Tag: Blue and White

The International Appeal of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain

A £30,000 Chinese Kangxi period blue and white porcelain brush pot (bitong), finely painted with a continuous scene of poets and attendants indulging in scholarly pursuits
A £30,000 Chinese Kangxi period blue and white porcelain brush pot (bitong), finely painted with a continuous scene of poets and attendants indulging in scholarly pursuits

A remarkable selection of Chinese blue and white porcelain dating from the late 16th to the early 18th century has just been sold at auction by Toovey’s in their December specialist Asian Art sale. This important collection was bought in the 1960s and 1970s in London. Its sale attracted international attention.

A Chinese blue and white Kraak porcelain dish, late Ming dynasty, from the Wanli period
A Chinese blue and white Kraak porcelain dish, late Ming dynasty, from the Wanli period

Chinese blue and white has from the 16th century appealed to an international market. The decorative designs of late 16th century blue and white porcelain had been characterized by panels filled with flowers, precious objects and Buddhistic emblems in often repeated patterns, contained within compartmentalized borders. These motifs can be seen on the Wanli period Kraak porcelain dish seen here.

The Manchu threat meant that money was diverted to the Ming army which, together with the luxury and corruption of the Court of Wanli, deprived the kilns at Jingdezhen of imperial patronage. This had a liberating effect on the Jingdezhen potters and by the time of the death of the Ming Emperor, Wanli (1572-1620) a noticeable shift in the design and decoration of Chinese porcelain had occurred. This new and exceptional work would span the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties and is therefore termed the ‘Transitional period’. The Transitional style was more painterly than anything that had gone before. It is filled with movement; the figures appear natural and at ease. Perhaps it was influenced by the tastes of the Dutch merchants for whom much of this blue and white porcelain was produced.

A £37,000 rare Chinese Transitional period, mid-17th Century, blue and white porcelain brush pot (bitong), decorated with horses and three female acrobat riders
A £37,000 rare Chinese Transitional period, mid-17th Century, blue and white porcelain brush pot (bitong), decorated with horses and three female acrobat riders

The decoration of Transitional period porcelain typically employs naturalistic themes depicting, beasts, flowers and most especially figure subjects. Figure subjects on Transitional wares are often united by a narrative following the traditions of Chinese opera which incorporated music, song, dance and acrobatics as well as literary art forms. The finely painted ‘bitong’ or brush pot illustrated dates from the mid-17th century. It is a fine example of Transitional period porcelain, decorated with a continuous scene depicting horses and three female acrobat riders galloping through a woodland landscape with trees, rocks and mist. This rare object, measuring 22cm in height, realised £37,000 in Toovey’s December specialist Asian Art auction.

The Transitional aesthetic would continue into the first twenty years of the reign of the Qing Emperor, Kangxi (1662-1722). Kangxi was the fourth and arguably the most famous Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. His reign was marked by long-term stability and a period of relative prosperity.

The Kangxi period is renowned in the history of blue and white porcelain. In 1683 the Imperial Court appointed a director of the factory in Jingdezhen. The restoration of court patronage raised standards even further.

The exceptional quality of the painting and clear cobalt blue distinguishes Kangxi blue and white porcelain and is apparent in the decoration of the brush pot seen here. Our eyes are met by a continuous scene reminiscent of the Transitional with poets and attendants indulging in scholarly pursuits. Some sit at a table playing Weiqi whilst a lute is played. Two figures and an attendant look on as a scholar writes. It fetched £30,000 at Toovey’s reflecting the international appeal and technical brilliance of Kangxi blue and white porcelain, which many ceramic historians believe has never been surpassed.

If you would like more information or advice on your Chinese porcelain and works of art email auctions@tooveys.com or telephone Toovey’s specialist, Tom Rowsell, on 01903 891955.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

Blue and White – the right colour for porcelain

A pair of Chinese blue and white Worcester style export porcelain plates, late Qianlong period, each decorated with the pine cone group design
A pair of Chinese blue and white Worcester style export porcelain plates, late Qianlong period, each decorated with the pine cone group design

Blue and white ceramics have always delighted me and none more so than 18th century English porcelain. The famous Sussex based ceramic historian, the late Geoffrey Godden, always maintained that ‘blue and white is the right colour for porcelain’.

These individually handmade objects were made for use and this domesticity lends a particular charm to these beautiful and affordable objects which are often decorated with anglicized interpretations of Chinese decoration. There is an honest un-laboured quality in these depictions.

A Bow blue and white porcelain coffee pot and cover, circa 1765
A Bow blue and white porcelain coffee pot and cover, circa 1765

English blue and white porcelains date from the mid-to late 1740s onwards. Amongst the early makers were Bow in London and Worcester.

Founded in 1744 by Thomas Frye and Edward Heylyn Bow was one of the first two porcelain manufacturers in England. Bow’s output included fine figure models and vases. However, its primary objective was the production of much less expensive blue and white porcelain imitating the Chinese porcelains which arrived in the East India Company warehouses as part of the thriving export trade to this country. Bow’s blue and white was made in large quantities, leading many ceramic historians to believe that it was the largest porcelain manufactory in the 18th century. Take for example the Bow blue and white porcelain coffee pot and cover dating from 1765 painted in the Chinese style with pavilions and trees within trellis borders.

A Lowestoft blue and white porcelain sparrow beak cream jug, circa 1775
A Lowestoft blue and white porcelain sparrow beak cream jug, circa 1775

The handsome baluster shape of the Bow coffee pot is also employed in the charming Lowestoft cream jug. Made in about 1775 it again shows the influence of the imported Chinese porcelains of the time.

A collection of five Worcester porcelain ‘Pine Cone Group’ pattern plates, circa 1780
A collection of five Worcester porcelain ‘Pine Cone Group’ pattern plates, circa 1780

The Worcester factory came in to being in 1752 when Benjamin Lund’s highly sophisticated and experimental Bristol factory merged with Dr John Wall’s Worcester. The Chinese taste was once again highly influential.

Largely thanks to the work of Robert Hancock, who would become a partner of the firm, by the late 1750s Worcester had become pre-eminent in the use of transfer printing on porcelain in terms of output, quality, clarity and aesthetic design. The ‘Pine Cone Group’ pattern was the most celebrated of all the underglaze blue transfer prints at Worcester. It was principally used on plates, as seen here, and baskets of the 1770s. It was copied by Lowestoft and other English factories. The ‘Pine Cone Group’ pattern was even copied by the Chinese as shown by the extremely rare pair of plates illustrated.

Prices for 18th century English blue and white porcelain remain accessible for now, with examples like these fetching from low to mid-hundreds of pounds in Toovey’s specialist auctions. As values for Chinese porcelain continues to rise these English interpretations of the Oriental taste represent great value. And after all blue and white is the right colour for porcelain!

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.