in the springtime from the seas to the skies,
and are associated with the easterly cardinal direction as
well as the color blue. 164 In works such as this, then,
Mongol and Chinese symbolism converge.
Rare examples of peacock blue imperial porcelain with
7.47. Hutian ware shufu-style stem cup, Yuan dynasty, 1320–1350, gilt and underglaze blue decoration have been excavated
11.6 cm tall, 11.8 cm diameter. Made at Jingdezhen. The British at Jingdezhen; as mentioned earlier, they are believed to
Museum.
have been made for the Wenzong emperor. 165 And
turquoise-glazed faïence wares with underglaze decora-
tion are thought to have had an influence on Chinese
significantly, this reign title was also used by the Ming ceramics. These wares have a long history in
emperor Zhengtong (r. 1435–1449) who reigned as the Mesopotamia and Egypt, where in the thirteenth and
Tianshun emperor from 1457 to 1464. Consequently, fourteenth centuries they were produced at Kashan dur-
this piece may very well be from the fifteenth century or ing the Seljuk (1055–1256) and Il-Khanid periods
even later. (1256–1353). The closest related domestic wares are the
Jin and Yuan dynasty turquoise-blue-glazed wares of
Jingdezhen Porcelain with Blue Glazes
Cizhou; probably influenced by these wares from
Sapphire blue (baoshi lan) glazed wares were created for Kashan, they feature a painted iron underglaze. Kashani
the Mongols in recognition of their most prominent god, and Cizhou wares have even been found together at
Eternal Blue Heaven (Koko Mongke Tengri), to whom Mongol period sites in Russia. 166
Genghis Khan credited his success in conquest. 160 In the
Copper-Red-Glazed Porcelain Produced at Jingdezhen
1200s, too, the Mongol empire was divided, with the col-
ors blue, gold, and white used to designate various do- Previously, many copper red monochrome glazed
mains. These colors are also believed to relate to the wares, as well as underglaze copper red painted wares
steppe color-direction system, in which black connotes (discussed later) were believed to have been created dur-
north, blue means east, red symbolizes south, white indi- ing the Yuan dynasty. But while some copper-red-glazed
cates west, and gold (or yellow) refers to the center. and underglaze copper red wares have been recovered at
Therefore, in the Mongol empire, blue symbolized Yuan sites, recent excavation of the early Ming imperial
heaven and the cardinal direction east, while white was kilns at Jingdezhen has revealed that most surviving four-
associated with the west, high status, and good fortune. teenth-century wares with copper red decoration were
Finally, gold signified not only the highest and central made during the early Ming reigns of the Hongwu
earthly power, but also one heavenly body, the sun, (1368–1398), Yongle (1402–1424), and Xuande
which was one of most popular emblems used by the (1426–1435) emperors. The Hongwu emperor associated
Mongols in the 1230s. Later, in the thirteenth century, the color with his reign because the Chinese word for the
Marco Polo noted that Khubilai Khan’s insignia was a color red (hong) is a homonym for the first character of
gold sun with a silver or white moon. 161 that reign, which means valor. 167 The copper red color,

368 Yuan Dynasty Ceramics