Page 102 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 2 The Production of Enamelled Porcelain and Knowledge Transfer

Beijing to Canton were different. We cannot deny their relations, but neither can we

blur their technological natures that they were of different materials.

It is difficult to determine precisely the technical exchange between Beijing and

Canton. One problem with disentangling this subject has been the tendency to

emphasise stylistic exchanges. During the whole of the eighteenth century, Canton

was a main site of supply of enamelled copperware to the court. Most of the items

were kept and collected in the Forbidden City, and now collected in the National

Palace Museum in Taipei. In terms of a curatorial approach, Shi Jingfei’s research has

established a general history of enamelled copperware production and shed much light

on the subject. However, her research mainly focused on items that were collected by

the court, while little has been mentioned and studied on items circulated outside the

court. Very recently, Jorge Welsh, the well-known gallery of Chinese export porcelain,

held an exhibition of Chinese enamelled copperwares entitled China of All Colours:

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Painted Enamels on Copper and published a catalogue along with the exhibition.

This exhibition shed light on enamelled copperwares that had been traded. By

examining particular objects of similar designs, Jorge Welsh reveals the technological

similarities between enamelled copperware and enamelled porcelain. Yet the

relationship of production techniques between enamelled porcelain and copperware

is still unclear.

We have little information relating to the production point of view. I have

discussed these questions with Shi Jingfei and Jorge Welsh. It seems that everyone is

on board with the agreement that there were interactions between enamelled porcelain

and enamelled copperwares manufactures. However, no records have survived

66 Luisa Vinhais, Jorge Welsh (eds.), China of All Colours: Painted Enamels on Copper (London:
Jorge Welsh Research and Publishing, 2015).
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