The History of Kangxi Porcelain

By the mid to late Ming period several million Muslums had moved to China to conduct business in all areas including Cobalt pigment and had become among China's most prosperous class of citizens.

In practice Cobalt blue decorated porcelains were and to this day are made by applying the pigment with a brush applied directly onto the unglazed "raw" or "green" pieces, they then are glazed and then fired. Until porcelain is fired, the blue was basically a black shadow, the firing in a 1500 degree kiln caused the cobalt to develope it's unique color. The resulting blue varied from a silvery soft tone to a dark nearly black tone and then to a deep pulsating saphire gradiant tones of the early Qing Dynasty.

By the end of the Ming dynasty Cobalt blue had enjoyed nearly 400 years of steady use in the hands of Chinese kiln operators primarily at Jingdezhen and had additionally gone thorugh mutiple innovations in the methods of its application and style of brush work. Imperial patronage had also come about during this time and manufacturing porcelain for the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City. Interstingly the sources of the original Mohamaden blue had been depleated by the end of the Ming period in 1644, this was quickly followed by the introduction of a new domestic source as a replacement. The new cobalt called Zhejiang which when applied resulted in a glorious deep pulsating blue tone often referred to as Saphire Blue. This new shade allowed for gradiant levels of blue to be applied giving a most pleasing result.

Other changes that took place in the making of porcelain by the end of the Ming period was the stunning consistancy with which porcelain could be made even in non Imperial workshops, the pastes were becoming more and more well vitrified. By the middle of the Kangxi period (1662 - 1722) the bodies became very white, the glazes thin and even, the foot rims where there is no glaze was smooth as glass and as white as cotton. The glazes in addition to being thin were clear and nearly always ended neatly at the foot. Some writers years wrote the bodies of Kangxi porcelain had the chracterstics of "well set curd" including Mr. Hobson.

The subject matter used in decorating Kangxi blue and white porcelain (as well as many other periods) is often drawn from Classical Chinese imagery including; birds, deer, Lohans, Immortals, Ruyi Heads, wave patterns, clouds, Buddhist and Preciuos emblems, pine and bamboo trees, eel grass and all many of creatures. Pieces made for export began to incorporate images and scenes supplied by western and middle eastern traders on prints and paintings. One of the most famous was for example the Rotterdam Riots done in the 1690's this was made as export ware for the Dutch market and became one of the most sought after patterns by European collectors ever since.

It has always been rumored that The Kangxi Emperor handed down an edict ordering no piece were to made for Non Palace use with his Imperial name on it, incase one broke it might would bring him bad luck. To date no proof of any such edict is known to exist or did ever exist. The point is hard to mention as so many examples of blue and white were exported during his reign and thereafter. Kangxi blue and white is considered by many to be virtually unrivalled before his reign or after, it is a material that exudes such quality, once its been handled by yuo for a few times the level of quality will truly become evident.

As the market expanded for fine porcelain in the west innovative designs evolving from print sources, historical scenes, maritime scenes, heraldic images, Christian Scenes and other religious scenes and so on..the repitoire was in time unlimited.

As a dealer of antiques with my own facination for Asian art and porcelains its hard no to like the products of the Kangxi period. Who himself was perhaps one of the most facinating figures ever to rule anywhere in the world. For me, learning the context from which an items comes from deeply enhances the mental enjoyment of owning examples from this period.

While learning to collect Kangxi or any porcelain please take the time to handle fine examples in the collections or inventory of fine dealers. If you live in a major city you will surely have a few. Understanding the characteristics and the all important shapes will guide you.

Learning about and understanding Asian Art is a lifelong pursuit and a very nice one indeed. If you're fortunate enough to live in a town or city or county with a museum and an old Asian Collection in the basement, perhaps you migh cut your teeth dusting the stuff off and inventorying it.

Last Summer a major US University Museum sold off in a deaccession 30 items from their collection. Why they did it was beyond me, that aside I bought 29 of them. Great wonderfull examples, several of which I posted on my website. Had someone with interest noticed them, they might have done a show instead of selling them and had the great opportunity to learn a lot about them.