Bidamount News July 10, 2026, Vol 638
This week's story is good article: Sir Michael Butler and the rise of High Transitional porcelain
Sir Michael Butler and the rise of High Transitional porcelain
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Abstract
This article discusses a few examples of porcelains of extraordinarily high-quality produced during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen (1628–44), the last ruler of the Ming dynasty. They were made at private kilns in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, for both the domestic and export markets during the so-called ‘Transitional’ period, at a time when the Imperial kilns had ceased production and the country was in a state of political, economic and moral crisis. Sir Michael Butler (1927–2013) first used the term High Transitional to classify them because for him they reflected the highest point of late Ming production, were stylistically different from other porcelains produced at the time and simply using the reign name for classification would have been inappropriate. The article reconsiders some of their defining features, and new decorative schemes and colour palettes used by the porcelain painters and their sources of inspiration. The fact that all known examples cyclically dated without using the reign name were made between 1634 and 1643 and that narrative scenes taken from woodblock printed books illustrating a wide variety of literary works from different historical periods were used as decoration suggests that these porcelains were especially commissioned to spread and/or share ethical and political concerns about the corrupt Ming government of the literati and wealthy merchant classes of Jiangnan. It seems likely that the bands of finely incised anhua motifs represent the delicate brocade textiles used on both ends of a handscroll painting. The requests of porcelains that were made by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1630 and in 1634, the same year that the earliest High Transitional porcelain with a narrative scene is cyclically dated to, most probably encouraged the private kilns to produce porcelains of the highest quality not only for the domestic market but also for export.
In the early 1980s, Sir Michael Butler (1927–2013) started to acquire in earnest porcelains of extraordinarily high-quality in terms of both potting and painted decoration produced during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen (1628–44), the last ruler of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). These were all made at private kilns in Jingdezhen for both the domestic and export markets during the so-called ‘Transitional’ period [1],1 when the Imperial kilns had ceased production [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]2 and China was in a state of political, economic and moral crisis.
In 1984, Sir Michael noted in his lectures and exhibition catalogues some defining features that he recognized in this distinct type of porcelain and more importantly, he first used the term ‘High Transitional’ to classify it [7]. He later pointed out that it could ‘stand comparison with the best of any period’ [8]. It was produced with white, finely levigated porcelain clay, was sturdily potted and carefully finished in a variety of shapes (mostly upright) with elegant lines and good proportions, and was covered in a clear, thick glaze that adhered well to the porcelain body. For him, this porcelain reflected the highest point of late Ming production [9], [10], was stylistically different from other porcelains produced at the time and simply using the reign name for classification would have been inappropriate [10]. The reason for the latter is that Sir Michael wanted to clearly differentiate this type of porcelain, combining exceptional technical and aesthetic qualities, from the various other types produced in the Chongzhen reign for both the domestic and export markets.
The significant improvement in the techniques for refining the native cobalt blue pigment from Zhejiang, using fire instead of water [11], [12], [13], resulted in beautiful and brilliant violet-blue tones, which came to be particularly associated with High Transitional porcelain (hereafter referred to as HT porcelain). Such high-quality porcelain had not been produced since the Imperial kilns were operating and a selected group of private kilns were under Imperial patronage in the Wanli reign (1573–1620) [14], [15]. The majority of the pieces are decorated in underglaze blue. Only a few extremely rare examples are known decorated solely in polychrome overglaze enamels.
In this article, I will briefly discuss a few examples produced for the domestic market collected by Sir Michael and six points that are important to reconsider to gain a better understanding of the production and consumption of HT porcelain decorated with narrative scenes. These are: archaeological finds; the production of a new vase shape that to date is only known in HT porcelain; the sources of inspiration of the new decorative features and motifs that came to be characteristic of HT porcelain; the colour palette of the HT porcelain decorated solely in overglaze enamels; the fact that all known HT examples cyclically dated without using a reign mark were made between 1634 and 1643; and the subject of the narrative scenes taken from woodblock-printed illustrations (hereafter referred to as prints), their meanings and intended domestic markets.
An important aspect that needed to be addressed was the limited availability and use of archaeological material. Until now, Jingdezhen archaeologists have found only one kiln where HT porcelain was fired, Shibaqiao,3 situated about 500 m from the southern gate of the Imperial kiln complex in Zhushan [16]. The excavated shards, all decorated in underglaze blue, originally formed part of covered baluster or ovoid jars, brush-pots and gu-shaped vases (Fig. 1).
A number of shards of finely potted elongated cylindrical vases, with tapering sides and a short waisted neck which flares out at the mouth, were also excavated. This was a novel, well-proportioned and pleasing vase shape produced for both the domestic and export markets that came to be known in China as ‘elephant leg’ vase and in the West by the term rolwagen. The latter finds, as Huang noted, are significant because this particular vase shape has not been found in any other kiln sites in Jingdezhen [16], [17], [18]. The earliest extant examples are known with cyclical dates corresponding to 1634 [10].4 This vase shape appears twice depicted on the bogu or antiquities [17]5 design of a High Transitional gu-shaped vase cyclically dated to 1639 in the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath (Fig. 2) [10].6 Many different bogu designs, a new decorative theme used in Jingdezhen porcelain in the late Ming dynasty, were painted on HT porcelain. Interestingly, although the bogu design of this vase in Bath was most probably chosen by the painters to reflect a long scholarly tradition of archaism and the interest of the literati in collecting antiques and works of art, it includes a vase shape that was new at the time. Both the invention and popularity of the rolwagen, as Huang has shown, were closely related to the art of flower arrangement, which was held in great esteem by the literati at this time [17], [19].7
Two shards of rolwagen relate closely to extant HT porcelain examples cyclically dated to the late 1630s. One is painted with the head and upper body of a young woman (Fig. 3) [18].8 She resembles the figure of Chang E, the Moon Goddess of Immortality, depicted on a rolwagen cyclically dated to 1637, also in the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath (Fig. 4).9 An even closer depiction of a woman, with her head in the same position, is found on another rolwagen showing Chang E cyclically dated to 1638 (Fig. 5).10 The other shard is painted with a woman beating a drum with a pair of sticks, to the right is the foot and flowing skirt of another woman dancing on a carpet, and below it V-shaped ticks indicating grass (Fig. 6) [18].11 It most likely formed part of a rolwagen decorated with a scene of a female dancer performing on a carpet in front of a high-ranking official taken from a print such as that included in Li Zhuowu xiansheng piping Yuhe Ji (The Story of the Jade Box, with Li Zhuowu’s Critical Comments) published in 1610 (Fig. 7), which shows a similar pattern on the carpet to that seen on the shard, or this other one from the Wanli illustrated drama Huancui Tang xinbian Toutao Ji (Newly Edited Story of Peach) published before 1619 (Fig. 8) [20]. Various scenes of dancing women wearing patterned gowns were painted in HT rolwagen as shown by an example cyclically dated to 1635 [10].12
An important marine archaeological find of HT porcelain decorated with a narrative scene is an ovoid jar recovered from the shipwreck of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Limpia y Pura Concepción that sank off the coast of present-day Dominican Republic in 1641, while en route from Veracruz to Seville [21].13 It demonstrates that HT jars of this type were being exported to the Americas, via Manila, and then re-exported to Spain in the Chongzhen reign [22].
The sources of inspiration for the decorative motifs and features used by the porcelain painters that came to be characteristic of HT porcelain were quite varied [10], [23].14 These included prints from painting manuals as well as from encyclopaedic books that served as models for landscapes, and particularly for motifs such as trees, rocks, plants and figures [10].15
The painted decoration, mostly executed in underglaze blue with carefully delineated and fluid lines, typically included a variety of plant motifs. Two distinctive plants are seen on the vividly painted scene of this ovoid jar depicting Zhong Kui, the legendary Daoist demon queller and vanquisher of ghosts (Fig. 9). One is the chunye dian (chun tree) with long and feathery leaves, seen on the left and right sides of the jar, which usually gathers around layered rocks or balustrades. The other is the ‘rice-cluster’ with dense clusters of small leaves resembling rice grains, seen on the top left side of the jar, which grows from layered rocks. This motif may have been inspired from prints.16
Another plant motif, which Ni calls ‘fish-roe’, showing groupings of small circles that resemble fish eggs or roe, is seen on the foreground of a narrative scene depicted in a rolwagen decorated with tulip-like flowers on the neck, most probably produced for the Dutch market (Fig. 10). The scene also shows clumps of tiny V-shaped ticks to indicate grass that, as noted by Ni, are usually sparsely scattered on the ground in only a few places or more rarely gathered around tree trunks and rocks, and seem to be an invention of the porcelain painters because there is no evidence of their use on other media [24]. As Little has pointed out, ticks for grass were already used in porcelain decoration in the previous Tianqi reign (1621–27) [14], as is clearly shown by a gui-shaped incense burner cyclically dated to 1625 in the British Museum, London [25].17 However, the ticks for grass on this scene, taken from the historical novel Sanguo Zhi Yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), first published in the 14th century [26], are larger in size and C- rather than V-shaped. One cannot fail to wonder if the characteristic clumps of V-shaped ticks for grass of HT porcelain could had been inspired by paintings of artists such as Gao Yang, also known as Kao Yang, a prominent painter active in the early to mid-17th century who primarily used ink and light colour on paper (Fig. 11) [27].18
Willow trees, as seen on this incense burner decorated with a scene of the legendary story of King Weng and the elderly sage Jang Taigong on the banks of the Wei River (Fig. 12), are mostly depicted with their trunks outlined by dark blue lines and a narrow light wash in between, and with their twigs falling with many long thin lines and tiny strokes of paint to indicate the leaves. Prints such as those from Yuan ren zaju xuan (Anthology of music dramas by Yuan playwrights) compiled by Wang Jide (d. 1623) in the Wanli reign may have served as inspiration for the distinctive way in which the willow trees are depicted [28].19 The zaju, a form of Chinese opera made up of four acts performed by four to five players, combined recitations of prose and poetry, singing arias, dialogues, acrobatics and mime.
One of the defining features of HT porcelain are the layered rocks [10],20 usually vertical, and horizontal swirling clouds linking the beginning and end of a scene, which Sir Michael called a ‘back’ to the picture (Fig. 13). Linking a narrative scene painted horizontally around the sides of a porcelain piece was not a novel feature used by the porcelain painters, as believed by Sir Michael and other researchers. At least from as early as the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), as Ni pointed out, narrative scenes painted on porcelain had been skilfully linked by trees or rocks (Fig. 14) [24], [29], [30].21 A closer look at woodblock-printed books led to some interesting finds. It appears that the layered rocks and swirling clouds were most probably inspired by prints like those from encyclopaedia Sancai Tuhui (Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms), first printed in 1609, or from Tangshi huapu (An Album of Tang Poetry with Illustrations) published during the Wanli and Tianqi reigns (Fig. 15) [10].22
More rarely, the narrative scenes are linked by banana plantains and rocks, which are realistically depicted with broken, backward-turning leaves, baby plantain around their roots, and straight young leaves growing from the centre. This is clearly seen on the extremely rare vase of exceptional quality cyclically dated to 1638 showing a scene of Chang E holding a twig of the osmanthus tree surrounded by boys (Fig. 16). This feature may have also been copied from prints included in the 1609 encyclopaedia Sancai Tuhui [10].23
It seems likely that the beautiful palette of iron-red, green, yellow, aubergine and black overglaze enamels, which are thick and brilliant, seen on an extremely rare group of HT porcelains of the highest quality, was inspired by prints from the Shizhu Zhai shuhua pu (Ten Bamboo Studio manual of calligraphy and painting). It was one of the earliest and finest Chinese books printed by a new technique of polychrome xylography, known as douban, which reproduced the effect of watercolour painting, developed and printed between 1619 and 1633 in Nanjing [10].24 This multi-coloured book included a number of woodblock prints based on those found in the arts section of the Sancai Tuhui, but were further enriched. Sir Michael collected four of these porcelains [9],25 including a covered jar painted with a scene of the legendary story of King Wen and Jiang Taigong that shows some novel features that Sir Michael thought worth noting (Fig. 17) [10].26 One is the use of green enamel to depict the trunks of the pine and willow trees, which could be considered a precursor of the trees with green trunks seen on overglaze enamelled porcelain of the succeeding Shunzhi reign [10].27 Another example is a gu-shaped vase painted with a scene taken from the 16th-century novel, ‘Investiture of the Gods’ (Fig. 18). The vivid depiction of the scene, and especially of the galloping red horse, are exceptional. A closer look at this horse has now revealed that the porcelain painter left personal imprints on its body. One can clearly see the patterns of his fingerprints impressed on the porcelain that give the illusion of the horse’s coat with short hair in several parts of the body of the animal.
The earliest recorded piece painted with a narrative scene showing prominent decorative features of HT porcelain appears to be a blue-and-white rolwagen, which bears a nine-character inscription with a cyclical date corresponding to 1634.28 With one exception, known examples decorated with narrative scenes cyclically dated without using the reign name, a total of 21 recorded in the list of dated porcelains published in the book Leaping the Dragon Gate, were made between 1634 and 1643 [10].29 A ‘pure-water bowl’, housed in the National Museum of China, Beijing, bears a dedicatory inscription by a Nanchang merchant for Lord Xiao, the Heaven-Obeying Prince (probably a god of water popular in Jiangxi, Fujian etc, in regional folk or ‘Taoist’ belief), which dates the bowl (and its companion piece, now missing) to the Second Autumn Month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, corresponding to 1639 [31].30 Globular bowls of this type were commissioned and dedicated by Taoist and Buddhist followers to contain sacred water that was used as offering in an altar piece, and to purify the heart and the environment as well.
As we have seen a number of the HT pieces collected by Sir Michael serve as visual examples of the narrative scenes taken from woodblock-printed books illustrating a wide variety of literary works from different historical periods. Usually, a single scene depicting a highlight of one of the acts or parts of the literary work, was modified to fit horizontally the curved surface of a piece [10].31 It is significant that the way in which the scene would have been viewed, by turning the porcelain around, resembles closely that of a handscroll painting that a literatus would have held in his hands and open by carefully unrolling it one section at a time from right to left. In both cases the viewer would have had direct physical contact with the object, turning the porcelain or unrolling and rolling the handscroll at his own desired pace. With this in mind, it seems possible that the bands of finely incised anhua motifs, a common feature of HT porcelain, represent the delicate brocade textiles used on both ends of a handscroll. These bands are clearly seen on a brush-pot collected by Sir Michael showing a scene that derives from part IV, act 3, of Xi Xiang Ji (The Romance of the Western Chamber), one of the most frequent dramas represented in HT porcelain [10].32
It is surprising that the production of porcelain at Jingdezhen rose to such extremely high quality during the reign of emperor Chongzhen, when the Ming dynasty was on the verge of collapse. In spite of this state of crisis and civil unrest, the private kilns of Jingdezhen were able to produce a wide variety of HT porcelains. The skilled porcelain potters and painters responded with astounding creativity and innovation to the changes in demand from both the domestic and export markets at the time.
The subjects depicted often reflected critical ethical and political concerns of the literati, which included, as Curtis pointed out, issues of eremitism and reclusion, the virtues of the scholar and scholar-official, and service to the ruling emperor [27].33 The scene of this covered jar (Fig. 19), for example, depicts a true story from the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). It shows the meeting of Li Ling, a military general who after a fierce battle was forced to surrender to the troops of the Xiongnu, with Su Wu, seen here holding the Han Emperor’s emblem stick which symbolises his envoy status. He was detained by the Xiongnu for 19 years, but remained loyal to the Han and refused to work for them [10].34 At a time of repeated invasions from the Manchus in the northern frontier such a scene must have conveyed strong political values, especially of loyalty to the ruling Ming dynasty.
In all probability, a large quantity of HT porcelain was specifically produced to appeal to an expanded domestic market, composed by the literati and wealthy merchants of the urban centres of the fertile Jiangnan region, situated in central China, who emulated their refined tastes and lifestyles, becoming ostentations patrons of literary and artistic activities [10], [23].35 Many of the literati, who owned land and often had connections in trade, were or had been government officials and thus were Ming loyalists. Some narrative scenes would have expressed their allegiance to the nation and reflected their literati rather than Imperial taste or adherence to the rigid Ming court design. More research is needed in textual and material sources to ascertain if these porcelains were especially commissioned by the literati and merchants of Jiangnan to spread and/or share their ethical and political concerns about the corrupt Ming government. We know from textual sources, for instance, that three porcelains were especially made for a literatus named Mi Wangzhong in the Tianqi reign [27].36
To conclude, it is important to also consider that a variety of HT porcelains decorated with narrative scenes were made for the Dutch market, which was then becoming an important new export market (Fig. 10, Fig. 20). It is possible that the request of a ‘large assortment of all kinds of fine porcelain’ made by the Dutch East India Company or VOC in 1630 and of porcelains ‘all of the finest to be had, well painted with Chinese persons’ in 1634 [22], [32],37 the same year that the earliest HT porcelain with a narrative scene is cyclically dated to, encouraged the kilns of Jingdezhen to produce porcelains of the highest quality for both the domestic and export markets.
It appears that the production of HT porcelain ceased after the Han-Chinese Ming dynasty that ruled for 277 years came to an end with the death of Emperor Chongzhen in April 1644. Jiangxi province, where Jingdezhen is located, was fully conquered by the Qing armies in the third year of the reign of Emperor Shunzhi, in 1646.
This article aimed to highlight the significant contribution of Sir Michael Butler to the existing body of knowledge of porcelain production at private kilns of Jingdezhen in the Chongzhen reign. From the early 1980s, he successfully raised awareness among curators, academics and collectors all over the world about the distinctive features of a particular type of high-quality Chongzhen porcelain produced for both the domestic and export markets, which he classified as High Transitional. This distinct type of porcelain continues to be appreciated and sought after for its exceptional technical and aesthetic qualities, and its historical importance until the present day.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Teresa Canepa: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The author Teresa Canepa is an Editorial Board Member for Journal of International Ceramic Studies and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article.
The author declares the following personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: I am the coauthor for the following book and have close collaboration with the Sir Butler Collection which the current article writes about: T. Canepa and K. Butler, Leaping the Dragon Gate. The Sir Michael Butler Collection of Seventeenth-Century Chinese Porcelain 鲤跃龙门, Ad Illissvm, London, 2021.
I am a co-editor of the Oriental Ceramic Society Newsletter, and a council member of this global Society based in London.
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