Accession Number
1982/1.213

Title
Dish

Artist(s)
Chinese

Artist Nationality
Chinese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1700-1722

Medium & Support
porcelain with glaze

Dimensions
1 3/4 in x 8 7/8 in (4.45 cm x 22.54 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of the Estate of Hobart Taylor, Jr.

Subject matter
A porcelain powder blue dish of the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

Powder blue, soufflé blue, snowflake blue or xue hua lan (雪花篮), sprinkled blue or sa lan (洒蓝), fish-roe blue (鱼子绿), and blown blue or chuiqing (吹青) are all terms used to describe a subset of famille verte porcelains that are covered with a cobalt blue ground comprising of many layered dots of various sizes, creating gradations in color. It was produced at Jingdezhen (景德镇), Jiangxi (江西), China for a very short time during the Kangxi (康熙) reign (1661- 1722) of the Qing (清) dynasty (1644-1912), primarily from about 1700-1722. It is characterized by its rich, speckled cobalt underglaze surface covering the majority of porcelain vessel. Sometimes, reserves are masked off using paper as a resist, to keep some areas of the porcelain white. These areas may be decorated later with underglaze cobalt blue or underglaze copper red before glazing and firing, or possibly decorated with famille verte enamels and gilding after glazing and firing. The designs often featured scenes from classical literature, "five color blue" landscapes, birds and flowers, beautiful ladies, the "Hundred Antiquities", and auspicious objects and divine beings. The multiple firings and costly materials made powder blue wares extremely expensive to produce.

Physical Description
The interior of this thin porcelain, wide, and low saucer-shaped dish on a footring, is covered with sprayed powder blue underglaze with one large foliate-shaped reserve flanked by two smaller quatri-foliate-shaped reserves and two smaller quatri-lobed reserves, covered entirely in a clear glaze. The central and quatri-foliate reserves are painted with overglaze enamels to depict peonies and chrysanthemums, the quatri-lobed reserves depict landscapes, and the exterior covered in powder blue with a white base with underglaze blue double ring and a central diaper-shaped endless knot mark to base.
Part of a ten-piece garniture set which includes: jars, 1982/1.206A, 1982/1.206B, 1982/1.206C, 1982/1.207A, 1982/1.207B, and 1982/1.207C; vases, 1982/1.208, 1982/1.215, 1982/1.216, 1982/1.220; plates, 1982/1.212, 1982/1.213, and bowls, 1982/1.221,1982/1.22.

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
dish

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
Chrysanthemum (genus)
Paeonia (genus)
blue-and-white (ceramic glaze)
ceramic (material)
cobalt (mineral)
cobalt blue (pigment)
flowers
plates (general, dishes)
plum (plant)
porcelain (visual works)
saucers (plates)