A Kangxi Blanc de Chine Porcelain Beaker with Early English Enamels.
A Kangxi Blanc de Chine Porcelain Beaker with Early English Enamels. This hexagonal Kangxi Blanc de Chine porcelain beaker was made at the Dehua kilns in Fujian Province in China c.1700-1720. The decorated is in the Japanese style was added in London c.1715-1720. It seems likely that these beakers were decorated soon after they arrived in England as there is little variation. There are a group with immortals moulded around side, these have a seal-mark ‘made by Zhongtun shi’ (Mr. Zhongtun). The present beaker has pain sides and a different seal-mark. The immortals’ cups with the Zhongtun shi mark are often found in England, with or without English decoration (see Information below). There are a group of small Blanc de Chine chocolate pots with a side handle that are well known in England, it seems that most are English decorated rather than plain. The decoration is close to that found on these hexagonal beakers. So perhaps these are beakers for hot chocolate.
Blanc de Chine Porcelain :
The porcelain known in the West as Blanc de Chine was produced 300 miles south of the main Chinese kiln complex of Jingdezhen. The term refers to the fine grain white porcelain made at the kilns situated near Dehua in the coastal province of Fujian, these kilns also produced other types of porcelain. A rather freely painted blue and white ware, porcelain with brightly coloured ‘Swatow’ type enamels as well as pieces with a brown iron-rich glaze. However, it is the white Blanc de Chine wares that have made these kilns famous. The quality and colour achieved by the Dehua potters was partly due to the local porcelain stone, it was unusually pure and was used without kaolin being added. This, combined with a low iron content and other chemical factors within the body as well as the glaze, enabled the potters to produce superb ivory-white porcelain.
See Below For More Photographs and Information.
- Condition
- Small chip to the rim, some loss to the green and blue enamels.
- Size
- Height 6.5 cm (2.5 inches).
- Provenance
- N/A
- Stock number
- 27348
- £ GBP
- € EUR
- $ USD
Photos
Information
A Fingerprint left behind by the painter.
A Kangxi Octagonal Blanc de Chine Porcelain Beaker, Dehua kilns, Fujian Province c.1680 - 1720.
Robert McPherson Sold Archive Number 25674.
Blanc de Chine Porcelain :
The porcelain known in the West as Blanc de Chine was produced 300 miles south of the main Chinese kiln complex of Jingdezhen. The term refers to the fine grain white porcelain made at the kilns situated near Dehua in the coastal province of Fujian, these kilns also produced other types of porcelain. A rather freely painted blue and white ware, porcelain with brightly coloured `Swatow` type enamels as well as pieces with a brown iron-rich glaze. However it is the white Blanc de Chine wares that have made these kilns famous. The quality and colour achieved by the Dehua potters was partly due to the local porcelain stone, it was unusually pure and was used without kaolin being added. This, combined with a low iron content and other chemical factors within the body as well as the glaze, enabled the potters to produce superb ivory-white porcelain.
Related Kangxi Blanc de Chine Porcelain Beakers Made at the Studio of Mr. Zhongtun
Robert McPherson Antiques - Sold Archive.
Shown next to an plain Blanc de Chine beaker of the same design (not included in the price)
Condition
In perfect condition.
Size
Height : 7 cm (2 3/4 inches)
Provenance
The Helen Espir Collection of European Decorated Chinese Export Porcelain : "a member of the Oriental Ceramic Society and collector, with her husband. Having made a typical collection of Song and provincial Ming blue and white, they decided to concentrate on what used to be called `clobbered` porcelain. She is the author of the standard work on the subject, European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain,2005, the first to examine the work of European decorators on Chinese porcelain throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, focusing on enamellers in Holland, Germany and England. She has learned Chinese." From Provenance ; Collectors, Dealers & Scholars : Chinese Ceramics in Britain & America (Roy Davids, Dominic Jellinek, Privately Printed, 2011. ISBN 978-0-9570148-0-0).
Stock number
24567
References
For a very similar Blanc de Chine Beaker with London Decoration of c.1700 to 1720 sold by R&G McPherson Antiques see our `Sold Items` 17976, for a Kangxi beaker of this design by Zhongtun shi (Mr. Zhongtun). For a similar English decorated blanc de chine beaker, also made by Zhongtun shi (Mr. Zhongtun) described as "painted in Holland" see : Ancient Chinese Trade Ceramics from The British Museum (Regina Krahl and Jessica Harrison-Hall, National Museum of History, Republic of China,1994. ISNB 957-00-3623-0) page 330, plate 149. For two similar London decorated blanc de chine porcelain beakers see : Chinese Export Ceramics (Rose Kerr, Luisa Mengoni, Ming Wilson, V&A Publishing 2011. ISBN 9781-85177-6320) page 99, plate 141. For the potters mark see : Blanc de Chine (P.J Donnelly, Faber and Faber, 1969) Page 358. For a very similar Blanc de Chine Porcelain beaker with the same potters mark also see Donnelly, Plate 31, top row second from the left.
A Related Kangxi Blanc de Chine Chocolate Pot.
Robert McPherson Antiques Sold Archive 23640.
For a another similar Blanc de Chine ewer and cover decorated in London see : European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain, 1700 -1830 (Helen Espir, Jorge Welsh Books, 2005). Item 7 page 210.
For further Blanc de Chine porcelain ewers and covers of this form decorated in London see our `Sold Items` from the collection of Blanc de Chine owned by Mr Alan Green, another from the same collection without a cover 19411. From the collection of Mrs Helen Espir number 22713.
Exhibited and Published :
An exhibition at the British Museum organised by the Oriental Ceramics Society `East Meets West : Oriental Porcelain Decorated in Europe` in 2000. Published in `Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society` Volume 65. 2000-2001. Item 9, page 111.