Qing Monochromes

Qing Monochromes, Porcelains of a single color

Qing Monochromes have long held a special place among aficionados and collectors of Chinese ceramics.  In no dynasty had this category reached the levels of perfection attained during the Qing

Imperial relief carved Qianlong vase

Dynasty (1644-1911). This is especially true for what was produced during the time period of 1700 to 1765. During this sixty five year period with the support of the Imperial houses of the Kangxi

Emporer (1661-1722) then to his second son the Yongzheng Emperor (1722-1735) and then by succession to his son the Qianlong Emperor (Oct. 1735 to 1796).  Happily for artists during this time, especially folks involved with making porcelain, these two great Chinese leaders were patrons of the arts, in the classic sense. The palaces of both routinely ordered massive amounts of porcelain for use within the forbidden city, including sets for the 15,000 people who worked there.

A Period of Innovation and Experimentation

During the later Kangxi era breakthroughs were made in the production of Peach Bloom in all of its assorted shades, along with Langyao, bright Apple Green and of course the soft pale blue. These innovations continued with vast amounts of money being poured into the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen for the next six decades.  Orders at time became so large the Imperial kilns farmed out production to other kilns to meet demand. Additionally demand as was tradition, grew among the the well to with their own tastes evolving in line with those of the Imperial house. The Emoperer tastes, set the fashion for everyone else's. As time passed by, the shapes became more refined, more delicate with the colors becoming more controlled and pure. By the mid 1700's, changes at the kilns and in production began to decline slightly in quality, but remained over all quite good but lacked the innovations of the previous era. To learn a bit more from an excellent article Read More Here