Colour and composition characteristics of beige-glazed porcelain from Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln, early and middle Qing Dynasty (18th century)

Abstract

The Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln made unprecedented achievements in the firing of colour glazed porcelain during the Qing Dynasty (1636–1912). Among these, beige-glazed porcelain became an imperial porcelain variety reserved for the exclusive use of the imperial household. To reveal details of the manufacturing process, Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) and spectrophotometry, combined with the records of ancient Chinese documents were used to analyse samples of beige-glazed porcelain fired at the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln in the early and middle Qing Dynasty (18th century) and unearthed from the Nandaku area of the Forbidden City. The results show that the colour of beige glaze in the Qing Dynasty was similar to that in the Song Dynasty (960–1279), which is consistent with ancient literature records reflecting the former's imitation of ‘Beige Song Glaze’. The beige-glazed porcelain body is made of a binary formula of porcelain stone and kaolin clay, in a ratio between 5:5 and 4:6. Based on the glaze layer formula of purple-gold imperial porcelain, the beige glaze layer was fired by innovatively adjusting the ratio of glaze stone, glaze ash and purple-gold clay. The imitation of ‘beige Song glaze’ and the innovation of purple-gold glaze reflected the exacting production and high technology of the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln in the Qing Dynasty.