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motifs and styles. These new designs were so dazzling that the porcelains produced for
the imperial court after 1680 bear the co-opted innovations on their glazes.

A similar dynamic can be seen in the nineteenth century. A republican-era

collector native of Canton (Guangzhou), Xu Zhiheng, singled out three skilled craftsmen

who achieved renown during the early nineteenth century: Wang Bingrong, Chen Guozhi,

and Hu Wenxiang (Figures 12, 13, 14). As their porcelain pieces show, each piece bears

the potter’s name, most often applied in the same relief carving method as the decoration

of the porcelain itself. As is well known, prior to the nineteenth century, reign marks

were the prevailing norm for seals on Jingdezhen porcelain. Individual porcelain makers’

names rarely appeared on the bottom of porcelain objects. Another development that

began in the Tongzhi (1860-1875) and Guangxu (1875-1908) eras was the emergence of

qianjiang ૵ച or “pale-burgundy” painted porcelain. The term qianjiang, drawn from

painting on silk or paper, denotes a particular color palate used for decoration on

porcelain. Black ink provided the outlines of figures and flora and a pale reddish-brown

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ink was used to apply color for foliage, water, and elements in the light. The resultant
works were pale in shading and delicate in its decoration. The vanguard qianjiang

porcelain painters active in the mid-nineteenth century were Wang Shaowei, Jin Pinqing

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and Cheng Men (Figures 15, 16). All three worked as porcelain painters at Jingdezhen

in the 1860s and 1870s and are generally acknowledged as being the forefathers of a

group of porcelain artists commonly referred to as the “Eight Friends of Mt. Zhu” based

in Jingdezhen in the 1910s and 1920s. This society of porcelain makers found inspiration

from examples of literati painting for their porcelain compositions and popularized the art

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of porcelain plaques (Figure 17). Meeting once a month to discuss and brainstorm