Chinese Ceramics II:
Procelain
by
Lihua Zhao, for Fine Art Registry®
China has a very long history of ceramics, which can be divided into pottery and porcelain. The first article in this series focused on pottery. This second article covers porcelain, also known the world over as china.
Basically, the difference between pottery and china lies in the materials. Porcelain uses china clay, different from the usual clay used in pottery. However, that is an oversimplification and the precise definition of porcelain is a bit more involved. Porcelain must have the following points:
- The material of the body of the object must be china clay.
- It must be fired at high temperature, 1200°C - 1300°C
- The glaze on the porcelain surface must also be fired together with the porcelain at high temperature to form the glass glaze.
- After firing, the porcelain object must be hard; tapping it produces a high, tinkling metallic sound.
History of Porcelain
Porcelain today is made all over the world and used for many different purposes, from tableware to crowns for people's teeth. The technology originated in China, hence the name for fine porcelain tableware: "china". In 1513, when Portuguese merchant ships arrived at Guangzhou pier, Jingdezhen porcelain started pouring into the European market. And it wasn’t until the beginning of the 18th century that European porcelain manufacture began in Meissen, Germany, with the first piece of hard, white European porcelain recorded as having been produced in 1708. The technology of porcelain making was also introduced into other countries such as France, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere.
Back in the Shang Dynasty more than 3,600 years ago in China, primitive celadon porcelain emerged. This was a grey-white, hard, high-temperature material which, when knocked, had a metallic ring. The "celadon" refers to the bluish or yellowish-green, high-temperature vitreous glaze. The "primitive" is in reference to the fact that the technology was in its early stages and therefore the finish was rough compared to later, more refined work.
The technology developed over a period of 1,000 years or so, and by the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty (23-220 A.D.), when mature celadon was produced, the porcelain industry had reached the level of modern porcelain manufacture.
The Wei Dynasty (AD 220-265), Jin Dynasty (AD 265-420), and the Southern and Northern Dynasty (AD 420-589) marked a leap forward in Chinese porcelain production, constantly improving manufacturing processes, with celadon becoming more widely popular, especially in Northern Dynasty. This epoch also marked the beginning of successfully firing white porcelain, a new milestone in the history of porcelain development. "White porcelain" refers to both the body and the glaze being white.
During the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), porcelain production eclipsed all previous periods, in terms of both art and technology, with porcelain kilns throughout the North and South of China. Celadon reached a stage of maturity and perfection. The Tang Dynasty had six particularly famous celadon kilns: Yuezhou kiln (in the city of Yuyao, Zhejiang province); Dingzhou kiln (in the city of Changde, Hunan province); Lanzhou kiln (now in the city of Jinhua in Zhejiang province); another Yuezhou kiln – same name, different place – (in the city of Xiangyang in Hunan province); Shouzhou kiln in the city of Huainan, Anhui province); Hongzhou kiln (in the city of Fengcheng, Jiangxi province). All six produced celadon and are known as the "Six Celadon kilns of the Tang Dynasty."
The Yuezhou kiln (called Yue for short) fired porcelain with an elegant glaze of a green lake color, until the latter part of the Tang Dynasty when they developed and fired the ultimate celadon porcelain known, because of its yellow-green color, as Olive Green Porcelain. According to historical records, the Yue kiln Olive Green porcelain was reserved for work for the Royal Family. The secrets of the process they used were never exported or divulged.
During the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279), porcelain production flourished. A number of new, famous kilns with their own unique styles were added to the line-up, such as the Henan Ru kiln, the Guan kiln, the Jun kiln, Hebei Ding kiln, Cizhou kiln, Zhejiang Longquan kiln, Jiangxi Jingdezhen kiln, Jizhou kiln, Fujian Jian kiln, Shaanxi Yaozhou kiln and others. The first five of these became known as the Five Famous Kilns of the Song Dynasty.
Celadon, produced by the Ru, Guan and Ge kilns, reached its peak during the Song Dynasty. Ding kiln was most famous for its white porcelain.
The Jun kiln, located in Yuzhou city in Henan province, introduced the use of iron, copper, titanium and other metal oxides which formed red, green, purple, white, and other colorful effects after firing. Guan kiln mainly fired the porcelain for the royalty. At that time the Emperor as well as the royalty were very fond of porcelain products.
During the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1127-1279) the Guan kiln and Longquan kiln invented a new process using lime which made the celadon glaze color appear powder blue, plum green, etc. like faux jade. This was celadon at its most beautiful.
During the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271-1368), Qinghua porcelain was produced in quantity. Qinghua is also known as blue and white porcelain. Cobalt was used to paint patterns on the porcelain object which was then covered with a layer of colorless transparent glaze. This was then fired at high temperature with a special firing technique which avoids the phenomenon of the porcelain going yellow, thus resulting in white porcelain decorated with blue (usually flowers). During this time a new method of decoration was invented which used copper oxide to create colors under the glaze which then were revealed on firing.
During the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644) porcelain production and trade increased, creating a period of unprecedented prosperity. It was during the Ming Dynasty that porcelain from the Jingdezhen kiln found its way into Western countries in great quantities and the kiln became famous worldwide.
The monochrome-glazed porcelain of the Ming and Qing dynasties used the most basic colorless transparent glaze, and only added a single chemical element. Depending on the atmosphere and the temperature, the glaze appears as different colors. By this method they created bright red, ruby red, emerald green, peacock blue and other new varieties of porcelain colors.
In the Qing Dynasty, porcelain production took the progress made during the Ming Dynasty and developed it to a new level. New varieties of famous porcelain were created, such as rose porcelain and enamel colored porcelain. Decorated porcelain achieved a new peak.
From the Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty forwards, Jingdezhen became the production center of Chinese porcelain, the source of famous porcelains such as white glaze, red glaze and blue glaze, all of which saw rapid development. Decorative porcelain was gradually favored, while celadon slowly lost its leading social status.
Types of Porcelain
Porcelain can be divided according to the glaze color into four categories: celadon ware, black porcelain, white porcelain and colorized ware.
Porcelain is also divided by type into hard porcelain, soft porcelain (sintering* temperature slightly lower than 1300°C, its chemical stability and mechanical strength are lower than that of hard porcelain) and special porcelain (mainly using the various oxides). (China produced mainly hard porcelain with sintering temperatures over 1360°C, white color, high strength, showing translucency and high chemical and thermal stability.) [*sintering: of a powder, coalescing into a solid or porous mass through heating.]
Jingdezen, Porcelain Capital of the World
Jingdezhen City in the Northeast of Jiangxi Province has some 2000 years of porcelain production history, and has for a long time been considered the porcelain capital of the world. For a long time, Jingdezhen has been famous for its "white as jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper" porcelain.
Jingdezhen has four traditional famous porcelains:
Qinghuaci (blue and white porcelain) was invented by Jiangdezhen porcelain workers during the Yuan Dynasty. It involves first painting on the porcelain object itself, then on the transparent glaze, fired only once at high temperature. The colored pattern shows through beneath the glaze.
Fenaici (rose porcelain, also known as "soft color") is produced by painting onto the uncolored porcelain using glass white as a primer and mixing in colored material. This is then fired, producing rich, soft, elegant color.
Yanseyou (color glaze porcelain) produces the most mysterious colors of all the porcelain arts. Not only purpurin, but any color can come out of the fire, such as flame red, green as the spring water, blue as the sky, black as charcoal.
Linglongci (rice-pattern decorated porcelain): many Linglong eyes (Linglongyan) were carved on the surface of the porcelain which was then glazed and the "eyelets" became the beautiful translucent bright holes which this porcelain is famous for.
Linglong porcelain has engraving on it and also has the blue-and-white porcelain patterns. Since 1949, Linglong porcelain has developed rapidly in all areas of production. In addition to Chinese and Western tableware products, tea and coffee sets, and other porcelain for daily use, various vases and lamps and decorative items are made. In recent years a number of other Linglong porcelain styles emerged, including colored porcelain, thin-wall Linglong lamps and very delicate arts and crafts porcelain.
Linglong porcelain has become a bestselling product in Southeast Asia, Japan, Hong Kong, Macao, Europe and the United States – a total of more than 100 countries and regions.
Confused Porcelain Landscape
Although Jingdezhen has been recognized as the porcelain capital for millennia, after the reform and opening up of China, Jingdezhen ceramic production and development slowed significantly with an annual production now of about one billion Yuan (US$135 million), mostly art porcelain. But Jingdezhen has not developed the day to day porcelain items, and Dehua in Fujian has developed porcelain trade with over 80 countries and, because it does produce the day to day porcelain ware, its industrial advantage is quite obvious and Dehua has, in fact, taken over as the main production center for porcelain in China and is now more important economically than Jingdezhen.
Dehua
At present Dehua has more than 1,100 ceramic enterprises employing 80,000 people.
Dehua porcelain dates back to the Song Dynasty, more than 1,000 years ago. During the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644), it gradually formed its own techniques and style. In the Qing Dynasty (AD 1644 to 1911), Dehua porcelain evolved and won gold medals four times in a row at expositions in Shanghai, Taiwan, Japan and the United Kingdom.
After the 1950s, as part of inheriting traditional arts and crafts and also continually pursuing innovation, Dehua was firing over 390 categories of different varieties of traditional porcelain, as well as introducing modern themed porcelain such as animals, birds, flowers, miniascapes, flower baskets and so on.
Three Centers
The third center of porcelain production in China is Guangdong Chaozhou. Jingdezhen was long considered the Historical Porcelain Culture Capital. Things have changed. In the last eight or nine years, Jingdezhen has dropped behind as some of its talent has moved elsewhere and company management irregularities led Jingdezhen into a decline. The Art Porcelain of Jingdezhen has high technical requirements. But on the day-to-day functional porcelain, Jingdezhen hasn't had any big scale factories to produce the porcelain. Therefore Chaozhou Porcelain, despite its inferior quality, has gained market share.
In September 2003 and June 2004 respectively, Dehua and Chaozhou were awarded the honorary title of “China Porcelain Capital” by China’s Arts and Crafts Fine Art Association, the China Light Industry Association and the China Ceramic Industry Association. Many disputes arose. Giving the fact that their exports of day-to-day porcelain ware were greater than Jingdezhen’s as a reason, and employing bribery and other improper means, these two cities, in order to gain economic advantage, robbed Jingdezhen of the title of China Porcelain Capital.
The people of Jingdezhen considered that the soul of porcelain was in the works of art done in the medium, but citizens of Chaozhou felt the day-to-day porcelainware should be the benchmark of the industry. Some thought that there should perhaps have been a Porcelain Cultural Capital and a Porcelain Commercial Capital. Different standards and different results.
In terms of benefiting the economy, Jingdezhen cannot compare with Chaozhou or Dehua. When it comes to the cultural history and tradition of porcelain, Chaozhu cannot compare with Jingdezhen or Dehua. When it comes to both benefiting the economy and carrying the tradition of porcelain culture, Jingdezhen and Chaozhou cannot compare with Dehua. These factors have created a confusion.
The traditional Chinese "Porcelain Capital," Jingdezhen, is the home of much talent. Jingdezhen boasts twenty-one national level Masters such as Wang Xiliang, Li Jin, Zhang Songmao, Dai Ronghua and many others. Many national level masters are in the provincial cities. The local Ceramic Research Institutes work hard to create a strong momentum in the development of the porcelain arts and crafts.
A Porcelain Master
Qin Xilin, is well-known at home and abroad as a ceramic artist. He was born on May 15th, 1942 in Jiangxi Nanchang. He graduated in 1964 from Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute Arts Department where he is now the president and a professor. He has been researching and creating ceramic art for some 38 years. He has won many gold and silver and outstanding awards for his works which combine a strong sense of the times with the traditions of Oriental art. His works have been selected by Japan, the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, Italy, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other countries and regions where he has held solo and group exhibitions.
He has more than 60 pieces in the British Museum, the British Museum of Fine Arts and in the collections of various crafts museums in Britain and other countries. In 1988, Qin was awarded the title of "Chinese Arts and Crafts Master", and in 1991 was approved by the State Council to enjoy "special allowances." In 1997 he was honored by the state for "national outstanding contributions to middle-aged and young experts.”
Contemporary Art Porcelain Develops to New Levels
Today Chinese porcelain crafts have developed, both in terms of technique and design, to a very high level, with many new products with new characteristics being created.
Modern Longquan celadon ware, as executed by masters such as Xu Chaoxing, Mao Zhengcong and others, has inherited all the traditional characteristics of Longquan celadon ware and added bold innovation.
Collection Value of Porcelain
There are those who say that even though the quality and craftsmanship of contemporary porcelain is very high, it is still not the antique, traditional porcelain and therefore its investment value is limited. Actually, this is untrue. Professor Zhang Shouzhi at the Beijing Ceramic Arts Museum (Hebixing) pointed out in one of his lectures that the value of modern porcelain masters’ work was increasing. For example, pieces which were selling in the general range of 1,000 Yuan Renminbi (US $140) in the 1980s had risen to 10-30,000 Yuan Renminbi (US$1,400-4,200) by the 1990s, and in 2006 were valued at about 100,000-200,000 Yuan Renminbi (US$14,000-28,000).
Analyzing the contemporary porcelain market prices, although lower than they were in the 1980’s and 1990’s, national arts and crafts masters’ original porcelain works can be bought for between thousands and tens of thousands of yuan renminbi (US$150-1500). There is no problem with devaluation and these are suitable for collectors looking for small investments or buying series or thematic collections. In due time, as the numbers of collectors increase, the prices will be significantly higher.
It is important to choose carefully when investing in contemporary porcelain. One should choose the works of master and famous artists. Works executed to commemorate events of historical importance are also valuable, for example, the commemoration of the founding of new China. Since the reform, the government has organized the firing of special, commemorative porcelain. These have certificates and serial numbers. The National Palace Museum and other institutions have commissioned porcelain from the masters and these are worth collecting.
In recent times, masters introduced the addition of painted art on the porcelain to the art of the porcelain itself. In other words, in addition to the arts and crafts involved in the porcelain piece itself, a master painter adds work of his own to the piece. It has become something of a fashion to collect this type of porcelain. In choosing such pieces for collection or investment, it is important to examine the quality of the workmanship as well as the style of the piece. This includes checking whether the porcelain itself is thin or thick, making sure the glaze is smooth and high quality, and checking the quality of the painting itself which should be painted freely with smooth lines and bright, fresh layers of color, and also be of a unique, memorable style.
Good porcelain, good glaze, good sheen, good painting – all of these factors must be considered in choosing art porcelain. These pieces cannot be produced in bulk and are quite rare. As such they command a high price and their value is bound to increase. Of course, investment is far from the only reason for collecting and a good porcelain art work can lift the spirits and provide great enjoyment.
Modern art porcelain can be compared favorably with jade, painting and other art forms, but how to promote the Jingdezhen masters’ famous porcelain into a higher social standing, and persuade people generally to understand and accept the 21st century Jingdezhen, is a very key issue. The porcelain of contemporary Jingdezhen masters represents the essence of contemporary art porcelain, but these masters are only famous in the porcelain industry and not the wider art market. It is very important for the porcelain industry to enhance the reputation of these artists and to gain acceptance for the overall Jingdezhen brand.
Antique porcelain, of all the Chinese arts, can fetch the highest prices at auction, so why are contemporary porcelain and oil painting not mentioned in the same breath? Is the material a problem or the level of art an issue? Apparently neither of these is the case. As Chinese collectors’ magazines promote the collecting of contemporary porcelain, and collectors become more aware of its value, this is gaining wider acceptance in China and there is likely to be a jump in popularity and a new beginning for the Jingdezhen contemporary art porcelain. The long Chinese tradition is alive and well and has a bright future.
— by Lihua Zhao
| June 3, 2008 |
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