Blue and White Underglaze Red (China)

Author: Geng Baochang, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-08-01
Features: The Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties' decorated and underglaze-red porcelain collections in the Beijing Palace Museum are predominantly imperial court wares. In terms of both quality and quantity, they rank first in the country. The publication of The Great Series of Treasures from the Palace Museum selects blue-and-white and underglaze-red porcelain, including a small number of blue-and-white underglaze-red and blue-and-white overglaze-decorated wares, arranged chronologically in three volumes. The upper volume covers the Yuan Dynasty to the Tianshun era of the Ming Dynasty; the middle volume spans from the Chenghua era to the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty; and the lower volume covers the early to late Qing Dynasty. The publication of these three volumes will mark the first comprehensive introduction of these important collections. This volume is the middle one, featuring 236 pieces of blue-and-white underglaze-red porcelain from the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, spanning 179 years from the Chenghua to the Chongzhen reigns of nine emperors. The production conditions and artistic level of blue-and-white underglaze-red porcelain during this period exhibit distinct characteristics compared to the Yuan and early Ming dynasties.