Yixing kiln “Shao Bangyou” purple sand enamel pot

The piece is a ewer, and Painted-enamel (falangcai) porcelain is the technique that decides how it reads. The pattern is laid before firing, so the colour sits under a clear glaze, protected and luminous rather than painted on top.

A ewer of this kind was made to be seen closely and from afar at once. The painted-enamel (falangcai) porcelain ground rewards the near view; the silhouette does the work across a room.

The Yixing ware court understood porcelain as a statement of capacity. To fire a ewer without a flaw was to prove the workshop, and behind it the state, could do the impossible reliably.

The painted-enamel (falangcai) porcelain ewer is a quiet lesson in Chinese taste: control of fire first, beauty second, and the two arriving together. Sinocra carries the work, with more from The Palace Museum, in the shop.

Yixing kiln

Object details

NameYixing kiln “Shao Bangyou” purple sand enamel pot (宜兴窑“邵邦祐”款紫砂珐琅彩壶)
Artefact no.故00157112
TechniquePainted-enamel (falangcai) porcelain (珐琅彩)
PeriodYixing ware dynasty (Ming to Qing)
CollectionThe Palace Museum, Beijing
SourcePalace Museum Digital Collection (数字文物库)

Image © The Palace Museum. View the original in the Palace Museum Digital Collection.

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