Blue and White Underglaze Red (Lower)

Author: Geng Baochang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-08-01
Features: The Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties' decorated and underglaze-red porcelain collections in the Beijing Palace Museum are mostly imperial court wares. In terms of both quality and quantity, they rank first in the country. The publication of "The Great Series of Treasures in 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 porcelain, arranged in chronological order and divided into three volumes. The upper volume covers the Yuan Dynasty to the Tianshun era of the Ming Dynasty; the middle volume covers the Chenghua era to the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty; and the lower volume covers the early Qing Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty. The publication of these three volumes will comprehensively introduce these important collections for the first time.
In the early Qing Dynasty, blue-and-white porcelain inherited the style of the Ming Dynasty and, based on this foundation, continuously expanded into new technical territories. The Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong dynasties pushed Chinese porcelain production to its historical peak, and these three dynasties were also the heyday of blue-and-white porcelain production. During this period, blue-and-white porcelain, whether in form or glaze, strove for constant innovation, reaching an extremely high level. Afterward, the production of blue-and-white porcelain gradually declined, fluctuating with the rise and fall of national strength, but still maintaining the Qing Dynasty's style.