Ming porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating materials, generally including kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C. The toughness, strength, and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainly from vitrification and the formation of the …
What is Mingming porcelain?
Ming porcelain is highly prized around the world and it is easily recognized as one of China’s symbols. During the Ming dynasty, ceramic technique evolved quickly and kilns were able to develop a more refined type of porcelain.
Why is Ming Dynasty pottery so popular?
As Chinese scholars developed a taste for tea, proper Ming pottery appeared to fill the need. Yixing wares do not feature colorful Ming dynasty art, but they are famous for their nice precise shape and simple designs. A Ming dynasty vase is highly praised in today’s market.
What materials did the Ming dynasty use for decoration?
Porcelain replaced stoneware as the usual medium, and polychrome decoration became widely employed. The largest single group of Ming porcelain is that painted in blue underglaze. Much of the pigment used was imported from Middle Eastern sources.
What is a Ming vase?
Ming vases are well known internationally for their sophisticated design and simple, yet beautiful decorations. They originate from 15 th century China, when the country was ruled by the powerful Ming dynasty and are made from the finest porcelain.
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How can you tell Ming porcelain?
The markings on Ming vases are usually written in vertical columns and read from top to bottom, left to right. It's not certain but it is thought that this way of reading and writing developed from the ancient calligraphers who wrote on vertical pieces of bone or bamboo.
Why was Ming porcelain a luxury item?
Ming porcelain was such a luxury item because it could only be found in China during Medieval times.
What is Ming dynasty porcelain worth?
between $300,000 and $500,000Ming Dynasty Porcelain, Valued Up to $500K, Purchased at Yard Sale for $35. The rare find is headed to auction at Sotheby's, where it is valued between $300,000 and $500,000.
Why was Chinese porcelain so highly prized?
Chinese porcelain was highly prized in the West and in the Islamic World even after Europeans found out how to replicate it themselves in the 1700s. The artwork was exotic, the colors were bright and beautiful, the artistic pieces were durable and useful, and the pieces were comparatively inexpensive.
What is a Ming vase worth?
The experts came back with good news, revealing that the bowl is thought to be worth between $300,000 and $500,000. In fact, it is believed to be one of only seven such bowls in existence and most of the others are in museums.
What is so special about the Ming dynasty?
The Ming Dynasty ruled China from 1368 to 1644 A.D., during which China's population would double. Known for its trade expansion to the outside world that established cultural ties with the West, the Ming Dynasty is also remembered for its drama, literature and world-renowned porcelain.
What type of porcelain is the Ming most known for?
blue-and-white porcelainIn the first period of Ming rule blue-and-white porcelain was the most highly prized, as it had been under the Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty (1215-1368 CE). The blue (cobalt oxide sourced from central Asia, particularly Iran) was painted onto the porcelain body and then covered with a glaze called Yingqing.
How can I tell if my Chinese porcelain is real?
Most ancient Chinese porcelain features blue decoration on a white base. There are many shades of blue, though. China imported different dyes at different times and had varying access to domestic shades. An expert will be able to check the colours used on a piece of porcelain, and pair them up to the shape.
What colors were typically used in Ming dynasty pottery?
The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) is famed for its blue and white porcelain.
What is so special about Chinese porcelain?
Chinese porcelain has a long life. Authentic Chinese porcelain made from kaolin, quartz, and feldspar, in the right proportions, is an extremely durable and translucent material. The potter is working on a piece of porcelain.
Why is Chinese porcelain blue and white?
The colour blue gained special significance in the history of Chinese ceramics during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The distinctive colour in blue-glazed pottery and porcelain comes from cobalt ores imported from Persia, which were a scarce ingredient at the time and used in only limited quantities.
What made makes Chinese porcelain a unique object in the world?
Glazing of Porcelain Like the iron glaze used on Longquan celadon ceramics from Zhejiang Province, potters created many glazes. These glazes were to give porcelain their unique aesthetic effects.
Why are Ming Dynasty vases so valuable?
Evolution & Developments. Porcelain is only one of many different types of pottery but it is usually valued more than others because of the smoothness of its surface, its pure whiteness, and its translucent quality.
What Ming Dynasty artwork was valuable throughout the world?
The Ming Dynasty has become world famous for the unique quality of its ceramic art: in particular, its cobalt blue and white porcelain, its sea-green celadon glazed stoneware, and its white porcelain sculpture (by artists like He Chaozong), all of which were exported around the world, mostly to Europe, the Middle East, ...
What was Ming Dynasty pottery used for?
Blue-and-white porcelain was exported to Europe in vast quantities, and many of the forms were especially made for export; the condiment ledge on plates and dishes, for instance, which first appeared in the reign of the Wanli emperor (Ming dynasty), had been added for Western customers (the Chinese used the saucer dish ...
What are the achievements of the Ming Dynasty?
Ming Dynasty AchievementsThe Construction of the Great Wall. The Great Wall. ... The Construction of the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City. ... Zheng He's Voyage to the West. Zheng He's Voyages to the West. ... The Golden Age of Blue and White Porcelain. ... Vernacular Novels Flourished.
What is Ming porcelain?
Ming porcelain is highly prized around the world and it is easily recognized as one of China’s symbols. During the Ming dynasty, ceramic technique evolved quickly and kilns were able to develop a more refined type of porcelain.
Where were Ming ceramics made?
Ming dynasty ceramics were developed mainly in the Southern part of the country in royal kilns. One of the best known provinces for its high-quality porcelain is Jingdezhen. Here, the materials required to make Chinese ceramics were abundant as the province was rich in petuntse (china stone) and kaolin (china clay) and the many forests provided much needed wood to keep the heat up.
What culture is Ming vase?
Ming vases feature a blend of different cultures: Chinese, Islamic and later on, European. The vase patterns often borrow elements from other cultures and soon, Ming dynasty porcelain became famous all around the world. This caused a big boom in the Chinese porcelain industry as the demand for Chinese pottery greatly increased, especially because of Europeans who started collecting the beautiful Ming dynasty pottery.
Why are Ming dynasties so famous?
These innovations made Ming dynasty porcelain famous around the world as China started exporting these beautiful vases to other countries. Now, they are sought by collectors everywhere because of their beauty and value.
What is Blanc de Chine?
Blanc de Chine is famous among other types of Ming porcelain for its perfect blend of glaze and body, giving it a milk-like texture, from which its original name came: “ivory white” and “milk white”.
Why did the Chinese porcelain industry boom?
This caused a big boom in the Chinese porcelain industry as the demand for Chinese pottery greatly increased , especially because of Europeans who started collecting the beautiful Ming dynasty pottery. Common patterns included lyrical verses, different sceneries and images of birds, animals, insects or plants.
What is the Ming vase?
Ming Dynasty Porcelain. Ming vases are well known internationally for their sophisticated design and simple, yet beautiful decorations. They originate from 15 th century China, when the country was ruled by the powerful Ming dynasty and are made from the finest porcelain.
What was the main medium used in Ming?
Porcelain replaced stoneware as the usual medium, and polychrome decoration became widely employed. The largest single group of Ming porcelain is that painted in blue underglaze. Much of the pigment used was imported from Middle Eastern sources.
What period did Chinese porcelain come from?
The wares lack much of the precision of the porcelain made during the following Qing period (1644–1911/12), when a kind of factory system grew up that divided the work into a large number of repetitive operations. Little trouble was taken to smooth over imperfections of manufacture, and foot rings are often finished summarily. The glaze, too, frequently has minor defects, and articles, such as vases, are sometimes slightly distorted and carelessly finished. The shape of many examples can fairly be described as massive, in spite of the fact that most of them were made for export, and the difficulties of transporting them must have been considerable. None of these factors evinces a lack of skill, especially as the potters were quite capable of technical virtuosity when they wished to display it—some of the most thinly potted of all Chinese porcelain belongs to this period. It seems that the Ming potters disdained the attitude of mind that treated blemishes as important; occasional distortions, in fact, were regarded as lending interest to an object. The Chinese did not carry this aesthetic creed to the same lengths as the Japanese ( see Japanese pottery ), but the difference seems to be largely one of degree. Ming wares can fairly be described as masculine, in contrast to the more feminine, more precisely finished wares of the later Qing period.
How tall is a Ming flask?
Flask decorated with a dragon and wave scrolls in underglaze blue, Ming dynasty, 14th century; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Height 36.8 cm. Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The wares lack much of the precision of the porcelain made during the following Qing period (1644–1911/12), ...
Where were Celadons made?
Most of the wares hitherto discussed were made in the Jingdezhen area; it remains to consider the other wares of the period. The export of celadons went on, not only to the countries west of China but also to Japan, where they were much esteemed. Most celadons attributable to the Ming period have incised under the glaze floral and foliate decoration of a kind that also appears on blue painted wares.
How tall is the Kangxi vase?
Height 61 cm.
What is the name of the ware that the Yongle Emperor made?
The reign of the Yongle emperor (1402–24) is remarkable for some extremely thin-walled pieces, referred to as eggshell, or “bodiless” ( tuotai ), ware. Engraved examples are known, and Chinese commentaries refer to specimens decorated in red.
Which emperor enamelled porcelain?
The practice of enamelling directly onto unglazed, or biscuit, porcelain instead of onto a glazed and fired body is sometimes thought to have begun in this reign, though that of the Jiajing emperor (1521–1566/67) is the more likely. Ming specimens are, in any case, extremely rare; most belong to the reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662–1722) in the Qing dynasty.
How much did the Ming bowl sell for?
Sotheby’s auction house in New York, NY, USA sold the Ming dynasty bowl for $721,800 at auction on a pre-auction estimate of $500,000. That’s right, Sotheby’s reported that, months before the auction, that they expected the bowl to sell for between $300,000 ...
What was the impact of the Ming Dynasty on China?
This impact brought China great prosperity and the objects that derived from the Ming dynasty or were made during the Ming dynasty in China were the best of the best.
What is a Ming bowl?
The Ming bowl is a museum quality piece of the Ming dynasty in blue/white porcelain featuring quatrefoil motifs, flowers of lotus, peony, chrysanthemum, and pomegranate in a stylized pattern, and a rare ringed footed form. While it started out from a yard sale, it belongs in a museum and will someday probably end up there.
What period is the blue bowl from?
Getting back to that little blue/white porcelain bowl found in New Haven, CT sitting on a yard sale table, the big deal surrounding that was the piece was in excellent condition for its age—it dated to the Yongle period of Ming dynastic rule or the 1400s in China—and it has characteristics known to some of the best ceramic artists working for the Chinese court. High quality materials and the best craftsmanship were used in order to make that bowl as that was the standard at the time. In short, the reason why this bowl is so special goes back to the old saying: “It’s Ming!”
How long did the Ming Dynasty last?
The Chinese Ming dynasty lasted a very long time. China’s Ming dynasty lasted from 1368 until 1644 and represented a period when China’s rulers exercised great and widespread political and cultural influence over much of the Far East.
How much did the Sotheby's bowl sell for?
But if you do the math–and everyone loves to do the math– you will realize that the bowl itself sold for $580,000.
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What makes a fine piece of Chinese porcelain?
What makes a fine piece of Chinese porcelain is the weight, the tactile feel of the glaze and the body on the base , how the mark is inscribed on the base. It's how the design is painted, the enamel used for that design, how does it shine, and how do the colors appear.
Where is ceramics important?
NC: Ceramics has always had an important place in China and although you've got traditions elsewhere -- in the Middle East, in Europe -- the history in China goes back thousands of years. The Chinese refined the technology over time and their advances are unmatched anywhere else in the world.
How much did a Chinese ding bowl sell for?
Occasional finds such as a Chinese "Ding" bowl that was purchased for $3 at a yard sale and subsequently sold at a 2013 New York auction for $2.2 million help keep local flea markets busy.
How many seasons should I spend studying Chinese ceramics?
And I would say give yourself at least one or two seasons to get familiar and really find what it is you are particularly interested in, because Chinese ceramics is a vast subject. Then do price research to get a sense of where the market sits.
When did Chinese ceramics start?
The appreciation and a tradition of collecting Chinese ceramics also goes back a long way; beginning from the Tang dynasty (8th century) and the Song dynasty (9th to 13th centuries), many scholars and poets wrote about and compared the virtues of various wares. This is connected to the tradition of tea-drinking.
Is fake industry sophisticated?
The fake industry is sophisticated, but rarely do these two paths cross.
Is it scary to buy Chinese porcelain?
It can sound quite scary for anyone wanting to buy Chinese porcelain but the truth is, there wouldn't be so much money in our field if there was not such great consensus between auction house specialists, art dealers and museum curators as to what is genuine and what is fake. That's why I recommend starting in a transparent environment.
What is the significance of provenance in Chinese ceramics?
The first two criteria seem obvious, but a work’s provenance—the record of its past ownership —holds an exceptional importance in the world of Chinese ceramics. When an object comes from a well-known or notable collection, it’s met with a major boost on the market. Centuries-old Chinese ceramics don’t necessarily come with one, unlike contemporary or modern art for which a piece’s origins are easy to access. If a prominent collector once owned a piece, or it’s been passed down through generations, it garners a rather immediate stamp of importance.
What dynasty was the teadust vase made in?
Paloympis also points to lot 1246 as a remarkable piece. The superb teadust-glazed vase was made at the height of the Qing dynasty and boasts a Qianlong mark at its base. "Anything bearing the mark right now is very hot, and the piece is in perfect condition: no chips [or] cracks, and it's well-fired," she says. "I think this type of vase is interesting because it mimics early bronze shapes of the Han dynasty." This standout vase is also estimated to sell for between $200,000 and $300,000.
