Today we will talk about blue and white porcelain. It must be added right away that porcelain is not as fragile as many people imagine. It is necessary to distinguish faience, porcelain, majolica - all these are types of ceramics. Among which porcelain is a precious material.
But! It's time to return to the topic of the article - this fantastic color combination on precious porcelain, which captured the minds and hearts of people all over the world!
Imagine this picture: new white porcelain, arrived from the East, whose surface is almost like a gem in its whiteness and translucency, decorated with hand-painted cobalt color! It was an exciting appearance 200 years ago. And porcelain collectors seem to have gone crazy, buying up items with blue and white patterns!
At first, trade in blue and white Chinese porcelain was concentrated along the Silk Road and also with the Middle East and Southeast Asia. But by the early 16th century, Portugal had established direct contact with China and began to participate in the trade in silk, tea, silver, porcelain and pepper.
While blue and white were actually used in China and the Middle East, upon their arrival in Europe their beauty and exoticism were so admired that they quickly acquired the status of an object of art.
Exotic blue and white wares paraded through Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries like a flamboyant carnival that began in southern China, where artisans discovered a chemical relationship between their prized porcelain (made from local raw materials). Received and very desirable kaolin and cobalt oxide (the only pigment that can withstand the high temperatures of porcelain firing).
With the advent of cobalt blue from Persia, Chinese potters developed the technique of painting the white porcelain body with cobalt patterns and glazing over a clear coating that was fired at high temperatures, providing the ceramic with a long service life.
Scholars agree that while earlier experiments with cobalt in China and Persian ceramics do exist, the Yaun Dynasty's technical developments and elaborate decoration were indeed an innovation that surpassed all other efforts.
Imitation of white and blue porcelain was created almost from the very beginning, as soon as it appeared, people fell under its spell and tried to reproduce the effect using materials and techniques available to domestic potters.
Imitation of blue and white was produced in:
- Vietnam - towards the end of the 1300s.
- Ottoman Empire - towards the end of the 1400s.
- Puebla, Mexico - late 1500s.
- Japan - by the second half of the 1600s.
- Holland - by the 1620s.
Some of these imitations have gained value in their own right, deviating in creativity and design so much that they have acquired their own original style.
The goal of many was copying. Even within China itself, porcelain was made to reproduce earlier styles as a tribute.
Over time and the development of technology, hand-painting was replaced by printing:
This brings us to the interesting and long-standing debate about whether it is a reproduction or a fake... what is homage and what is deceit?
Modern masters, inspired by the porcelain of past centuries, also made their modest contribution.
