What Makes Blanc de Chine Porcelain So Special?
Precious white porcelain collections from Ming and Qing Dynasties
Dehua-kiln, white-glazed porcelain statue of Guanyin with a basket of fish (Qing Dynasty)Guangzhou Museum
Dehua porcelain stands out among the treasures of Chinese ceramics, captivating the world with its luminous white glaze, reminiscent of the finest jade.
Dehua porcelain gets its name from the clay that is produced in the mountains and used to make pottery. After its emergence during the Tang Dynasty, it developed throughout the Song and Yuan periods, and was exported overseas via the Maritime Silk Road, gaining international recognition.
The Ming and Qing dynasties marked a golden age for Dehua kilns. Skilled artisans mastered the art of crafting white porcelain renowned for its smooth, jade glaze. Its luminous surface provided the perfect canvas for exquisite artistic designs embodying the essence of Chinese civilization. In Western cultures, this coveted porcelain earned the moniker Chinese White.
The Guangzhou Museum houses nearly 300 pieces of Dehua white porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties. This collection includes Buddhist and Taoist statues, household items, dining ware, and scholars' items that showcase the solemn and tranquil charm of Dehua porcelain, while also providing glimpses into Chinese society. Visitors can see the diligence and wisdom it took for Dehua craftsmen to create such world-class Eastern works of art.
Dehua porcelain: "Mother of world white porcelain"
The kilns of Dehua, located in Dehua County in Fujian Province, are an important ancient porcelain production site. Following the Ming Dynasty, customized Dehua white porcelain became a sought-after luxury item among European royalty. In the 1904 book, Chinese Art, British author Stephen Wootton Bushell wrote: "Dehua kilns were particularly known for white porcelain, which was considered the finest Chinese porcelain, and which the French called Blanc de Chine."
Dehua-kiln, white-glazed porcelain seated Guanyin statue (Qing Dynasty)Guangzhou Museum
This resulted in a European trend of imitating Dehua white porcelain, earning it the title of the Mother of World White Porcelain. This statue depicts the goddess Guanyin with an oval face, nodded slightly downward in a contemplative expression. Her hair is styled into an angular bun shape, and she wears jewels on her chest with a silk scarf draped around her neck. She sits cross-legged, with both hands on one knee. There is a natural fluidity to her flowing robes.
Statue of Guanyin with a basket of fish
Guanyin is depicted with a slight smile, wearing her naturally flowing hair in shell-shaped buns, with a crown of flowers on her head. A sash hangs gracefully over her chest, which is adorned with jewels. Wearing bracelets on her wrists, Guanyin holds a basket containing a carp fish in one hand, as she stands barefoot on a wave-shaped pedestal of lotus flowers.
Dehua-kiln, white-glazed porcelain statue of Guanyin with a basket of fish (Qing Dynasty)Guangzhou Museum
The image of the bodhisattva Guanyin holding a basket of fish, or riding on a large fish to subdue monsters, originates from popular beliefs during China's Tang Dynasty. The poem Praise of Guanyin, written by Huang Tingjian during the Song Dynasty, says: "If you wish to truly see Guanyin, go to the golden sands where Mr. Ma's Wife resides." This particular artistic representation of Guanyin is closely related to this story.
Figure of a seated arhat
Dehua porcelain craftsmanship flourished during the Ming Dynasty. Over years of experience, artisans honed their mastery of this uniquely soft and highly plastic clay, enabling them to create lifelike sculptures of revered figures from Buddhism, such as Guanyin, Bodhidharma, Buddha, Maitreya and arhats. According to researches and analysis of specimens excavated from kiln sites, ceramic sculptures from the Ming Dynasty were primarily produced using molding and hand pinching.
Statue of the Budai Monk
Qici was a well-known monk during the Later Liang Dynasty. He was thought to be an incarnation of the bodhisattva Maitreya, and was depicted as being plump, with a large belly, and carrying a staff and bag. Qici was well known for his wit, kindness, optimism, and wisdom, and was widely respected and loved. His name means "upholding the principles of all Buddhas above and understanding the minds of all beings below." His image reminds people to be tolerant and generous.
Furnishings
In traditional Chinese culture, furnishings do not have a purely practical function—they play a vital role in creating a harmonious living environment, while also serving as a window into the homeowner's taste and spirituality. With the secularization of religion in the middle to late Ming Dynasty, people began to pray to Chinese gods on a daily basis, asking for worldly blessings or to ward off disasters. Therefore, Dehua kilns produced furnishings used in worship.
During the Ming Dynasty, the literati began to emulate ancient artifacts. The imperial kilns in Jingdezhen began to replicate antique shapes, as did the Dehua kilns. Unlike imperial kilns, which were bound by strict regulations, Dehua kilns—as privately owned kilns, enjoyed greater freedom in their artistic pursuits. This allowed artisans to produce a wider array of antique-style porcelain, offering to temples, ancestral halls, and private mansions.
This wine vessel is designed in the shape of Shang and Zhou bronze vessels, with a large flared mouth and base, long neck, and straight body. Its neck is decorated with plum and bamboo motifs, which were popular among the literati. Compared to simple bronze wine vessels, it exudes an elegant and graceful charm of its own.
This type of cylindrical bottle, also known as an elephant-leg bottle, was very popular in the early Qing Dynasty, because it symbolized the Qing Dynasty unifying the world.
Fine tea requires good water and exquisite utensils. Fragrant tea and teaware elevate one another—the elegant utensils bringing out the full beauty of tea. Beginning in the Ming Dynasty, the black glazed tea cups traditionally favored by ancient people were replaced by white or blue-and-white porcelain cups. Dehua white porcelain teacups are beautifully shaped and proportionally balanced. They played an important role in ancient Chinese tea ware history.
Ancient ceramics frequently employed the technique of stacking and pasting, also known as sculptural pasting, stacked carving, or stacked sculpture. This method involves stamping or sculpting three-dimensional patterns onto the surface of a ceramic body, then glazed and fired to produce a decorative ceramic piece. Popular auspicious motifs on Dehua porcelain include plum blossoms, magnolias, lotus flowers, the Eight Immortals, dragons, phoenixes, and stories and allegory.
The Ming and Qing dynasties ushered in a golden age for Dehua porcelain. As societal structures flourished, the economy thrived, and cultural pursuits blossomed, a spirit of innovation swept through the handicraft industry. Dehua's ceramic masters rose to the occasion, creating a captivating array of scholars' accouterments, including brush holders, brush racks, water droppers, water basins, brush washers, seals, and incense holders.
These items were not only useful tools for scholars, they also added enjoyment to their years of arduous research.
A water dropper, also known as an ink dropper, was a stationery item used by ancient literati to hold and drip water onto an inkstone while grinding ink. Porcelain water droppers were first produced during the Six Dynasties period and gained popularity during the Song and Yuan dynasties, with designs primarily featuring fruits and animal shapes.
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