Page 27 - Zhangzhou Or Swatow The Collection of Zhangzhou Ware at the Princessehof Museum, Leeuwarden, Netherlands

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Zhangzhou Ware with Decoration in Combination of Underglaze
Blue and Overglaze Enamels

Zhangzhou ware decorated in a combination of enamels and underglaze blue are rare. The shapes include
dishes, bowls, and small jars. They are all made of comparatively rather pure white porcelain, the designs
complex combinations of elements like animals, plants

To produce the design, the potter had first to paint the parts done in cobalt blue. After high firing the space left
empty for the enamelled decoration was filled with designs in red, green, turquoise, the motifs outlined in
black, and fired a second time at lower temperature.

It seems that this type of ware, which was – compared to the Zhangzhou blue and white and the “common”
polychrome pieces – difficult and time consuming to produce and had to be sold at a high price.

It was probably intended for the Japanese market, to be appreciated by Japanese connoisseurs and used at the
Japanese rituals of drinking tea.

Most of the pieces of this type of combination of underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze enamels include the
decorative element of the “red roundel”, particularly appreciated by Japanese connoisseurs; many pieces of this
type are preserved in Japanese collections and have influenced later Japanese ceramic design.

Ref.: Seikado 1997; Stroeber 2013

GRV 1929-009

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