Page 73 - Jindezhen Porcelain Production of the 19th C. by Ellen Huang, Univ. San Diego 2008
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Constructing a link between personhood and porcelain collection in Guo’s
configuration of porcelain history was another instance whereby Guo recuperated Qing
imperial practice. In the library of the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, there is
a forty-volume catalogue itemizing 441 ceramic objects in total, which included snuff
bottles, seven Qianlong period glass snuff bottles, twelve Yongzheng cloisonné porcelain
ware (falangcai), and sixteen Qianlong polychrome (wucai) wares. Titled after the name
of Guo’s studio, the Zhizhai cicheng was a meticulously produced inventory of Guo’s
own porcelain collection. The arduously printed keepsake of his large porcelain
collection consists of seven over-sized, cloth-matted boxes, each containing over-sized,
string-bound volumes. As the enormity and lavishness of the catalogue attests, Guo was
an avid collector and treasured his personal collection. Each porcelain object included a
description of the object’s height, mouth circumference, base circumference, and weight,
in the Chinese language, of course. Within each volume, each ceramic piece corresponds
to its photographs, likely a result of Guo’s earlier photographic career. The objects were
photographed not only from the front but also the bottom angle, with each photograph
labeled correspondingly. They were black and white photographs, clearly developed, and
measured slightly over 8 x 11 inches. Each volume was made of blue, stiff paper and had
gold leaf decoration. All of the ceramic pieces were labeled in the same format: dynasty,
reign name, ware (yao). The first volume included a carefully handwritten copy of Guo’s
essay “Ciqi gaishuo” on yellow paper decorated with gold leaf (Figure 13). Finally, the
second volume focused solely on a single ceramic piece, a Chai ware. Pictures of his
porcelain collection indicated that pieces were often stored on small display stands of
wood or lacquer (Figure 14). However, the highlighted Chai piece was placed on a
