Famille rose

It is a Western classification for Qing dynasty porcelain known in Chinese by various terms: fencai, ruancai, yangcai, and falangcai.

[1] The colour palette is thought to have been brought to China during the reign of Kangxi (1654–1722) by Western Jesuits who worked at the palace, but perfected only in the Yongzheng era when the finest pieces were made, and famille rose ware reached the peak of its technical excellence during the Qianlong period.

[2] Although famille rose is named after its pink-coloured enamel, the colour may actually range from pale pink to deep ruby.

[12] Colloidal gold may have been previously available for use in Jingdezhen to achieve such colours, and gold-red enamel technique from Guangdong was used during the reign of Kangxi.

Rudimentary famille rose have been found in Chinese porcelain from the 1720s, although the technique was not fully developed until around 1730 during the Yongzheng period.

The pink of the early pieces of the 1720s were darker in colours made with ruby-coloured glass, but after 1725 softer shades were achieved by mixing with white enamels.

Under the supervision of Tang Ying, production of famille rose reached the peak of its technical excellence during the Qianlong era.

[2] The famille rose enamels allowed for a greater range of colour and tone than was previously possible, enabling the depiction of more complex images, and decorations became more elaborate and crowded in the later Qianlong period.

The images may be painted on coloured grounds, including yellow, blue, pink, coral red, light green, 'cafe au lait' and brown.

[17] Famille rose enamels were known to have been used in Europe before such wares were exported from China, for example in Vienna porcelain made by the Du Paquier factory in 1725.