Chapter Six
Europe – China – Europe: The Transmission of the Craft of Painted Enamel in the 17th and
18th Centuries
Xu Xiaodong
The craft of enamelling originated in Europe.i The technique of cloisonné enamel, which can
be traced back to the old Mycenaean culture, flourished in Byzantium from the middle of
the Ninth Century to 1204, with Constantinople at its centre. Cloisonné was also crafted in
the areas surrounding Constantinople (and continued after the extinction of the Empire), in
places such as Kiev, Georgia, Venice and Iran. The Celts had utilized the champlevé enamel
technique on copper long before Rome conquered western Europe, and it is found in
Romano-British decorative art. In twelfth-century Byzantium, champlevé enamel
superseded cloisonné and became one of the important means of expression in religious art.
This champlevé craft was popular in France, Spain and England up until the Fourteenth
Century.ii The craft of painted enamel developed from cloisonné and champlevé and
originated from France, the Netherlands and Italy in the Fifteenth Century. Limoges in
France is renowned for the high quality production of this technique.
Current studies suggest that cloisonné was introduced to China as the Mongol army
was on its western expedition during the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries.iii The introduction,
production and use of cloisonné in the Yuan Dynasty (1234-1367) cannot be reconstructed
due to the lack of both documentary and object evidence. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
cloisonné can only be found in the collection of the Qing Court. Its production and use in this
period was concentrated in the Imperial House, although popular production and use can be
occasionally found in Ming Dynasty documents.iv For example, a book compiled by Wang
Zuo in the Tianshun reign (1457-1464), in the Ming dynasty describes a technique which was
1
painted on the copper, then fired with chemicals into colourful being, similar to the
enamel. It usually can be seen on the incense burner, vase, box and bowl. The ware is
suitable for the women who use it in their boudoirs, but not proper for the literal man
to place it in the study. It is also called ‘Guiguoyao’ [鬼國窯]. People from Yunnan
often use this craft to produce wine cups in the capital today. It’s also known as
‘Guiguoqian’ [鬼國嵌cloisonné]. The pieces produced by the Palace Workshops are
extremely glossy and lovely
No Ming enamel wares have yet been reported. In twelfth- and thirteenth-century
Europe, cloisonné was popular in the Byzantine Empire, while in other European countries,
champlevé enamel was more frequently seen. The Mongol armies however, were likely to
have known of both these enamel crafts. Nevertheless, no champlevé enamel ware of the
Yuan Dynasty has yet been found, and only one example of champlevé enamel ware of the
Ming Dynasty has been discovered. In the Qing Dynasty, the amount of cloisonné and
painted enamel outnumbered that of champlevé.
1. Europe – China: The Introduction and Practice of the Craft of Painted Enamel
The craft of painting enamel was introduced to China from the West in the 1680s.v At that
time, metal-bodied painted enamel was popular in France and Germany, while the glassbodied painted enamel was popular in Venice, in Italy. The production of other types of
enamel, such as basse taille and the relief enamel emaile en ronde bosse were also common
in Europe.
The Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) promoted the introduction of enamel. Small pieces
of Italian and French painted enamel brought by the European envoys and missionaries
were the direct inspiration for the practice of painted enamel in the Qing Kangxi years. In
the 23rd year of Kangxi (A.D. 1684), when the Emperor was on his first Southern Inspection
Tour, he received an Italian named Jean Domenico Gabianix (1623-96) and a Frenchman
named Jean Valatx (1599-1696) in Nanjing. The tribute these two foreigners offered was a
snuff bottle enclosed in a painted enamel box.vi This is the earliest and the most precise
record of western enamel in China. On 23 July, in the 26th year of Kangxi (1687), a French
missionary delegation was carefully chosen and sent to Ningo, in China by Louis XIV. This
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delegation was led by Jean de Fontenay (1643-1710) and painted enamel was the gift they
brought with them.vii In 1700, the Vatican designed a present list for the Chinese Emperor
which included a small set of enamelled wares and silver items with painted black enamel
decoration.viii The Chinese Emperor was very attracted to the European painted enamel, a
fact reported back to France by Fontenay.ix In 1705, the envoy Maillard de Tournon (16881710), who was appointed by the Pope, came to China. After his meeting with the Emperor
Kangxi, Tournon wrote to the Pope that the small delicate enamel was cherished in China.
Venetian enamel, especially the enamel snuff bottle was extremely popular.x
Two or three years after the visit of the French delegation, the Palace Workshops
began to produce its own painted enamel. Jean-François Gerbillon reported in a letter
written on 30 November 1691, that the Emperor Kangxi craved for clocks, especially small
enamel ones. The Emperor wanted to find someone who knew how to produce enamel and
glass.xi In a letter written on 11 December the same year, Gerbillon demanded an artist who
understood the production of painted and transparent enamel, glass and crystal be sent to
China.xii The correspondence of the missionaries reveals the demand for enamel and glass
craftsman from China, which reflected the urgent needs of the Emperor Kangxi.
In the 32nd year of Kangxi (1693), the Emperor sent Baijin to Versailles with the
purpose of finding artists, especially those skilled in enamelling and scientists, and to take
them back to China.xiii In the same year the Palace Workshops were enlarged and officially
set up Fourteen Workshops, of which the Enamel Workshop was one.xiv
To the Emperor’s disappointment, the French did not send any enamel specialists, but
a glass factory was established in Beijing. This factory was subordinate to the Palace
Workshops and was under the direct supervision of the Bavarian Jesuit Kilian Stumpf (16551720). The development of painted enamel in China was closely related to this glass factory
from the very beginning, as parts of the first experiments on painted enamel, if not all of
them, were conducted there. Fontenay wrote a letter to Venice on 31 October, the 35th
year of Kangxi (1696), in which he reported:
On the open space next to our housing, a beautiful glass factory is under construction
[…] according to the will of the Emperor, the Priest Kilian is in charge of the
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construction. I request one or two craftsmen with consummate skills be sent here from
our excellent glass factories as soon as possible … and a painted enameller be sent here,
too.xv
On 15 December, the same year, Fontenay wrote an urgent letter to France, asking for two
types of specialists, enamellers and glass experts, to be sent to the glass factory in China for
the Emperor Kangxi was in need of them. On 31 December, Fontenay reasserted his request
that an excellent enamel specialist should be found to assist Kilian.xvi In the following year
1697, Baijin was sent to France again. The Emperor Kangxi asked him to bring more artists
to China, especially those skilled in enamel.xvii In the 49th year of Kangxi (1710), the musician
Teodorico Pedrini (1671-1746) was sent to China along with the Italian missionary Matteo
Ripa (1682-1745). In his letter to the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith,
responsible for missionary work, in 1711, Pedrini demanded that the craftsmen who had
excellent skills in making gold and silver-bodied enamel be sent to Beijing. The Jesuit Joao
Moura (1681-1726) also claimed in a letter written in 1717 that Kilian should teach not only
glass production in the factory, but also the production of enamel.xviii The evidence suggests
that after the foundation of the glass factory, the production of glassware, enamel colour
and painted enamel were explored. However, the lack of professionals remained the biggest
problem to production.
In the 56th year of Kangxi (1717), the missionaries in Beijing wrote to the Vatican and
asked that craftsmen who knew about the firing of the enamel, be sent from France the
next year to serve the Emperor. On 12 May, the 58th year of Kangxi (1719), the French
missionary Jean Baptiste Gravereau (1690-1762) arrived in Guangzhou (Canton). On 18
June, he was accompanied by the Customs to Beijing.xix But Gravereau’s skills on enamel
firing did not satisfy the Emperor Kangxi: ‘The enamel ware produced by the man is no
better than that in the Palace Workshops. His skills need improving’.xx There is further
evidence in a letter from the French missionary Joseph de Mailla (1669-1748), written from
Jehol to Paris on 26 October, the 59th year of Kangxi (1720), that Gravereu’s skills were
lacking:
It would have been better if Gravereau had learned some skills on enamel in Europe
before he came, just like Etienne Rousset [1689-1758] had learned medical skills […] It
4
has not been five or six years after the Chinese craftsmen experimented on the enamel
production, but they have made considerable progress […] the Emperor found him a
good painter, but the Emperor wished he had more enamel skills.xxi
He also mentioned that ‘The enamel colours made in China can barely be used’.xxii The
correspondence of Mailla provides information on at least four levels: 1. that the painted
enamel craftsmanship of the Palace Workshops at that time had reached a certain level; 2.
that the Palace Workshops had begun enamel colour firing; 3. that western painted enamel
skills were superior to those of China; and 4. Gravereau was not experienced in enamel
production. Gravereau left Beijing three years later but the attempt to find western painted
enamel experts was never suspended. On 6 November, the 5th year of Yongzheng (1727),
Stefano Signorini wrote to the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith and
earnestly requested that enamel experts, painters and copper plate engravers be sent to
Beijing. On 9 November, the 6th year of Yongzheng (1726), Ignatius Koegler (1680-1746)
wrote to Munich: ‘the task of top priority now is to look for a competent craftsman in
painted enamel, for the painted enamelware is extremely popular in the Court. The
Emperor himself is obsessed with it’. On 23 September, the 7th year of Yongzheng (1729),
the memorandum of the meeting of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the
Faith reported that the Thirteenth Prince wanted to find an excellent painted enamel
craftsman, because the Emperor Yongzheng appreciated the technique.xxiii He indicated that
the chosen one should be both a professional in this artistic field and proficient at firing,
which the Chinese could not achieve. However no man could be found to meet these
requirements,xxiv so the missionaries in Beijing then asked for practical books for their
guidance and reference. The French missionary Antoine Gaubil (1689-1759) wrote on 23
September, the 9th year of Yongzheng (1732): ‘we are in need of the artist books, such as
books about [the] potter’s wheel, watch making, enamel and glass, etc. These books are
very useful here’.xxv The lack of painted enamel experts and the dependence on western
enamel colour made the practice of painted enamel in the Qing Court very difficult. Taking
western painted enamel as the model and referring to related books, the Palace Workshops
mainly experimented with western painted enamel by combining imported enamel colour
with traditional Chinese ceramic glazes and firing techniques. Delegated by the Sacred
Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, the Neapolitan priest Matteo Ripa (16825
1745) arrived in China in the 49th year of Kangxi (1710). One of his diaries which was written
in the Garden of Everlasting Spring in March, the 55th year of Kangxi (1716) reads:
The Emperor is enchanted by our European enamels and the new crafts on [of] the
enamel painting. He tried every means to introduce the painted enamel technique to
his workshops which he had set up for this purpose a long time ago. The colours which
were used to paint on the china in the old time and the European enamel vessels the
Emperor managed to get make the painted enamel production feasible. The Emperor
instructed me and Lang Shining (Giuseppe Castiglione) to paint with enamel colours. xxvi
The potters from Jingdezhen were involved in the practice of painted enamel in the
Qing Court. The archives of the Palace Workshops in the 3rd and 7th year of Yongzheng
(1725; 1729) read:
On September 13th (the 3rd year of Yongzheng), Yuanwai Lang Haiwang wrote to the
Prince Yi: all the porcelain craftsmen were sent back to Jiangxi in August, but Song Sanji,
the painted porcelain craftsman, was willing to render a service to the Workshops. We
ordered him to do the painted enamel in the Enamel Workshop and he proved himself
an excellent craftsmanxxvii
On 9 July, (the 7th year of Yongzheng), a note from Yuan Ming Yuan reveals that:
on the 8th, Nian Xiyao, who was instructed by the Prince Yi, was sent two painted
enamel craftsmen: Zhou Yue and Wu Shiqi; one specialist who knew the technique of
sufflation [the application of glaze onto the ceramic surface before firing], glazing and
enamel firing: The following materials were sent at the same time: two hundred fine
bamboo brushes, the yellowish brown colour three jins, twelve liangs; the snow white
colour three jins, four liangs; the green colour one jin; the white silk and red colour
one jin; the white silk and black colour eight liangs. Langzhong Hai Wang followed the
Emperor’s instructions: keep well the enamel colours and use them only when in need.
Zhou Yue and other two people should inspect the Enamel Workshop.”xxviii
Nian Xiyao was the Pottery Supervision Official in Jiangxi at this time.
6
It was not until about 1711 that the Qing Court succeeded in producing both the
metal-bodied and porcelain-bodied painted enamel, while the first glass-bodied painted
enamel may have been produced earlier than 1706.xxix The years around 55th of Kangxi
(1716) saw the breakthrough in the painted enamel technique in the Qing Court. In the 55 th
year of Kangxi (1716), the Provincial Governor of Guangxi Chen Yuanlong was bestowed by
the Emperor with ‘a five-colour red glass enamel snuff bottle made by the Imperial order’.xxx
On 15 February, the 56th year of Kangxi (1717), the Governor of Zhili Zhao Hongxie was
granted ‘an enamel bowl with cover’ by the Emperor. In the 57th year of Kangxi (1718), the
Chief Commander of Guangxi Zuo Shiyong was granted an enamel water holder and an
enamel snuff bottle by the Emperor, while the Viceroy of Liangguang Yanglin was granted a
turquoise ink stone enclosed in an enamel box, an enamel water holder, an enamel snuff
bottle and an enamel bowl with cover. In the 58th year of Kangxi (1719), the Emperor
awarded the governor Macao seven enamel wares. In the following year (1720), the
Emperor again granted Yanglin an enamel bowl.xxxi These painted enamelwares were all
made by the Palace Workshops. [Fig.1 Bowl, famille verte enamelled porcelain, imitating
Limoges enamel, China, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Museum ref. BATEA
185 © Museum of East Asian Art, Bath]
It can be said that the Emperor Kangxi spared no effort to introduce the technique of
painted enamel, while the Emperor Yongzheng contributed a great deal to the improvement
of the quality and taste of the painted enamels. Starting from scratch in the Qing Court,
painted enamel developed with sophistication in the later years of Kangxi. This was
achieved as a result of decades of effort. However, the Emperor Yongzheng realized that:
‘we have not enough time to elevate the enamel production to a delicate level, but we will
produce excellent ones in the future’.xxxii The Emperor Yongzheng and the Prince of Yi
advanced the quality of each process of painted enamel by improving the crafts of enamel
refining, firing and painting. The records about the western enamel colours paid as the
tribute can be found in archives of the Yongzheng period,xxxiii but the refinement of the
enamel colour in the Qing Court had made huge progress. In a note from Yuanmingyuan in
the 6th year of Yongzheng (1728), we find that, besides western enamel colour, nine newly
refined enamel colours and nine additional enamel colours were listed in detail. These
enamels were of a wide colour range.
7
The note from Yuanmingyuan on July 11th records that
the Prince Yi delivered nine western enamel colours this month: moon white, white,
yellow, green, dark green and black. There are nine western enamel colours: moon
white, white, yellow, green, dark blue, light blue, pine yellow, dark green and black.
Nine enamel colours are newly refined: moon white, white, yellow, light green, bright
cyan, blue, turquoise, bright green and black. Nine enamel colours are newly added:
soft white, beige, light pine green yellow, bisque, light green, caramel, dark grape,
aeneous [brassy] and pine yellow … Tell me when you find out the exact amount of the
moon white and bright yellow enamel colours stored in the Palace Workshops. These
enamel colours are for Nian Xiyao, who will use them to do the porcelain firing.xxxiv
The decoration on the surface of the painted enamel dictated the quality of the
product. The painters in the Painting Academy, such as He Jinkun, Daiheng and Tang Zhenji
were appointed to switch to enamel painting.xxxv Based on his own aesthetic taste, the
Emperor Yongzheng made specific requests for the colour, modeling, ornamentation and
design of the enamel ware, which directly influenced the expression and taste of the
painted enamel. The painted enamels of the Yongzheng period, are modeled with grace and
the colours are elegant. The ornamentation is a perfect combination of poetry, calligraphy
and painting. Besides the technical progress made, the taste of the Emperor and the direct
involvement of the Court painters also contributed to the consummate enamel crafts in this
period.
By the middle and late of the Yongzheng, after six or seven years’ of unremitting
experimentation, the technique of painted enamel in the Palace Workshops had made
obvious improvement. Without any guidance from western experts, the Chinese craftsmen
had mastered the procedures of enamel colour refining and firing. Porcelain-bodied enamel
had been produced by painting coloured enamels directly onto the plain body but in the
period of Yongzheng, this technique saw great improvement with the enamel colour painted
onto the coloured glaze, which indicates a greater understanding of the nature of enamel
colour and the precise handling of the firing temperature.
8
Rarely has there been an equal to the exquisite enamel and famille rose porcelain of
Yongzheng period.
[Fig.2 Incense stick holder, metal body, painted enamel with bronze pierced cover, China,
Yongzheng mark and period (1723-35) Museum ref. BATEA 310 © Museum of East Asian
Art, Bath]
No records of painted enamel kiln production of the Qing Court have yet been
reported. In the Atlas of Pottery Making, which was drawn by the Court painter and edited
by Tangying in the 8th year of Qianlong (1743), the kilns used for enamel firing in Jingdezhen
are revealed to have been both closed and open. Small wares were burnt in the open
kiln(明爐) while the big ones were fired in the closed kiln (暗爐):
after the firing in the kiln, the white body porcelain is painted, which is followed by a
second firing to stable the colours. We have the open kiln and the closed kiln. The
small pieces are burnt in the open kiln, which is similar to the one in which enamel is
burnt. The kiln is surrounded by charcoal fire and the entrance faces outward. An iron
wheel supported by iron fork is set there. The porcelains are sent to the kiln
accompanied with iron hook. The wheel is set on move to even out the fire and heat.
The brightness of the painted colour is the key element we should refer to.
The aforementioned structure of the open kiln resembles that of the traditional
European muffle kiln. To be specific, it is similar to the kiln used for metal-bodied enamel
firing. The open kiln in Jingdezhen mentioned in the Atlas of Pottery Making was probably
introduced there via Beijing or Guangdong in the early years of Qianlong, while the open
kiln in Beijing and Guangdong were likely to have been introduced by the missionaries.xxxvi
2. China – Europe: The Export of Chinese Painted Enamel
The painted enamelware made in Limoges (France) in the Sixteenth Century was produced
with the colour painted directly onto the metal. Although sometimes painted with
additional red, grey was always the dominant tone and the enamel wares mainly came in
black and white. After the Seventeenth Century, a layer of white or blue enamel was
painted onto the metal body first, before it was fired and then painted with enamel colour.
9
This technique, which made the colour brighter and enhanced the glassy texture of the
enamelware, became very popular in this period. A layer of white, yellow or ruby colour was
fired on the body before it was painted with on enamel patterns and then sent to the kiln
for a second or multiple firing. This was how most of the painted enamel wares in the Kangxi
period were produced. This process clearly drew upon European methods, especially those
used in Limoges from the Seventeenth Century, for enamelling on metal. Due to the
technical limitations, enamel colours were only painted onto the biscuit of the porcelain
brought from Jingdezhen in the Kangxi period, which made the stabilization of the enamel
colour on the body much easier. But this also contributed to the unevenness of the enamel
painted porcelain of Kangxi period As the painted enamel craft developed in the Yongzheng
period , the first-class white porcelain bodies, which were fired in the imperial kiln of
Jingdezhen, were transported to Beijing, the best were chosen for enamel painting. At the
Court workshops the white porcelain bodies with the enamel painted on the surface were
sent to the kiln for the second firing. Sometimes the Court sent samples directly to
Jingdezhen and demanded the plain body porcelain be prepared exclusively for the Imperial
Workshops.xxxvii The exquisite egg-shell white porcelain produced in Jingdezhen contributed
to the production of the fine porcelain-bodied painted enamel of Palace Workshops in
Yongzheng period.
Meanwhile, the Emperor intentionally popularized the technique of enamelling
porcelain which initiated the production of porcelain-bodied painted enamel and fencai
porcelain of Jingdezhen.xxxviii In the 6th year of Yongzheng (1728), a note from Yuanmingyuan
revealed that the enamel colours made in the Court were sent to Jiangxi for porcelainbodied painted enamel firing.xxxix Inspired and influenced by the enamel, the craftsmen
working in the official kilns of Jingdezhen invented the fencai (famille rose) decoration of
porcelain which introduced the characteristic opaque white colour (commonly known as
glass white) on the copper-bodied enamel. This white colour was blended with other
colours to create a soft and three dimensional tint after firing. By controlling the proportion
of the white glass the shade and depth of the colours could be adjusted, to make the
patterns look more three dimensional.
10
[Fig.3 Vase, famille rose enamelled porcelain, decorated with a peach branch and
flowers. China, Qing dynasty, Qianlong (1736-95). Height 52 cm. Museum no.
1936,0413.44© The Trustees of the British Museum]
[Fig.4 Bowl, famille rose enamelled porcelain, decorated with peonies and daisies. China,
Yongzheng mark and period (1723-35). BATEA 606 © Museum of East Asian Art, Bath]
The enamel painted porcelain was expensive, so it was always used and enjoyed by
the Imperial house. Compared with enamel-painted porcelain, fencai cost less and the
output was considerable. As a result its consumption was not limited to the Court. Firing of
fencai began in the late Kangxi period, that is the late Seventeenth Century and thrived in
Yongzheng period (1723-1735). The early Twentieth Century also witnessed the production
of this porcelain.
In 1687 (the 26th year of Kangxi), Guangzhou (Canton) became the third coastal port
that was opened after the withdrawal of maritime prohibition. Since the ships from the
West usually landed via the city, Guangzhou offered more advantages for engagement with
western affairs compared with other cities. When the Palace Workshops in the Forbidden
City experimented with painted enamel, Guangdong followed suit and sent craftsmen to the
Enamel Workshop.
It is possible to see from various sources how the practice of the painted enamel
technique and use of enamel colour in the Palace Workshops developed. The craftsmen in
Guangzhou were experimenting on the enamel technique at the same time, and they
grasped the basic skills of the painted enamel as well as the refinement of the enamel
colour. Besides the practice base of the painted enamel technique in Beijing, professionals
from Guangzhou were sent to the Enamel Workshop in the Court and provided substantial
support to the painted enamel production during the early Qing period as mentioned in the
following two archival extracts:
On 10 September, the 55th year of Kangxi (1716) the minion of the Governor of
Guangdong Yanglin found an enameller named Pan Chun in Guangzho. Pan was tested
and the enamel he produced was of excellent quality. Yanglin ordered Pan to make
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enamelled gold buttons and intended to present Pan and the enamel ware he produced
to the Imperial Palace […] Pan left for Beijing accompanied by his apprentices Huang
Ruixing and Ruan Jiayou […] the enamel wares produced by Pan were: one clock, two
snuff bottles, 80 buttons […] on September 28th another enameller named Yang
Shizhang was found. Yang’s craftsmanship was tested and proved not as good as that of
Pan, but he was deemed qualified to assist Pan.xl
On 9 September the, the 57th year of Kangxi (1718)
the Imperial College student Long Hongjian in Guangzhou, and the civilians Lin Chaokai
and He Jiazhang had some basic skills of enamel production. We earnestly asked to test
their craftsmanship to decide whether they should be sent to Beijing to serve the Court.
The minion then summoned them to the government office and had them tested. The
white colour they produced was pure and bright, the red colour distinctive and
attractive. They made a pair of shiny red cups and dishes, a pair of tureens and eight
painted pictures. These enamelwares were then presented as samples to the Court.
Carrying with them one hundred and twenty jins of white enamel colour and one jin of
red enamel colour, Long Hongjian and the other two people were sent to Beijing to
serve their duty on September the 9th. We faithfully report this to keep you informed.xli
In 1699, the Emperor Kangxi agreed to allow the French Society of Jesus to set up a glass
factory in Guangdong.xlii The techniques of glass production, which were introduced after
the establishment of the glass factory no doubt promoted the painted enamel technique.
During the Qianlong period, Guangdong was the second largest and most important enamel
producing area after Beijing. The fineness of the enamel colours produced in Canton once
outshined those of the Palace Workshops.xliii
[Fig.5 Dish, Canton, metal body, enamel decoration with bats amid foliage, China, Qianlong
mark and period (1736-95). Museum ref. BATEA 313 © Museum of East Asian Art, Bath]
In the Yongzheng period Guangzhou presented to the Court a pair of enamel milk
containers called, duomo, enamel snuff bottles and an enamel hat stand. Besides making
enamel for the Court, Guangzhou also produced enamel wares for export which began no
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later than during the Yongzheng period. An order from Charles Peers (Mayor of London and
a director of the East India Company), dated 10 December, 1731 (the ninth year of
Yongzheng) preserved in The British Museum lists in detail the daily necessities customized
in Guangzhou. Among the articles was an enamel dish, at the centre of which was the
familial emblem of Charles Peers, with symmetrical flowers decorated with a brocade
pattern round the rim.xliv This shows that Guangzhou had begun producing copper-bodied
painted enamel for the Europe since early Eighteenth Century. It was probably as late as the
Qianlong period before painted enamel was mass produced for export and Imperial use.
Conclusion
The painted enamel technique was introduced and developed under the direct promotion
of the Emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng. The practice of the painted enamel technique drew
many references from traditional Chinese ceramic technology. This remarkable
phenomenon was one of the important reasons that led to the success of painted enamel in
China. The porcelain-bodied painted enamel, which was inspired by copper-based painted
enamel, was the innovation of the Chinese craftsmen.
Fencai (famille rose) together with that of painted enamel, emerged in the late years
of Kangxi. They both thrived in the Yongzheng period and were mass produced in the
porcelain capital Jingdezhen. The development of painted enamel in Guangzhou was driven
by the practice of painted enamel in the Qing Court. Besides the production of enamel
wares exclusively for the Court, Guangzhou began producing metal-bodied enamel wares
for Europe no later than the Yongzheng period (1723-1735). Jingdezhen began producing
porcelain-bodied enamel wares for Europe in the late years of Kangxi (1661-1722). Chinese
enamel wares served not only as inter-state presents, but also as commodities for the
western market.
Cloisonné was introduced to China as the Mongol army was on its Western Expedition.
Although the technique almost died out after the rise of Byzantium in the West, it was well
preserved and continued to be made in China. In the Imperial workshops, such as the
Imperial Supervision in the Ming Dynasty and Palace Workshops in the Qing Dynasty,
cloisonné production was never suspended. The situation did not change even when
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painted enamel was in full swing. A series of patterns and tools demonstrating all the
processes involved in cloisonné production were bought back to Europe by westerners from
China in the early Twentieth Century, which coincided with the popularity of export
painting, which depicted the manufacture of traditional Chinese crafts, such as ceramics and
jade workings.
Europe—China—Europe, the process of introducing the technique of painted enamel
to China, and its transmission back to Europe, was a complicated and distinctive case of
cross-cultural technical communication.
Fig.1 ‘Famille verte bowl imitating Limoges enamel, (porcelain body), China, Qing dynasty,
Kangxi period (1683-1722). Museum of East Asian Art, Bath
Fig.2 ‘Painted enamel incense stick holder with bronze pierced cover, (metal body),
Yongzheng mark and period (1723-35). Museum of East Asian Art, Bath
Fig.3 ‘Canton enamel dish with bats amid foliage, (metal body), Qianlong mark and period
(1736-95). Museum of East Asian Art, Bath
Fig.4 ‘Famille rose bowl with peonies and daisies, (porcelain body), Yongzheng mark and
period (1723-35). Museum of East Asian Art, Bath
Fig.5 ‘Famille rose enamelled vase with a peach branch and flowers. Made of enamelled
porcelain Qing, 1736-1795. Height 52 cms. The British British Museum
14
i
Some experts think that cloisonné came from Iran and was then introduced to South Russia,
Scythian countries, the Far East and Byzantium. When cloisonné was mature in Iran, Byzantium was
newly established. See Erwin Margulies, ‘Cloisonné Enamel,’ in Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis
Ackerman (eds), A Survey of Persian Art: from Prehistoric to the Present. Vol. II, Sasanian Period (Asia
Institute of Pahlavi University, 1967), pp. 779-783.
ii
Erika Speel, Dictionary of Enamelling (Vermont: Ashgate Publishing Limited), 1998.
iii
Yang Boda, ‘Analysis on the origin of the cloisonné enamel’, Palace Museum Journal, 4 (1979), pp.
16-24.
iv
Wang Zuo, The New Identification on the Cultural Relics, Vol 7. On Ancient Porcelain—Arabian
Porcelain, p.155; The Preliminary Chronicle on the Collection of the Books, Vol.1554, (Beijing: Zhong
Hua Book Company, 1985).
v
Nicolas Standaert (ed.), Handbook of Christianity in China, Vol. One: 635-1800 (Leiden; Boston;
Cologne: Brill, 2001) p.834.
vi
Charles E. Ronan S. J., ed., East Meets West: The Jesuits in China, 1582-1773 (Chicago: Loyal Press,
1998), p. 115.
vii
Emily Byrne Curtis, Glass exchange between Europe and China, 1550-1800 (Surrey: Ashgate
Publishing Limited, 2008), p. 69.
viii
Emily Byrne Curtis, ‘Enamels for the Kangxi Emperor,’ Journal of the International Chinese Snuff
Bottle Society, 25/4 (1993), p. 95.
ix
George Loehr, ‘Missionary-artists at the Manchu court,’ Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic
Society, 34 (1962-63), p. 52.
x
Emily Byrne Curtis, ‘European contribution to the Chinese glass of the early Qing period,’ p. 95
quoted in APF: SC, v. 9, 267v, February 28 or 29, 1706.
xi
Byrne Curtis, ‘Enamels for the Kangxi Emperor,’ p. 5 quoted in ARSI J/S 165, 149f-150v, 30.11.1691.
xii
Byrne Curtis, ‘Enamels for the Kangxi Emperor,’ p. 5 quoted in ARSI J/S 165, 181f, 11.12.1691.
xiii
Quoted from Byrne Curtis, Glass exchange, p.70. See Claudia von Collani (ed.), Joachim Bouvet S.
J.: Journal des voyages Variétés Sinologiques New Series 95, (Taipei: Taipei Ricci Institute, 2005);
Ronan, East Meets West, p. 115.
xiv
Kun Gang, Records on the Laws and Systems of Qing Dynasty, Vol. 1173, Book 24, 25th year of
Kangxi (1899) block printed edition, (Taipei: New Wenfeng Publishing Company, 1978), p. 1879;
Chen Xiasheng: The Catalogue of the Enamel Wares in Ming and Qing Dynasty (Taipei: National
Palace Museum, 1999), p. 26.
xv
Emily Byrne Curtis, Mi Zhenfeng trans., ‘The Glass Production in Qing Dynasty and the Workshops
of the Jesuits in Canchikou’, Palace Museum Journal, 1 (2003), p. 63.
xvi
16 Byrne Curtis, ‘Enamels for the Kangxi Emperor,’ p. 5 quoted in ARSI J/S 166, 131v,
17.10.1696ARSI J/S 166, 136f, 31.10.1696.
xvii
Ronan, East Meets West, p. 115.
xviii
Emily Byrne Curtis, ‘European contribution to the Chinese glass of the early Qing period,’ pp. 9596 quoted in APF: socp, V. 26, 121F, 1711, and p. 96 quoted in ARSI J/S 180, 58f, July 31, 1725.
xix
The First Historical Archives (ed.), The collection of the Memorials to the Thorne in Kangxi Period,
Book 8 (Beijing: Beijing Dangan Chubanshe, 1985), p. 506.
xx
The First Historical Archives, The Collection of the Memorials, p. 524.
xxi
Michael Gillingham, Chinese Painted Enamels (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1978), p. 6; Loehr,
‘Missionary-artists at the Manchu court,’ p. 56.
xxii
Gillingham, Chinese Painted Enamels, p. 5.
xxiii
Loehr, ‘Missionary-artists at the Manchu court,’ p. 59
xxiv
Loehr, ‘Missionary-artists at the Manchu court,’ p. 59.
Standaert, Handbook of Christianity, p. 834.
xxvi
Byrne Curtis, ‘European contribution to the Chinese glass of the early Qing period,’ p. 55.
xxvii
Zhu Jiajin, ‘Research on the painted enamel wares of Qing Dynasty’, Palace Museum Journal, 3
(1982), pp. 67-76.
xxv
15
xxviii
The First Historical Archives, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Handicrafts Work Archives,
Vol. 4, (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2005), p. 99.
xxix
Byrne Curtis, ‘European contribution to the Chinese glass of the early Qing period,’ p. 95 quoted
in APF: SC, v. 9, 267v, February 28 or 29, 1706.
xxx
National Palace Museum, ed., Archives in the Court, the Memorials to the Thorne in Kangxi Period,
Vol. 6 (Taipei: National Palace Museum, 1976-77), pp. 602—606.
xxxi
The First Historical Archives, ed., The Collection of the Memorials to the Thorne in Kangxi Period,
Vol. 7 (Beijing: The Archives Press, 1985), p. 716 & Vol. 8, pp. 160-163, 342, 356, 489, 827.
xxxii
Geng Dongsheng, ‘The Historical Background and the Artistic Characteristics of the Enamel
Porcelain’, Cultural Relics World, 3 (2008), p. 21.
xxxiii
The First Historical Archives, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Handicrafts Work Archives,
Vol. 1 (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2005), p. 134; Liang Tingzhan, Four Books on the Oceanic
Nations, Vol. 4. The Western Countries (Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company, 1997), pp. 225-228.
xxxiv
Handicrafts Work Archives, Vol. 3, pp. 423, 424.
xxxv
Handicrafts Work Archives, Vol. 2, p. 254; Vol. 5, p. 578.
xxxvi
Shi Jingfei, ‘Witness of the Exchange between the West and the East – the Establishment of the
Painted Enamel Technique in Kangxi Period’, Palace Museum Academic Journal 24 (2007), pp. 65-67.
xxxvii
Handicrafts Work Archives, Vol. 5, p. 588, 589.
xxxviii
Wang Guangyao, The Construction of the Royal Kiln System in Yongzheng Period, unpublished
xxxix
Handicrafts Work Archives, Vol. 3, p. 424.
xl
The First Historical Archives, People’s Government of Liwan District, Guangzhou, (eds.), The
Selection of the Thirteen Hong Archives of the Qing Court (Guangzhou: Guangdong Economics Press,
2002), p. 7.
xli
The First Historical Archives, The Collection of the Memorials, p. 326.
xlii
Byrne Curtis, Glass exchange, pp. 42-44.
xliii
The First Historical Archives, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Handicrafts Work Archives, Vol.
40, (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2005), p. 200.
xliv
Margaret Jourdain & Soame Jenyns, Chinese export art in the Eighteenth century (London: EuLife
Ltd.,1950), pp. 45-46, pls. 69, 70.
16