Page 67 - 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

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the emperors and the stylistic changes of enamelled porcelains. This so-called
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‘curatorial approach’ is a primary way in which Chinese enamelled porcelain has

been studied; however, many questions remain unanswered, such as why and how

enamelled porcelain could become the dominant type of Chinese porcelain in a very

short time.

I will examine the production of enamelled porcelain during the eighteenth

century, with a focus on how local manufacturers interacted. As will be seen, the

production of enamelled porcelain in eighteenth-century China experienced both

inventions and innovations. More important, as I will show, the history of enamelled

porcelain production was not only a linear one, but one involving complex interactions

among different sites of production as they develop over time.

2.2. Over-glaze Porcelain Production Prior to the Eighteenth Century

One might consider the value of porcelain in eighteenth-century China from a

perspective associated with techniques and decorations: that is, that there were two

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main types of porcelain, underglaze porcelain and over-glaze porcelain. In essence,

1 Yu Peijin (ed.), Jincheng yingyu qing yongzheng falangcai ci tezhan [A special exhibition of
porcelain with painted enamels of Yongzheng period in the Qing dynasty] (Taipei: National Place
Museum, 2012), pp.280-298. Evelyn Rawski and Jessica Rawson (eds.), China: The Three
Emperors, 1662-1795 (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2005); Cai Hebi, Qing Gongzhong
falangci tezhan [Special exhibition of Qing dynasty enamelled porcelains of imperial ateliers]
(Taibei: Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan, 1992).
2 In 1986, Munley specified the related responsibility of being a curator, namely that the curator
provides the scholarly expertise based on knowledge of the collection. Collection-based museums
thus developed their research by examining their collections, as so called ‘curatorial approach’.
Mary Ellen Munley, Catalysts for change: The Kellogg Projects in museum education
(Washington, DC: The Kellogg Projects in Museum Education, 1986), p.31.
3 There is another group of porcelain, which is decorated with no pigment painting but only glaze,
called monochromes. Because this research explores the role of enamels on the decoration of
Chinese porcelain, it will only focus on over-glazed decorated porcelain.
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