Page 56 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780
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CHAPTER 1 Introduction
Illustration of porcelain production (Taoye tuce, 陶冶图册, published in 1743), The
book of porcelain (Tao Shuo ,陶说, published 1774), Records of Jingdezhen Ceramics
(Jingdezhen taolu, 景德镇陶录, published 1815).
Illustration of porcelain production is an album of porcelain manufacturing
commissioned by the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-1795) in 1738. It was finished in
1743 and comprised twenty pictures painted by court painters and accompanied by
85
Tang Ying’s 唐英 (1682-1756) text. The text for the descriptions of the twenty
pictures, written by Tang Ying has provided a concise, accurate account not only of
the procedures involved in making the porcelain but also the meticulous division of
labour, the set-up of the potteries in Jingdezhen and the various technical details.
Hence these descriptions have been widely published and have become the most
important technical treatise on porcelain making since the eighteenth century. Later it
was reproduced in The book of porcelain, Gazetteer of Fuliang (Fuliang xianzhi, 浮
86
梁县志, published in 1822) and Gazetteer of Jiangxi Province (Jiangxi Tongzhi, 江
西通志, published in 1880).
87
The book of porcelain was first published in 1774. It was written by Zhu Yan
朱琰, a literati who was an official secretary to Grand Palace Coordinator Wu of
Jiangxi province. This monograph contains a short study of Qing porcelain, but
85 The significance of this album has been discussed by Yu Peijin, ‘Taoye tuce suojian Qianlong
huangdi de lixiang guanyao’ [The Emperor Qianlong’s Ideal Imperial Kiln as Seen in the
Illustrated Album of Ceramics Making], Gugong xueshu jikan [Research Quarterly of the National
Palace Museum], 30, 3 (2013), pp.185-220.
86 Fuliang is a county in the province of Jiangxi which was the main porcelain manufacturer in
Jingdezhen.
87 For the most recent one, see Zhu Yan, Tao Shuo [The book of porcelain] (Explanatory from Du
Bin) (Jinan, 2010). In the following of this thesis, otherwise noted, I refer this source by using this
edition.
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