Blue and white porcelain from the Kangxi period
China, 1680–1722
Around 1680, Emperor Kangxi (1662–1722) established his authority over all parts of China after a long period of civil strife. The porcelain factories in Jingdezhen that were demolished in 1675 resumed production and within a few years exports were booming. Chinese junks sailed to Batavia, bringing their porcelain to the market. From there, it was shipped to the Netherlands in VOC (Dutch East India Company, 1602–1799) vessels. However, private individuals bypassed the Company and also imported huge quantities of porcelain to Holland. In Europe, a change in dining habits and the introduction of tea and coffee created new demands. New varieties of Chinese export porcelain were produced, including all kinds of Western shapes. Porcelain, sometimes in miniature, was frequently used to decorate house interiors in Europe.
Much porcelain of this period is decorated in a clear, transparent underglaze blue. Popular decorations included the Buddhist lotus motif, a pheasant with long tail feathers on a rock amidst flowers, and the ‘Long Eliza’ with the 'Dancing Fool', the Dutch name for a Chinese lady and a small boy depicted in a garden.
Kangxi porcelain is very well made, with a thin body, a balanced shape and a smooth glaze without impurities. Cobalt blue oxide was subtly applied in varying degrees of saturation, suggesting depth and volume. The colour ranges from a silvery to a deep dark blue; in the best pieces the details and the craftsmanship are amazing. However, due to stricter controls by officials, the freedom and easy way of painting that was so characteristic of the preceding Transitional period now gave way to a more formal style with an emphasis on symmetry and centralism.
Object 2011340
Dish
Provenance: China
Dating: Kangxi period (1662-1722)
Mark: Symbol mark: Lotus. Symbol of purity and one of the eight Buddhist Emblems, in a double circle, underglaze blue.
Dish of moulded form on footring with a foliated rim and a glazed base. Decorated in underglaze blue.
In the centre decorated with a basket containing flowering plants and hanging ribbons in a double concentric band. The cavetto and interior rim is encircled by twelve moulded petal-shaped panels, each enclosing a flowering plant. Round the rim a trellis and scale pattern border. The reverse is decorated with three sprays of flowering branches.
S. Sjostrand & S. Lok Lok bt. Syed Idrus state in their “The Wanli Shipwreck and its ceramic cargo” that the flower basket represents Lan Cai He, one of the Eight Immortals, patron Saint of gardens and florists.
Dimensions:
Height: 65 mm (2.56 inch)
Diameter: 338 mm (13.31 inch)
Diameter of footring: 195 mm (7.68 inch)
Condition: A hairline and four glaze rough spots to the rim. A chip to the rim and the inner footring.
References:
Davison 1994, p.158, cat. 1800.
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.96, cat. 86.
Sjostrand & Lok Lok 2007, pp. 271-278.
Price: € 1.999 - $ 2.614 - £ 1.681
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Object 2010C188
Miniature teapot
Provenance: China
Dating: Kangxi period (1662-1722)
A small / miniature teapot on footring, oviform, wide low mouthrim, on a glazed base. Domed cover with round knob. Straight spout and C-shaped handle. Decorated in underglaze-blue.
Decorated on the body and cover with various flowering plants growing from pierced rockwork. Under the spout a single butterfly and above the spout a single insect. On the handle and spout two flowering stems. Round the mouthrim
a border of zig-zag lines.
The cover has been pierced.
Dimensions:
Height: 54 mm (2.13 inch)
Diameter handle to spout: 9.2 mm (3.62 inch)
Diameter of mouthrim: 35 mm (1.38 inch)
Diameter of footring: 33 mm (1.30 inch)
Condition: A restored spout and chip to the rim.
Price: € 499 - $ 675 - £ 428
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Object 2011115
Vase
Provenance: China
Dating: Kangxi period (1662-1722)
A small vase with a splayed foot, a quatrefoil body and a neck with an everted mouth. Two dragon shaped handles. Decorated in underglaze blue.
Round the foot a border or zig-zag lines. On the body, in between two borders of moulded pointed leaves, four panels filled with flowering plants. on the neck two sprays of flowering branches and round the rim a border of zig-zag lines. The underglaze blue handles are shaped in the form of two dragons.
On the base an old collectors number: "37".
The vase stands crooked due to the firing process.
Dimensions:
Height: 96 mm (3.79 inch)
Diameter: 34 mm (1.34 inch)
Diameter of mouthrim: 20 mm (0.79 inch)
Diameter of footring: 29 mm (1.14 inch)
Condition: On the body a plopped bubble of glaze, caused during the firing process and a glaze rough spot. A restored frit to the rim.
Price: € 249 - $ 323 - £ 210
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on their exchange rate to the € price)
Object 2010912
Stem cup
Provenance: China
Dating: Late 17th century, c.1680-1690
Stem cup on a high splayed foot with a broad, flat footring and a recessed glazed base. Wide cup with flaring rim. Decorated in underglaze blue.
Decorated with peony flower heads and scrolls of leaves on the cup. Round the foot two concentric bands, the waist and rim each with one concentric band.
D.S. Howard states in his "The Choice of the Private Trader. The Private Market in Chinese Export Porcelain illustrated from the Hodroff Collection" that there is little doubt that the large numbers of small stemcups and wine cups of this size were used in the East for rice wine, while those that reached Europe may have been used for gin. It is likely however, that much of this supply was used in Batavia itself and only relatively small numbers were selected by the supercargoes for Europe.
C.J.A. Jörg in collaboration with J. van Campen states in his "Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The Ming and Qing Dynasties" that the function of stemcups is not yet clear, but they may have been used for drinking "genever" (Dutch-gin). The shape is derived from a European glass model.
Dimensions:
Height: 45 mm (1.77 inch)
Diameter of mouthrim: 51 mm (2.01 inch)
Diameter of footring: 21 mm (0.83 inch)
Condition: A professionally restored, short and long hairline, frits and a (restuck) piece to the rim.
References:
Howard 1994, pp.186-187, cat. 214.
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.264, cat. 305.
Price: € 349 - $ 443 - £ 279
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate
Object 2010C191
Dish
Provenance: China
Dating: Kangxi period (1662-1722)
Mark: Imperial reign mark: Da Qing Kang xi nian zhi, (Made during the Kangxi reign of the Great Qing dynasty) in a double circle, underglaze blue.
Dish on a footring with a flattened rim and a glazed base. Decorated in underglaze blue.
Decorated with a scene from Xixiang ji (The Romance of the Western Chamber), a comedy play in eight books by Wang Shifu (c.1250-1300). In book three, Hongniang addresses Zhang who has withdrawn to his room after Mrs Cui rejected him as a fiancé. Hongniang tells him that she will help him to win Yingying's heart. The wall is used to divide the depiction into an interior and exterior so that it resembles a scene from a theatrical stage. (source: C.J.A. Jörg, Famille Verte, Chinese Porcelain in Green Enamels, Schoten 2011, p.99, Scene 11). On the flattened rim four panels containing flowering prunus branches reserved on a trellis diaper ground. On the exterior rim four sprays with rocky shores.
C.J.A. Jörg states in his "Oosters porselein. Een keuze uit de verzameling van het Museum Boymans-van Beuningen / Oriental Porcelain. A choice from the Boymans-van Beuningen Museum collection" that many plates, dishes and bowls from the middle Kangxi period are carefully painted with a great feeling for detail; the scenes tell a story and have been derived from woodcut illustrations of Chinese novels and plays. Two novels The Story of the Western Chamber and The Dream in the Red Chamber are particularly noted for providing subjects.
The motif on the back of the plate, a rocky shore, is found not only on good quality blue and white plates and dishes but also on famille verte; it appears to have been used in particular at the beginning of the 18th century.
Dimensions:
Height: 32 mm (1.26 inch)
Diameter: 210 mm (8.27 inch)
Diameter of footring: 122 mm (4.80 inch)
Condition: Two firing flaws to the inner footring, two frits and five hairlines to the rim.
References:
Price: € 999 - $ 1.311 - £ 811
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Object 2010986
Salt
Provenance: China
Dating: Kangxi period (1662-1722)
Salt of circular and square waisted form on a open base. The inside glazed, the lower square part tapering to the waist, the spreading top with a recessed centre, the rim extending downwards. Decorated in underglaze blue.
The circular concave top moulded and decorated with a chain-pattern around a central flower-head, round the neck a border of lotus leaves and on the sides panels filled with flowering plants and leaves.
Modelled after a European pewter or earthenware salt, the material and the Chinese style decoration made this salt an exotic object that was prominently placed on a richly laid table. At this time salts were ordered separately, and only much later as part of a dinner service. With many Christian connotations, salt was an important seasoning at dinner before the 19th century and salts were larger and more elaborate than they are today. (sources: The Choice of the Private Trader. The Private Market in Chinese Export Porcelain illustrated from the Hodroff Collection. (D.S. Howard, London, 1994) and, Famille Verte, Chinese Porcelain in Green Enamels, (C.J.A. Jörg, Schoten, 2011)
Dimensions:
Height: 52 mm (2.05 inch)
Diameter top: 52 mm (2.04 inch)
Diameter foot: 68 mm (2.68 inch)
Condition: Minor glaze fritting to the rim.
References:
Jörg 2011/2, p.148, object 142.
Price: € 749 - $ 966 - £ 599
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate
Object 201099O
Saucer
Provenance: China
Dating: Kangxi period (1662-1722)
Mark: Square shop mark, underglaze blue.
A thinly potted saucer, spreading side and a flaring rim with a glazed base. Decorated in underglaze blue.
In the centre a single lotus flowerhead in a single concentric band. the central representation is surrounded by three sprays of flowering branches. Round the rim cartouches filled with antiquities. On the exterior wall two sprays of bamboo branches.
To the base a circular paper collectors label that reads: "103".
Dimensions:
Height: 17 mm (0.67 inch)
Diameter: 114 mm (4.48 inch)
Diameter of footring: 66 mm (2.59 inch)
Condition: Perfect.
Price: € 99 - $ 129 - £ 85
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Object 2010797
Teacup and Saucer
Provenance: China
Dating: Kangxi period (1662-1722), c.1700
Mark: Shop mark in a double circle, underglaze blue
A thinly potted teacup and saucer with a straight rim and a glazed base. Decorated in underglaze blue with, so-called, hatching lines technique.
In the centre of the saucer, in a round shaped medallion, a decoration of a flower head. The cavetto is divided into eight lotus petal-shaped panels filled with leafy scrolls, round the inner rim a meander pattern border. On the exterior wall sprays of leaves, on the base a single character/shop mark in a double circle.
The exterior wall of the teacup is divided into eight lotus petal-shaped panels filled with leafy scrolls, on the base a single character/shop mark in a double circle. Round the inner rim a meander pattern border and on the bottom a single flower head.
C.J.A. Jörg states in his "Porcelain from the Vung Tau Wreck, The Hallstrom Excavation" that these criss-cross lines are not a Chinese way of painting on porcelain and may have been influenced by the Dutch. This technique was short-lived for it mostly occurs on blue-and-white export wares around 1700. It occurs on teacups and saucers, beakers and small jars with covers, garnitures and other items. The style was short lived, disappearing in the early 18th century.
To the base of the saucer an old paper collectors label that reads: "173"
Dimensions:
Teacup
Height: 44 mm (1.73 inch)
Diameter: 66 mm (2.60 inch)
Diameter of footring: 33 mm (1.29 inch)
Saucer
Height: 20 mm (0.79 inch)
Diameter: 116 mm (4.57 inch)
Diameter of footring: 66 mm (2.60 inch)
Condition teacup: A 1 mm (0.039 inch) spot on the rim, caused by plopping bubble of glaze during the firing process and shallow rough spot to the rim.
Condition saucer: Two tiny fleabites to the rim.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.116, cat. 117.
Jörg & Flecker 2001, pp. 69-69, fig 55-58.
Price: € 299 - $ 390 - £ 260
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
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