Page 74 - 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

Kaolin was abundant in Jingdezhen, but it became exhausted by the late sixteenth

century. From then on, the main supply of kaolin was from the mountains in Qimen

祁门, which adjoin the province of Jiangxi to the East. The main difference between

baidunzi and kaolin lay in their molecular composition and in the method of

preparation. Containing quartz, baidunzi came from the earth in the form of stone that

had to be washed to remove loose dirt, and was then broken by hand or mallet into

small lumps or ground by water-driven mills into pulverised stone. In combination,

these two materials (baidunzi and kaolin) strengthened each other, with the baidunzi

making the mixture more fusible and the kaolin providing greater ease in modelling.

The two combined in right proportion with the right amount of water added were

worked together by repeated treading, beating or pounding until the clay became a

firm mass of a consistency suitable for modelling.

After digging, the kaolin and baidunzi needed to be crushed. Figure 2-1 shows

that the workmen use a mountain stream to erect wheels operating crushes to break

22
up the clay into powder and then washed and purified with water. The clay had to

be cleared of impurities such as mica crystals or stone fragments, which might cause

flaws or cracks in the porcelain. Workman stirred the clay with water in a large pool,

so that the impurities sank to the bottom. Buffaloes are shown in Figure 2-2 pounding

22 Except where otherwise indicated, the following figures of this section are all from Hong Kong
Maritime Museum. This set of album depicts Chinese porcelain manufacture and trade. It has 34
leaves of watercolours, dated of the mid-eighteenth century. The museum number of this object is
HKMM2012.0101.0010. I thank Mary Ginsberg, curator of Chinese painting at Asia Department
in the British Museum, who introduced me to Kenny Yuan, the assistant curator of Hong Kong
Maritime Museum of Art，Kenney Yuan for sharing this album of painting. The album painting
recently received a donation from Mrs. Susan Chen Hardy. This set was originally sold to a lady
by Martyn Gregory, a leading art gallery of Chinese export painting. Kenney Yuan sent me clear
photos as well as the catalogue of this album. In 2015, a special exhibition entitled ‘Trading China:
Paintings of the Porcelain Production Process in the Qing Dynasty’ showcases a series of 34
paintings that document the process of making and trading porcelain.
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