Page 227 - Jindezhen Porcelain Production of the 19th C. by Ellen Huang, Univ. San Diego 2008

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norm for designating Qing dynasty porcelains made in Jingdezhen kilns with reign

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names. The Record of Jingdezhen Ceramics went a step further in porcelain-naming

protocol. In the Record, the authors categorized Qing porcelain types by the surname of

the imperial household official assigned to supervising kiln production who had either

lived in Jingdezhen or supervised production by making frequent visits to Jingdezhen, in

addition to reign name. “Kangxi Zang wares” was the term used for Kangxi period wares

produced under the official who had been sent from the Imperial Household treasury

department overseeing Jingdezhen porcelain activity. Zang was the surname of Zang

Yingxuan ၼᏐ፯, appointed in 1683. “Yongzheng Nian wares” referred to the porcelains

produced during Yongzheng reigns under Nian Xiyao ϋҎగ, who was a Manchu

bannerman and whose formal position was the Grand Minister of the Imperial Household.

No list would be complete without mention of the naming practice in the Record of

Jingdezhen Ceramics for Qianlong period wares made under the direction of celebrated

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ceramicist Tang Ying: “Qianlong Tang wares.” Of course, the fact that marks on
porcelain produced during the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong periods did not actually

appear with the names of imperial porcelain officials’ surnames on the markings

reinforces the idea that the book was an homage to relations between the court and

Jingdezhen, relations that were weakening at the time of its authorship (Figures 9, 10,

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11).

Temporal dimensions come to the fore through themes of decline, a lamentation

over which the author repeatedly anguished in the text. Chen’s perception of an art in

decline and crisis was a motivating factor in clarifying the brighter moments of the

Qing’s porcelain. In the 1906 preface he bemoaned that “Lately, our country China’s