Page 31 - Metropolitan Museum Collection September 2016

One subject that has attracted a lot of debate is “famille noire”
porcelain.7 A glossy black enamel was often created on Kangxi
porcelain by layering the dull black with lustrous green. This
produced a colour such as that seen on the hair of the fgure of Lu
Xing (lot 878), the detailing on the design of women and children
on the vase (lot 881), and the backgrounds to the teapot (lot 882).
In the second half of the 19th century there was a great vogue for
famille noire pieces among Western collectors, who especially liked
large vases such as lots 1002 and 1004. These two vessels were
originally owned by the pre-eminent collector James Garland, who
died in 1902. Such pieces were then believed to date to the Kangxi
period, but were in fact fairly new when acquired.

While we can posit a dating for late Qing examples, it is more
problematic to date export wares within the long reign of Kangxi
(1662-1722). The period was an eventful one. After the Ming
dynasty fell in 1644, and Manchu tribesmen from the north
established the Qing dynasty, a period of chaos and civil war ensued
that affected all aspects of life in China, including the porcelain
industry. In 1674 many of the southern provinces of China united
in rebellion against the incoming Manchu rulers, and this “Revolt
of the Three Feudatories” developed into Civil War. Fighting
ravaged large areas of south China till 1681, and nearly unseated
the Kangxi emperor. In 1674 the larger kilns at the porcelain-
making centre of Jingdezhen were razed to the ground, together
with a large part of the city.8 Kangxi took full responsibility for the
campaign to subdue the revolt, and for dealing with its aftermath.
By 1683 a re-organised, industrial kiln complex supplying porcelain
to the court was in place. Business boomed after that date, both
for domestic and export wares. Judging from items documented
from such sources as shipwrecks, it is likely that the majority of
export wares for the West were made after 1683, though there
are exceptions. They were not made at the imperial kilns, but at
the myriad private frms operating in the city of Jingdezhen. The
attractive pieces in this catalogue were part of that huge trade, that
gave rise to goods ranging from premium quality right down to
everyday household grade.

1 For a discussion of terminology, Rose Kerr (ed.) and Nigel Wood, Science & Civilisation in
China, Volume V:12, Ceramic Technology (Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp.634-5.

2 Suzanne Kluver, “Boek versus porselein. Een analyse van ‘Histoire Artistique, Industrielle
et Commerciale de la Porcelain’”, Vormen uit Vuur, no.218, 2012-3, pp.29-35.

3 Stacey Pierson, Collectors, collections and museums : the feld of Chinese ceramics in
Britain, 1560-1960 (Peter Lang, 2007), pp.62-65.

4 Eva Ströber, Symbols on Chinese Porcelain, 10 000 Times Happiness, Keramiekmuseum
Princessehof (Stuttgart, 2011), pp.74-79.

5 Schuyler Camman, “Some Strange Ming Bests”, Oriental Art NS, 2:3 (Oxford, 1956),
pp.94-102.

6 Rose Kerr and Luisa Mengoni, Chinese Export Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum
(London, 2011), p.33, pl.33.

7 A good general survey is Linda Rosenfeld Pomper, “Famille Noire Porcelains: Tracing the
Taste Through the 18th and 19th Centuries”, Arts of Asia, 43:4, July-August 2013, pp.115-
125.

8 Rose Kerr, Chinese Ceramics. Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, Victoria and Albert
Museum (London, 1986), p.16.

Lot 881