Page 23 - Fine Imperial Porcelain at Sothebys Hong Kong April 3 2019

A NEW PALETTE FOR

THE KANGXI EMPEROR

Falangcai of the Kangxi reign – porcelains from Jingdezhen European Jesuit priests had, among many other things,
painted in the Imperial workshops of the Forbidden City in brought European enamel wares as gifts to the court, with
Beijing with ‘foreign enamels’ – are among the rarest and the ulterior motif to gain access to the Emperor through
most dazzling ceramic wares of the Qing dynasty. Unlike foreign novelties. As the Emperor was keen to have them
most other wares of that period they were individually reproduced by the Imperial palace workshops, European
produced, subject to close scrutiny by the Emperor, and enamelling specialists as well as the enamels themselves
each piece is unique. were sent from Europe. The new colours were first used
on copper vessels where, like in Europe, they were applied
The Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722) was one of China’s
greatest rulers, who anchored the foreign Qing dynasty overall to completely hide the metal body underneath,
firmly in the Empire’s long, continuous history. It was a their floral designs contrasting with brightly coloured
backgrounds (see, for example, a bowl with prunus in the
prosperous period, when China was a powerful magnet for British Museum, London, accession no. 1939,1014.1, also in
embassies from the West. The Emperor was an intelligent
and highly educated ruler, who unquestioningly embraced Hugh Moss, By Imperial Command. An Introduction to Ch’ing
classical Chinese learning as a central foundation of Chinese Imperial Painted Enamels, Hong Kong, 1976, pl. 10).
culture, but at the same time openly welcomed modern The first ceramics enamelled in Beijing closely followed
progress, even if it came from outside. Although the arts and these enamelled metal wares in style and colouration. The
crafts as such were clearly not on the top of his agenda, he same enamels as used for decorating copper were applied to
became a particularly engaged patron due to his interest in brown Yixing stonewares and white Jingdezhen porcelains.
technical development. Although at Jingdezhen enamels had long been applied
onto fully glazed and fired porcelain vessels, these Chinese
To this end he had workshops for a wide variety of scientific predecessors do not seem to have been taken as models.
instruments and other practical and decorative objects set The first enamellers in Beijing – perhaps Westerners – may
up in the Forbidden City, very close to his personal living
quarters, where he could follow, encourage and criticise have considered the shiny porcelain glaze an unsuitable
any progress made in their production. During his reign surface for the enamels to adhere, so that porcelains partly
or fully unglazed and left in the biscuit were specially created
these workshops resembled sophisticated experimental at Jingdezhen and supplied to the court for this new imperial
laboratories where court artists, artisans and technicians
explored new scientific discoveries, manufacturing methods adventure. A unique vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, with
and substances. For the same reasons he welcomed a similar puce background, was provided as a blank biscuit
vessel without any glaze, see The Complete Collection of
foreigners to the court, mainly from Europe, to provide Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné
information on international standards of scientific and
technical knowledge and to supply skills and materials Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong,
unknown in China. 1999, no. 1. For bowls and dishes peculiar orders must have

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