Chinese Blue and White Porcelain

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Chinese Blue and White Porcelain
Blue and white ceramics were invented in China and widely spread, recreated, and copied worldwide by makers. In the history of Chinese porcelains, it was the most enduring and well-known product. Blue and white, generally refer to ceramics with white bodies decorated with cobalt blue pigment, usually applied using brush under the glaze. Early blue and white ceramics, which first appeared in the Tang dynasty, were made with a rough and greyish body. During the Yuan dynasty, firing technology was first developed by potters from Jingdezhen, located in Jiangxi province, a famous porcelain town in China, and kaolin clay was also added to refine the clay recipes. Using imported cobalt pigment from the Middle East and those produced in Yunnan province, more products with vibrant blue colors were created and show how the craftmanship of blue and white porcelain significantly improved.
It was known that the objects with the best quality were originated from the kilns at Jingdezhen even though blue and white wares are being produced in a different place in China.
Different decorative techniques had been incorporated by Jingdezhen potters using a simple palette of blue and white: they were combining dark and light blue to create a striking contrast, or to create a pattern on a thickly painted blue background, they are using reserved areas in white. The blue pigment can be used to draw cartoon-like images, detailed outlines, and bold images. In the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1622­- 1722), a popular technique called Fenshui was used. This technique...