CHINESE WUCAI PORCELAIN BALUSTER JAR
Chinese Qing Dynasty Wucai baluster vase, Emperor Tongzhi 1862 - 1874.
An antique Chinese Wucai porcelain baluster form vase or jar made during the reign of the Emperor Tongzhi.
The vase is profusely hand decorated with brightly coloured enamels depicting various scenes of dignitaries paying homage to a seated high ranking official with various robed attendants present.
Late Qing dynasty period.
Circa 1862 - 1874
Height: 29cm
Diameter: 24cm
Wucai meaning five enamels or "five colour ware" is in reality mostly three enamels (red, green and yellow) within outlines in blackish dry cobalt, underglaze blue, plus the white of the porcelain body, all in all making up five colours.
The name Wucai or Wanli wucai refers to Chinese porcelain decorated in this palette dating from the Ming period (1368-1642, especially during the reign of Jiajing (AD 1522-66), Longqing (AD 1567-72) and Wanli (1573-1619) emperors, who commissioned a variety of porcelain items decorated in this style. The number of colours can differ and become more as the times goes on. This possibly suggest that the important thing is the name wu-cai, or five-colour ware, where the number five has an important symbolic significance in Chinese art.
An important innovation of the Jiajing period, the so-called wucai ("five-colour") decoration, was one of the last major additions to the lexicon of ornamental techniques that were developed during the Ming dynasty. Despite its name, the number of colours in wucai decoration is not strictly limited to five.
Wucai, like doucai, is a combination of underglaze blue and overglaze polychrome enamels. However, where the soft underglaze blue of doucai was primarily used for dainty outlines that lay the groundwork for elegant little washes of pale enamel colours, the dark blue of wucai was applied in bold washes to complement vigorous splashes of strong overglaze colours, and outlining was mostly done in overglaze red, brown, or black.
The Ming enamels resemble-indeed, they are bits of translucent coloured glass that have been fused to the surface of the glaze. While some variety in tone could be achieved with them, gradations in colour were quite limited, and any shading of individual colours was virtually impossible.
CHINESE WUCAI PORCELAIN BALUSTER JAR
Chinese Qing Dynasty Wucai baluster vase, Emperor Tongzhi 1862 - 1874.
An antique Chinese Wucai porcelain baluster form vase or jar made during the reign of the Emperor Tongzhi.
The vase is profusely hand decorated with brightly coloured enamels depicting various scenes of dignitaries paying homage to a seated high ranking official with various robed attendants present.
Late Qing dynasty period.
Circa 1862 - 1874
Height: 29cm
Diameter: 24cm
Wucai meaning five enamels or "five colour ware" is in reality mostly three enamels (red, green and yellow) within outlines in blackish dry cobalt, underglaze blue, plus the white of the porcelain body, all in all making up five colours.
The name Wucai or Wanli wucai refers to Chinese porcelain decorated in this palette dating from the Ming period (1368-1642, especially during the reign of Jiajing (AD 1522-66), Longqing (AD 1567-72) and Wanli (1573-1619) emperors, who commissioned a variety of porcelain items decorated in this style. The number of colours can differ and become more as the times goes on. This possibly suggest that the important thing is the name wu-cai, or five-colour ware, where the number five has an important symbolic significance in Chinese art.
An important innovation of the Jiajing period, the so-called wucai ("five-colour") decoration, was one of the last major additions to the lexicon of ornamental techniques that were developed during the Ming dynasty. Despite its name, the number of colours in wucai decoration is not strictly limited to five.
Wucai, like doucai, is a combination of underglaze blue and overglaze polychrome enamels. However, where the soft underglaze blue of doucai was primarily used for dainty outlines that lay the groundwork for elegant little washes of pale enamel colours, the dark blue of wucai was applied in bold washes to complement vigorous splashes of strong overglaze colours, and outlining was mostly done in overglaze red, brown, or black.
The Ming enamels resemble-indeed, they are bits of translucent coloured glass that have been fused to the surface of the glaze. While some variety in tone could be achieved with them, gradations in colour were quite limited, and any shading of individual colours was virtually impossible.