Page 106 - 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

72
rd
On 3 March in the fifth year of the Yongzheng reign (1727), an imperial edict
was sent to the Imperial Workshops: ‘You should keep the design samples (shiyang

式样) of those crafts that I have ordered. Otherwise, you might not fabricate the crafts

73
in the same design.’ This record shows that the emperor himself had been involved

in the painting design of porcelain production. It also revealed a system of Imperial

workshops whereby the design sample would need to be proved by the emperor before

the object was actually made. From the 1680s onwards, the Qing court applied a

design samples system to ensure the objects could be manufactured of their own tastes.

Craig Clunas argued that court art was always partly at the service of the visible

demonstration of power and status. The court needed symbolic resources of works of

74
art that could satisfy ideological justification. Peter Lam and Yu Peijin argued that

because of this system, the particular style or design was controlled by the court and

75
the circulation was restrained to the royal family. However, they underestimated
the fact that the information conveyed by the design was in detail, and from various

aspects.

These examples included sketches of the planned product on paper, or were

accompanied by models prototypes in wood or wax, showcasing the size and design.

The sketch visualised the dimensions, the colour and refinement of detail in their work

72 Imperial edicts were normally issued by the emperor and it was the closest expression of the
will of the emperor himself.
73 Zhu Jiajin,Yangxindian zaobanchu shiliao [Archival records of the Imperial Workshops during
Yongzheng reign], p.7.
74 Craig Clunas, Arts in China (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p.45
75 Lam Yip Keung Peter, ‘Cangu yunxin-liuyuan sheji ciyang [The study of Liuyuan and his design
on ceramics] in Palace Museum, Gugong bowuyuan bashi huadan gutaoci guoji xueshu yantaohui
lunwenji [The proceeding of the International Conference on Chinese Ceramic] (Beijing: The
Forbidden City Press, 2007); Yu Peijin, ‘Qing yongzheng citai huafalang liuye tuwan [A
enamelled porcelain bowl with willow leaves in Yongzheng period], Gugong wenwu yuekan
[Monthly Journal of National Palace Museum],319 (2009),pp.112-15.
90