Imperial Porcelain Research Articles

Рецептура изделий и источники сырья Императорского Фарфорового завода в середине XVIII – начале XX века

Imperial Porcelain Factory is the first porcelain manufacture in Russia and a leader in Russian porcelain production for almost three centuries. Archive data provides evidence on changes in porcelain materials and technology on the factory. In initial period local raw materials were preferred. During the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries a tendency to replace them by imported ones can be traced. After the 1st World War and revolution especially the factory turns back to local raw. Due to these circumstances porcelain bodies and coatings of the factory’s diverse periods noticeably differ in chemical composition and physical properties that may serve key to differentiation of items and fakes detection. The study of the factory’s porcelain composition of differing periods may significantly facilitate attribution of Russian porcelain art pieces and be important part of investigation and conservation projects.

An AAS study of Chinese imperial yellow porcelain bodies and their place in the history of Jingdezhen's porcelain development

The bodies of 12 examples of imperial yellow Chinese porcelain dating from the early sixteenth century to the early twentieth century have been studied by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The yellow lead glaze was reserved for imperial use, and these fine monochrome porcelains played important roles in imperial rites at the summer solstice and as court wares within Beijing's Forbidden City. The project's aim has been to understand more fully the technologies used to make imperial yellow porcelains, which were significant ceramics in the history and culture of imperial China.This paper concerns the porcelain body material, particularly the nature and use of Jingdezhen's two prime body materials — porcelain stone (cishi) and kaolin (gaoling). The 12 samples studied span four centuries of imperial porcelain production and include a major change in kaolin usage at Jingdezhen in the early seventeenth century, when the proportions of kaolin used in fine porcelain bodies rose abruptly from some 20% to 50%. This study explores the natures of both prepared rocks and looks particularly at kaolin, about which some long-standing problems remain.

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

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.

ТРАДИЦИЯ ПРОСЛАВЛЕНИЯ МОНАРХИЧЕСКОЙ ВЛАСТИ ЧЕРЕЗ ВОСПРОИЗВЕДЕНИЕ ЭЛЕМЕНТОВ ВОЕННОЙ ЭСТЕТИКИ В ОБРАЗНО-СТИЛИСТИЧЕСКОМ РЕШЕНИИ ПРЕДМЕТОВ ФАРФОРА ИМПЕРАТОРСКОГО ФАРФОРОВОГО ЗАВОДА ВТОРОЙ ЧЕТВЕРТИ XIX ВЕКА

The article is devoted to identifying the peculiarities of the imaginative and stylistic system of porcelain of the Imperial Porcelain Factory of the second quarter of the XIX century; the clearly traceable elements of military esthetics were introduced in this type of decorative and applied art as the symbols of glorifying the reign of Emperor Nicholas I. The author analyzes the iconographic and iconological meaning of the porcelain paintings executed within the romantic artistic trend but conforming to the classicist tradition of glorifying the sovereign’s genius.

Study on the property of the production for Fengdongyan kiln in Early Ming dynasty by INAA and EDXRF

A lot of official wares carved “Guan” or the dragon patterns were excavated on the strata of Ming dynasty of the Fengdongyan kiln site at Dayao County. The imperial porcelain was fired in Hongwu and Yongle eras. However, the emergence of this imperial porcelain has triggered academic debate about the property of Fengdongyan kiln in the Early Ming dynasty. Based on the differences of the official kiln management, some scholars have determined that the property of the production for this kiln was the civilian kiln. According to the historical textural records and typology, others preliminary confirmed that Fengdongyan kiln was the official kiln. In this paper, the elemental compositions of body and glaze in imperial and civilian porcelain are study by INAA and EDXRF for determining the property of the production for this kiln in Early Ming dynasty. After the processing of experimental data by geochemical analysis and principal component analysis, the result show that the raw materials for making body and glaze in imperial porcelain are similar with those of the civilian porcelain and the degrees of elutriation for body can be slightly different in HW-M period of Ming dynasty. The analytical results support the view that the Fengdongyan kiln is civilian not official.

The Mistaken Biography of the Riga Vase or Overglaze Decoration Techniques as an Aspect in the Attribution of a Porcelain Artefact

This research examines one of the most remarkable exhibits of the Riga Porcelain Museum – the Riga Jubilee Vase made in J. C. Jessen's porcelain factory in honour of the 700th anniversary of Riga. In 1901, the Riga Jubilee Vase was displayed for the first time – in the Riga Anniversary Exhibition of Industry and Crafts. The impressive porcelain object was kept in the Riga Porcelain Factory's museum until 2001, but after the factory's closure it became the pride of the Riga Porcelain Museum's permanent exhibition. Upon reading the article on this outstanding artefact in the 2012 February issue of the magazine Illustrated History, despite it being prepared in cooperation with the Riga Porcelain Museum, reasonable doubt arose about the accuracy of the description of the technical execution of the vase. The article Impressive dedication to Riga reads: 'The red-brown selenium ground and matte gold ornamental band creates a somewhat heavy impression, uncharacteristic for porcelain.' The study aims to find out whether the assertion 'the red-brown selenium ground' is true and eliminate some of the inaccuracies in the use of terms. The research is based on the analyses of the Riga Porcelain Museum's inventory of the Riga Jubilee Vase; the chemical composition data of red porcelain overglaze paints and their technical particularities; an experiment, testing the interaction of cadmium / selenium and iron-containing red overglazes with gilding; and consultations with leading experts – Dace Bluma, formerly employed in the Riga Porcelain Factory, and Sergei Rusakov from the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg. The acquired data allows conclude that iron-containing rather than selenium-containing red paint has been used for the Riga Jubilee Vase grounding and the painting technique's description in the museum's inventory is incorrect.

Elemental Characterization by EDXRF of Imperial Longquan Celadon Porcelain Excavated from Fengdongyan Kiln, Dayao County

A mass of Longquan porcelain shards carved with ‘Guan’ or the dragon patterns were unearthed in the early Ming Dynasty layer of the Fengdongyan kiln site at Dayao County. These celadon shards were fired in the Hongwu and Yongle eras of the Ming Dynasty. In order to research the raw materials and firing technology of the imperial porcelain, 85 typical shards were analysed by energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (EDXRF). The results indicate that the contents of TiO2 and Fe2O3 in the body vary in the Hongwu and Yongle eras. Compared with Longquan glazes in the Southern Song Dynasty, the average values of K2O, Fe2O3 and TiO2 are higher, but that of CaO is lower in early Ming imperial porcelain glazes. Principal components analysis (PCA) shows that different degrees of elutriation of the same raw materials are the main reason for this difference in the Hongwu and Yongle periods. However, the raw materials of imperial porcelain glazes show no obvious changes and have inherited the earlier tradition. The production and firing technology of imperial porcelain reached a higher level and had not declined in the Early Ming Dynasty.

ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННЫЕ И ПРОИЗВОДСТВЕННЫЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ ФАРФОРОВОЙ ПЛАСТИКИ А. К. ШПИСА

The article deals with the identification and attribution of artistic production and features of porcelain sculpture created by the chief scultor of the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg August K. Spiess . Porcelain through creativity of Spies become so amazingly diverse, as it used to be in the XVIII century . Creative heritage of A. Spiess could be identified as a phenomenon that naturally associated with the broader social and cultural processes , typical for Russian art of the second half of the XIX century. However , in contrast to the next generation of sculptors , Spies activity does not go beyond the existence of porcelain production , and the sculptor has not sought to create works that can approve a porcelain sculpture in the eyes of a higher status. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2014-1-6

The Creative Legacy of Konstantin Rausch von Traubenberg

Abstract This article reassesses the art of sculptor Baron Konstantin Rausch von Traubenberg, one of many Russian émigré artists who fell into oblivion during the Soviet era. He worked in a variety of materials and genres, created portraits of his contemporaries, equestrian figurines, historical and genre groups, models for the firm of Fabergé & Co., and commissions for the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg. His multifaceted career, launched already before the revolution, constitutes a significant phenomenon when examined in conjunction with his subsequent work abroad.

Investigation of ‘chazi’ (damaged-enamels) on Chenghua doucai Porcelains

At the end of the 1950s, Sun Yingzhou considered that the ‘chazi’ (damaged colour) on Chenghua doucai imperial porcelain as a defect was originally produced in firing process during Chenghua period (1465–1487). Researchers in China have accepted his view. But any fragment with the ‘chazi’ has never been found in several tons of Chenghua imperial sherds excavated from Ming imperial kiln site in Jingdezhen. In China, few scholars have questioned the formation of ‘chazi’, and further investigated scientifically. The researchers at the Research Laboratory in the British Museum, employing undestructive EDXRF, have analyzed the chemical composition of the ‘chazi’ (damaged colour) on a Chenghua doucai stem cup in the museum, and they have confirmed that the ‘chazi’ (damaged colour) was caused by the fire of the Jianfu palace in the Forbidden City in 1923. Based on their research, the authors studied the colour chemical principle of the ‘chazi’s’ formation carefully. According to the ceramic technology principle, scientific reasoning for the ‘chazi’ was carried out. With the help of the history of Qing court, the brainteaser of the ‘chazi’ was totally uncovered, the misunderstanding for the ‘chazi’ has also been corrected. The research also suggests that employing modern science and technology is a direction to study Chinese ancient ceramic further.

La fabrica de las ilusiones: Los Jesuitas y la difusion de la perspectiva lineal en China, (1698-1766) (review)

Reviewed by: La fábrica de las illusiones: Los Jesuitas y la difusión de la perspectiva lineal en China, (1698-1766) John W. Witek S.J. (bio) Elisabettta Corsi . La fábrica de las illusiones: Los Jesuitas y la difusión de la perspectiva lineal en China, (1698-1766). Centro de Estudios de Asia y África. México City: El Colegio de México, 2004. 242 p. Paperback, ISBN 968-12-1125-1. In the past few decades, studies on the cultural contacts between China and Europe during the late Ming and early Qing period have opened new perspectives. International symposia in honor of Jesuits such as Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), Giulio Aleni (1582-1649), Johann Adam Schall von Bell (1592-1666), and Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688) resulted in publications that highlighted new aspects of their lives and especially how they adapted Western works on mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and other topics for their Chinese audience.1 Yet little attention was given to the role of art as a means of developing the missionary enterprise. Elisabetta Corsi, a sinologist at the Center for Asian and African Studies, has reversed that trend with her fascinating study on the Jesuits and the diffusion of lineal perspective in early eighteenth-century China. This monograph portrays the history of a book, Shixue (Science of vision), whose origins developed from the friendship of Jesuit Brother Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) and Nian Xiyao (1671-1738). In the brief introduction Corsi outlines lineal perspective in China before the arrival of Castiglione at the Beijing court in 1715 and credits Ricci with the first examples through four illustrations of his that he sent to Cheng Dayue (1541-1616?), who published them in his Chengshi moyuan.2 Scattered references to perspective appeared in some later Chinese works but it was Giovanni Gherardini (1655-ca. 1723), a layman in service to the Beijing court as a painter from 1699 to 1704, who taught the technique of perspective to the artists of the court. Gherardini was a disciple in the grand tradition of the Jesuit Brother Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709), the author of Perspectiva Pictorum et Architectorum (Rome, 1693) and the architect of St. Ignatius Church in Rome. It was Pozzo's study that became the focus of Nian's Shixue. In the first chapter Corsi presents a brief biography of Nian, who was acquainted with several Jesuits in Beijing. Nian, the older brother of the military leader Nian Gengyao (1679-1725), was a fine painter and an author of mathematical works, especially on logarithms and trigonometry. A member of the Chinese Bordered Yellow Banner, Nian Xiyao did not participate in the state examinations (p. 47), but in the first year of the reign of the Yongzheng emperor (1723-1735) he was appointed governor (xunfu) of Guangdong and concurrently vice-minister (tongzhi) of the prefecture of Jingdong in Yunnan. In 1725 he was promoted to the Ministry of Public Works and a year later became inspector of customs at Huai'an and superintendent of the imperial porcelain factory at Jingdezhen. Under his [End Page 398] supervision until 1736 new techniques and new designs were introduced, including the famille rose. Nian was eventually removed from that office on charges of corruption and died two years later. To explain further the connection of Nian to the Jesuits, Corsi describes his relationship with the Jesuit Jean-François Foucquet (1665-1741), who from 1711 to 1716 (not 1710, as Corsi states, incorrectly following Joseph Needham) became involved in a protracted disagreement with his confreres over the use of newer Western data supporting Copernicanism for astronomical observations in Beijing. Neither the fragments of a biography of Nian before 1720 in Chinese sources nor the Western biography of Foucquet published in 1982 portray Nian as a participant in the translations of the data on the new astronomy.3 Corsi offers the hypothesis that Nian had such a role, though she presents no supporting documentary evidence. Yet she correctly portrays Nian's views on Chinese chronology as they affected Foucquet a few years later. In the next chapter, "The Work: Shixue or the "Science of Vision," Corsi indicates that its author, Nian Xiyao, mentions in the preface...

Chinese Jingdezhen blue and white imperial porcelain

Jingdezhen blue and white imperial porcelain specimens from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties have been systematically analyzed using a nondestructive test method——energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis (EDXRF). The derived data of major and trace element compositions have been treated by correspondence analysis. The variation laws of the composition patterns for Jingdezhen blue and white imperial porcelain in different historical periods owing to the change in raw materials, recipe and technology have been discussed, and a time model related to variation of element composition has been preliminarily established, It would be helpful for scientific dating of Jingdezhen blue and white imperial porcelain, and even for the studies on the whole field of identification of ancient ceramics.

Russian imperial porcelain at Hillwood

Russian imperial porcelain at Hillwood

The Place of the Pottery and Porcelain Industry in East Asian History

The Place of the Pottery and Porcelain Industry in East Asian History Sung Jae Koh I. Introduction In the East Asian countries of China, Korea, and Japan, the people have been well acquainted with the use and the art of manufacture of pottery and porcelain from time immemorial. Among the crafts of these Asian countries, pottery and porcelain occupy the foremost rank as important relics of past history and civilization. Since its origin, the pottery and porcelain industry in Asia has passed through several stages of evolution. In each case the develoment of the new stage phased out the old. Although the perfection of ceramic art was achieved by the Chinese potters in the early seventh century, the fundamental aspects of the Chinese pottery and porcelain industry have remained almost static. Korea also had a prominent place in the development of ceramic art in the Far East. However, since the seventeenth century, it too has been characterized by a continuing stagnation. Only in Japan has the manufacture of pottery and porcelain been helped by the employment of Western machinery since the opening of her doors to Western nations. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative study on the socioeconomic factors influencing the degree of differences in the development attained by the above three countries' pottery and porcelain industry. Analysis of the problem calls for a closer consideration of the following three points: first, what are the historical backgrounds which fossilized the pottery and porcelain industry in China and Korea into stagnation or near-stagnation in the period before the impact of Western technique; second, what are the social environments that have influenced the pace and direction of the Japanese pottery and porcelain industry which differ from those of the Chinese and Korean cases; third, what are the distinguishing characteristics of the Japanese pottery and procelain industry which heightened the tendency towards small scale enterprise in its industrial struc- 144\Koh ture. In addition, we shall supplement our analysis by looking into the nature and elasticity of the contemporary political, social and economic institutions which have determined the place of the pottery and porcelain industry in each of the three countries' industrialization process. II. Historical Background of the Pottery Industry in Asia Though the history of ceramic art in China really begins from the Han dynasty (B.C. 202 to A.D. 220), the Chinese pottery known in Europe dates no further back than to the days of the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644). The Chinese under the early Ming emperors were great builders and the face of China as it is seen today is, to a large extent, their creation . In pottery the early Ming was in some ways comparable to the contemporary Renaissance in Europe with its energy, its love of color and movement, and its care for the works of classical antiquity.1 The founder of the Ming dynasty established his capital at Nanking. The pottery manufacturing center of Ching-teh chen is not a great distance from Nanking, with which it was in communication by water, and it was natural that the court of Nanking should look to it for supplies. Ching-teh chen is situated in the district of Fou-liang, and stands on the left bank of the Ch'ang River which carries its goods to Poyang Lake, and thence to the Yangtze. The surrounding district is well supplied with the materials required for porcelain manufacture, chief of which are china-clay (kaolin) and china-stone. It is evident that the wares supplied were regarded with favor, for the rise of Ching-teh chen dates from this time and it rapidly became the center of China's pottery and porcelain industry. Even after the court of the Ming dynasty was moved to Peking in 1421, the manufacture appears to have been more and more restricted to Ching-teh chen. According to Kiangsi tung chih, or the Annals of Kiangsi province, in the second year of Hung-wu (1369), the Yu chi ch'ang, or "Imperial Porcelain Manufactory" was established at Ching-teh chen by the order of Emperor T'ai-tsu (1368-1398) with twenty imperial porcelain kilns. It is reported that...

Ku Yüeh Hsüan

AT SOME TIME not before the early part of the Ch'ien Lung period in China (1736–1795), a number of small vases and snuff bottles of opaque glass decorated with enamel colours were made. Some of these bore the mark: Ku Yüeh Hsüan chih, which can be translated: “Made in (or for) the Ancient Moon Pavilion” or “Made by Ku Yüeh-Hsüan.” The workmanship was excellent, and they were similar to other glass objects made for imperial use which bore the marks usual to porcelain of the period. The decoration was related also to a larger group of imperial porcelain which began towards the end of the K'ang Hsi period (1662–1722) and continued to some undetermined point in the reign of Ch'ien Lung. In spite of the fineness of their workmanship, the objects bearing the mark of Ku Yüeh Hsüan were not made for imperial use, and the Peking Palace collection contained no specimen with such a mark. The imperial glass and porcelain objects which they resembled were for palace use only, but owing to the similarity of decoration to the Ku Yüeh Hsüan group, such pieces have since become known as being “Ku Yüeh Hsüan” type of porcelain.

The Late Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in Vienna: Second Period - from 1744 to 1784. Rococo Epoch

The Late Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in Vienna: Second Period - from 1744 to 1784. Rococo Epoch

The Late Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in Vienna: I. Its Foundation and First Period as a Private Establishment

The Late Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in Vienna: I. Its Foundation and First Period as a Private Establishment

The Late Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in Vienna: IV. Fourth Period. Decline and Fall

The Late Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in Vienna: IV. Fourth Period. Decline and Fall