China painting
The Chinese define porcelain[b] as a type of pottery that is hard, compact and fine-grained, that cannot be scratched by a knife, and that resonates with a clear, musical note when hit.
In the mid-17th century the Japanese found a growing market from European traders who were unable to obtain Chinese porcelain due to political upheavals.
The craftsman Sakaida Kakiemon developed a distinctive style of overglaze enamel decoration, typically using iron red, yellow and soft blue.
Distinctively Korean designs had emerged by the end of the 12th century, and the white porcelain of the reign of King Sejong of Joseon is quite unique.
In the late 19th century the loss of state support for the industry and the introduction of printed transfer decoration caused the traditional skills to be lost.
[40] Another large collection of 805 pieces of Chinese porcelain, donated to the Ardabil Shrine by Shah Abbas I of Persia in 1607–08, is now held in Tehran's National Museum of Iran.
[40] Large amounts of Ming porcelain had also been found in Iraq and Egypt, and also in Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, India and East Africa.
The Jesuit François Xavier d'Entrecolles wrote of Jingdezhen in 1712, "During a night entrance, one thinks that the whole city is on fire, or that it is one large furnace with many vent holes.
"[34] The European traders began to supply models to show the manufacturers the form and decoration they required for tableware items unfamiliar to the Chinese.
[46] The French Jesuits provided paintings, engravers, enamels and even the painters themselves to the Imperial court, and these designs found their way into porcelain decoration.
[48] A first attempt to manufacture porcelain in Europe was undertaken in Florence, Italy, in the late 16th century, sponsored by Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
The Saint-Cloud painters were given the license to innovate, and produced lively and original designs, including blue-and-white pieces in the Chinese style and grotesque ornaments.
The factory could make large objects that did not crack or split, and that could be decorated in rich colors due to the low firing temperature.
Bone china was also made at Lowestoft, at first mainly decorated in underglaze blue but later with Chinese-style over-glaze that also included pink and red.
[56] His son, Josiah Spode the younger, began making bone china around the end of the 18th century, adding feldspar to the body.
It takes elements from various Chinese designs, including a willow tree, a pair of doves, a pavilion and three figures on a bridge over a lake.
In the 1770s designs were often inspired by the Rococo style of early Sèvres pieces, including exotic birds or flowers on solid or patterned backgrounds.
Between 1804 and 1813 the partner Martin Barr Jr. was responsible for production of superbly painted ornamental vases with landscapes or designs of natural objects such as shells or flowers.
[63] Until as late as 1939, women in the ceramic industry in Britain were mostly confined to decorating, since they were thought to have special aptitude for repetitive detailed work.
It featured neoclassical designs with dark ground colors and antique-style cameo painting, including reproductions of engravings of Russian peasants.
[63] This followed the establishment by Mintons of a pottery painting studio in Kensington that provided employment for female graduates of the nearby National Art Training School.
[citation needed] Howell & James opened a gallery in Regent Street where they put on annual china painting exhibitions judged by members of the Royal Academy of Arts.
Thus Edward Lycett, who had learned his art in the Stoke-on-Trent potteries of England, moved to America where, "the only place where painting of the finer kind was being done as a regular business was at Mt.
Doubly so, since their work may be used either as decorations to the wall surface, if it be plaques they paint, or else disposed of at a profit to themselves to increase their pin-money, or may be given to some bazaar for charitable purposes.
[69] Sparkes mentioned the tin-enamel of the Moors and of Gubbio and lustre ware (not the province of the amateur) and the work of William De Morgan.
Wheeler's Society of Decorative Art in New York taught pupils to paint simple floral motifs on ceramic tableware.
[71] Porcelain factories in France, Germany, England and the United States produced plates, bowls, cups and other objects for decoration by china painters.
[73] In her 1877 A Practical Manual for the use of Amateurs in the Decoration of Hard Porcelain, the American Mary Louise McLaughlin dismissed the preconception that several firings were needed when the work included a variety of colors.
[77] In 1887 the ceramic artist Luetta Elmina Braumuller of Monson, Massachusetts launched The China Decorator, A Monthly Journal Devoted Exclusively to this Art.
[21] For many years china painting was categorized as a craft, but in the 1970s feminist artists such as Judy Chicago restored it to the status of fine art.
