Underglaze Five-Color Porcelain

Underglaze Five-Color Porcelain

　　China’s overglaze five-color and blue-and-white five-color porcelains are created by painting on fired white porcelain or white porcelain with certain patterns replaced by blue-and-white designs, then firing them again in the kiln. This technique originated during the Xuande era of the Ming Dynasty, flourished through the Chenghua and Wanli eras, and continued into the early Qing Dynasty during the Kangxi reign, before being eventually replaced by famille rose. Liling is an ancient yet modern city that enjoys the reputation of the “Porcelain City” and is the world-renowned birthplace of underglaze five-color porcelain. Entering the 21st century, the ceramic industry in Liling seized opportunities, revitalized itself, and carved out a new realm. Porcelain is one of China’s unique inventions, and even today, the English word for porcelain remains “china.” Liling has nearly two thousand years of ceramic production history. As far back as the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liling had large-scale workshops dedicated to pottery making. In the seventh year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1729), Liling began producing coarse porcelain. From the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China, the Liling ceramic industry entered a new period of development. It was during this time that underglaze five-color porcelain, which would bring worldwide fame to Liling, was born. In 1904, Xiong Xiling from Fenghuang, Hunan (who later served as the Premier of the Beiyang Government after the Xinhai Revolution), along with Wen Junduo, a scholar from Liling who had participated in the “Public Vehicle Petition,” proposed ideas such as “establishing schools and companies” based on the principle of saving the nation through industry. They combined their extensive research with Liling’s technical strengths and actual conditions to vigorously revitalize the local ceramic industry. Their efforts received strong support from the Hunan provincial government. That same year, the Hunan Official Ceramic Industry School was officially established in Liling, and the following year, the Hunan Ceramic Industry Manufacturing Company was founded in Liling, with Xiong Xiling serving as the company’s general manager and Wen Junduo as the school supervisor. The company hired Japanese technicians and Jingdezhen skilled workers, introducing the most advanced Japanese production techniques and equipment at the time, ushering in a new era for Liling—from coarse to fine porcelain production. The uniquely distinctive Liling underglaze five-color porcelain was developed under these circumstances. Using self-made underglaze pigments and employing traditional Chinese painting techniques such as double-line outlining, water separation filling, and the “three-fired process,” they produced refreshing and innovative underglaze five-color porcelain. The underglaze five-color porcelain features delicate body, exquisite painting, fresh and elegant beauty, and a unique style. Beneath the glaze layer, the vibrant colors present lifelike images, offering both high artistic and practical value. Its debut immediately garnered significant attention and acclaim from industry insiders and domestic and international media. Between 1909 and 1911, Liling underglaze five-color porcelain was exhibited at the Wuhan Industrial Exposition, the Nanyang Industrial Exposition, and the Turin International Exhibition in Italy, winning gold medals consecutively. Liling porcelain began to gain fame across China and reach the world. “White as jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, and resonant as chime stones” was the praise Liling porcelain earned at the time.

　　The true underglaze five-color porcelain is a new type of porcelain successfully created during the Xuantong era of the late Qing Dynasty at the Liling Kiln in Hunan. It involves painting multiple colorants on the porcelain body, then covering it with a layer of transparent glaze, and firing it once at a high temperature in the kiln. This represents another major achievement in the history of Chinese ceramics. Its introduction was warmly welcomed by people both in China and abroad. Between 1907 and 1912, it participated in world expositions twice, winning first-class gold medals on both occasions.

　　Characteristics of Underglaze Five-Color Porcelain

　　　　It boasts high porcelain strength and a highly vitrified glaze surface, protecting the patterns from external wear, preventing and reducing the toxicity of lead in the pigments. It is a relatively ideal type of painted porcelain. At that time, the government-merchant joint venture Xinhua Company also took this as a model and produced a batch of underglaze five-color porcelain. The brush pot shown in the picture is a product from that time. Not only is its porcelain body bright and beautiful, but its decoration is also an exquisitely painted landscape scene featuring undulating mountain peaks, shimmering lake light and mountain colors, forested villages, fishing boats, and anglers. The scenery complements each other, giving viewers a sense of being cleansed from worldly noise and feeling refreshed and joyful. Since then, the underglaze five-color technique has spread widely, and many kilns have started producing it. One example is a rooster-patterned washbasin bottle fired in the 34th year of the Republic of China (1943). This type of porcelain continued to be produced even in the early years after liberation, and its production was not limited to Liling, Hunan. Due to the varying firing temperatures and atmospheres required for the different colors of underglaze five-color pigments, achieving successful firings was extremely challenging. As a result, not many pieces were produced at the time, and it is now quite rare to collect fine pieces from the late Qing and early Republican periods. Underglaze five-color porcelain is a subcategory of underglaze colored porcelain. Compared to earlier overglaze colored porcelain, it is characterized by three main features: vivid five colors, a crystal-clear and lustrous finish, and colors that never fade. It emerged relatively late, likely after the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty, when modern craftsmanship was introduced to China. During the Xuantong era, the Hunan Ceramic Company in Liling produced this type of underglaze five-color ware for the imperial court and even won a gold medal at the World Expo.