Guangzhou Color Porcelain

Guangzhou Color Porcelain

Guangzhou color porcelain is an intangible cultural heritage of Guangzhou City.

　　Guangzhou color porcelain, also known as Guangzhou jacquard color porcelain, is a craft with strong oriental characteristics made by painting various white porcelain items and then firing them. Most Guangzhou color porcelain adopts patterns from traditional Chinese brocades and is renowned for its bright and vibrant colors, making it a unique variety of overglaze enamel porcelain in China.

　　The so-called color porcelain involves painting gold floral patterns on the glaze of various white-bodied porcelains, as if embroidering splendid and elegant golden threads on brocade, which are then fired at low temperatures. As one of the early products of Guangzhou color porcelain, enamel-colored porcelain was highly favored by both Chinese and foreigners for its noble and luxurious charm. It was listed as a tribute item by the Qing court, and some foreign royal nobility even sent officials specifically to Guangzhou to purchase it. Later, European merchants simply brought design templates for color porcelain to China, where Chinese artisans manufactured them according to specifications solely for export. At that time, Guangdong merchants transported porcelain blanks from Jingdezhen and used the Jiangxi famille rose technique to paint in imitation of Western-style paintings, followed by firing.

　　Guangzhou color porcelain inherits the artistic characteristics of Ming Dynasty colored porcelain, incorporates Western painting techniques, and features patterns with Lingnan regional characteristics, gradually forming a unique Lingnan art style. Many patterns were standardized and became traditional designs of Guangzhou color porcelain, such as flower baskets, dragons and phoenixes, colorful butterflies, goldfish, and figures in ancient costumes.

　　Guangzhou color porcelain originated from the Sancai (three-color) porcelain of Guangzhou during the Ming Dynasty, developed into wucai (five-color) during the Qing Dynasty, and gradually formed its unique artistic style during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. It has a history of over 300 years. During the Qianlong period, to process painted porcelain for European countries, local merchants transported white porcelain from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi to Guangzhou, painted them in imitation of Western styles, and then sold them to foreign merchants. When the Thirteen Hongs of Guangzhou were established, shops specializing in the export of Guangzhou color porcelain and foreign trading firms were already in operation.

　　Guangzhou color porcelain is known for its richly colored, meticulously composed, and finely painted designs. On the pure white porcelain body, artisans hand-paint gold lines that cling like countless strands of gold to gemstones, giving an impression of luxury and elegance. The white porcelain bodies used in producing Guangzhou color porcelain mainly come from major porcelain-producing areas in Jiangxi, Hunan, and locally. Guangzhou color porcelain features over twenty colors, including bright red, water blue, emerald green, crane spring, brilliant black, and double yellow. A wide range of painting techniques are employed—such as weaving, filling, dyeing, washing, outlining, layering, carving, and brushing—to create beautiful floral patterns on the white porcelain body before firing in a kiln.

　　The production process of Guangzhou color porcelain painting consists of seven steps: line drawing, color filling, gold weaving, green filling, contrasting colors, gold rim coating, and firing. Patterns in Guangzhou color porcelain include figures, flowers, birds, insects, fish, landscapes, and more. The products mainly fall into three categories: display art porcelain, daily-use decorative porcelain, and craft porcelain. The craft porcelain alone includes over 500 varieties and more than 2,000 designs.

　　Yu Peixi 　　Yu Peixi, also known as Yu Pei, is a national-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Guangzhou color porcelain. Born in 1929 in Taishan, Guangdong, he is a Chinese Master of Arts and Crafts and one of the most senior figures in the industry today. From September 1945 to September 1947, Yu Peixi apprenticed under his uncle Situ Mei (a renowned Guangzhou color porcelain master), and later worked in porcelain creation, design, and production at the Ancient Niuniu Porcelain Factory in Guangzhou and the Yu Peijian Guangzhou Color Porcelain Art Studio in Hong Kong. Yu Peixi dedicated himself to the art of Guangzhou color porcelain for 60 consecutive years, continuously exploring traditional patterns. Building upon these, he absorbed elements from various Chinese and foreign art forms and modern life themes, constantly designing new patterns to adapt to... [Detailed]