Page 84 - For the Love of Porcelain

box, acquired by a German army officer in
Beijing shortly after 1900 seems to indicate
that they were (fig. 7). The box, with a six-
character Wanli (1573–1620) mark, shows
clear signs of overheating during firing: the
cobalt blue enamel has burnt almost black in
places. But was it then still deemed suitable
for use at court? Possibly the huge demand 8
from the court meant that it had to make Jar, Jingdezhen, Ming
concessions too. The box ended up in the dynasty, Jiajing period
Chinese capital and was carefully preserved (1522 - 66), porcelain,
there until the early twentieth century. anhua decoration under
15
a decoration in overglaze
The dish discussed here provides a glimpse red, yellow and green,
of the daily routine around the production h. 29 cm, collection
of imperial porcelain in Jingdezhen during and photo Metropolitan
the late Ming. Although it is not among Museum of Art, New York,
the finest surviving pieces from this period, inv. no. 1991.253.59
it is an important historical document. A
7a, b workshops and that the products were small survey among Dutch colleagues did
Large box, Jingdezhen, delivered within the budgetary, time and not yield analogues of these kinds of pieces.
Ming dynasty, Wanli quality constraints. This process led to a However, the Metropolitan Museum in has been overpainted with chang ming fu gui
period (1522 - 1620), lot of complaints. Often, it meant that the New York has a comparable jar (fig. 8), (‘long life, riches, and honour’) in red enamel.
16
14
porcelain, decorated in objects did not meet the quality standards. which has an overglaze red, green and This means this jar was also ‘transformed’
underglaze blue with However, the owners of the workshops that yellow representation of the Immortals over from a piece of imperial porcelain to a
dragons and children executed these orders would not necessarily an incised (unknown to me) decoration. privately manufactured porcelain object (for
playing, Ø 22 cm, have smashed these sub-standard items. According to the Museum’s website the export). Hopefully, research inspired by this
collection Jurjen Pronk To recoup (some of) their investment they incised Jiajing mark on the base of the jar essay will yield more examples.
would have sought other channels where
they could nonetheless sell their wares,
for example, among the traders who were
buying porcelain for export. This may
partly explain why so much porcelain with
an imperial mark is found throughout
Southeast Asia. Sometimes the quality was
Notes
However, there is also another conceivable so poor that one wonders why it was shipped
scenario. Under Jiajing the court grew to at all. More often it concerned products that 5 Ströber 1993, pp. 40–41. 12 Idem.
an unprecedented extent, and this also were so simple in design and execution that 1 E. Ströber, Ming. Porcelain for a Globalised 13 Idem.
Trade, Stuttgart 2013, cat. nos. 8 and 5. 6 Idem, p. 40. Also see C. Lau, ‘Ceremonial
had implications for the production of the question is whether it actually originated 2 Idem, pp. 48–49. Monochrome Wares of the Ming Dynasty’, 14 M. Medley, ‘Organisation and Production at
imperial porcelain. The relatively small as an imperial order at all; see, for instance, 3 Among others, the Percival David Collection in R.E. Scott (ed.), The Porcelains of Jingdezhen, Jingdezhen in the Sixteenth Century’, in
in the British Museum has examples Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia, 16, R.E. Scott 1993, pp. 69–82.
imperial kilns simply could not meet the the crude bowl with the Jiajing mark found London 1993, pp. 83–100 (91). 15 The box is from a bequest of the German
(communication Eline van den Berg,
court’s huge demand. In addition, economic in Cambodia (figs. 6 a and b). Possibly, Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics). 7 Lau 1993, p. 90. army officer Hauptmann Erwin Fischer,
who acquired it in Peking in 1901.
reforms enacted during Jiajing’s reign over time, controls were less vigorous or 4 The inventory reads: ‘Bought in 1935 at a 8 Idem, p. 90. Documentation in possession Jurjen Pronk
small antique dealer‘s shop on the Delftsche 9 Idem, p. 90.
resulted in far-reaching improvements to workplaces applied imperial marks without Vaart in Rotterdam, a quaint quarter of the 10 For two similar plates with a diameter of 39 16 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv.
the quality of products from the private authorisation, and in the export regions, town which has now disappeared. It had centimetres from a Japanese private no. 1991.253.59. See http://www.
been sent to him with a group of other blue collection, see Sotheby’s. Fine Chinese metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/42541
porcelain workshops in Jingdezhen, to these types of marks formed an additional Ceramics and Works of Art, London, ?sortBy=Relevance&what=Jars&ft=j
Ming wares by his brother, who was
such a degree that some of them succeeded incentive to purchase a piece of porcelain. It working in the Samgi [= Sangihe] Islands. 5 November 2014, lot no. 29. For a smaller iajing&pg=1&rpp=20&pos=9.
in manufacturing wares comparable to is an incentive which in any case still exists As the other specimens were off colour version (Ø 14,7 cm), see The Fame of Flame –
and of no special interest, I only bought this imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli Periods,
those from the imperial kilns. Eunuchs todayWhether ‘imperial’ B-choice products one, which may be dated at least Hsuan-Te, Hong Kong 2009, pp. 134–35.
in the service of the emperor ensured that were also traded on the Chinese domestic like many related specimens in the Top-Kapu 11 The term ‘red shops’ is derived from Ströber
Museum, Constantinople.’ 2013, pp. 170–71.
imperial orders were made at the appropriate market is difficult to establish. A lidded
80 I vormen uit vuur vormen uit vuur I 81