Page 74 - Jindezhen Porcelain Production of the 19th C. by Ellen Huang, Univ. San Diego 2008

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peculiar type of stand that was labeled “duobao che εᘒԓ,” which meant literally, a

“car of many treasures” (Figure 15). As Figure 15 shows, it was indeed a stand shaped

like a car, on top of which stood the precious Chai porcelain object. This was Guo

Baochang’s playful twist on a practice of delight (and knowledge) by Qing emperor

Qianlong: the duobao ge (cabinet of many treasures), the historical significance of which

will be discussed in the dissertation’s third chapter. The point here is not so much that a

collection reflects the individual collector’s taste and thus personhood. Rather, it is to

show how Guo’s catalogue was an echo of, and a throwback to, the imperial relationship

with porcelain, which was of course a byproduct of his career at Jingdezhen. Zhizhai

cicheng was published in 1935 and perhaps Guo gave it to Percival David, knowing the

influence of Percival David on defining porcelain and thus, hoping to raise the value of

certain porcelain types, including the Guyuexuan he made for Yuan Shikai, for sale on

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the art market.
The last section of Guo’s “Brief Description of Porcelain” focused on a

description of the enameled cloisonné decorated porcelain called falangcai ೗๻੹,

variously referred to as Guyuexuan wares. As mentioned, these made their first

appearance in the Kangxi period and achieved their technical apogee under Tang Ying.

Yet there is little reason to assume they defined an era of porcelain production, being

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slighted in other ceramic manuals of the nineteenth century. In fact, the material

composition of these enamel materials and process of decoration were similar to the

export wares, Jingdezhen porcelain bodies that were transported to be decorated in

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Canton in the nineteenth century. The enameled porcelain wares praised by Guo

Baochang were decorated and completed at the court and reproduced as the porcelains of