Everything you should know about Yuan dynasty blue and white porcelain

Blue and white porcelain is decorated with the blue pigment, usually from cobalt oxide, on shaped clean, white clay that is covered by a layer of transparent glaze and baked in a kiln at high temperatures. Producing of blue and white porcelain was found beginning in the Tang dynasty (618-907) , but it was not until the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) that the art reached perfection. In the early 14th century, mass production of delicate and transparent blue and white porcelain started at Jingdezhen, usually called the “porcelain capital” of China.   Blue and white (qinghua, 青花) porcelain was first mass produced under the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). Baked at a high temperature, porcelain is characterized by the purity of its kaolin clay body. Potters of the subsequent Ming dynasty (1368–1644)perfected these blue and white wares so that they soon came to represent the virtuosity of the Chinese potter. Jingdezhen (景德鎮), in Jiangxi Province, became the center of a porcelain industry that not only produced vast quantities of imperial wares, but also exported products as far afield as Turkey. While styles of decorative motif and vessel shape changed with the ascension to the throne of each new Ming emperor, the quality of Ming blue and whites are indisputably superior to that of any other time period. The true development of blue and white porcelain in China started in the first half of the 14th century, when it progressively replaced the century-long tradition of bluish-white porcelain, or Qingbai. The main center of production was in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province.    

Some useful links about yuan blue and white porcelain:

• 幽兰神采 上海博物馆展览 Shanghai museum exhibition in 2012:splendors in smalt arts of yuan blue and white porcelain
• Sothebys http://www.sothebys.com
• https://www.christies.com
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingdezhen
• blue and white porcelain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_and_white_pottery#14th_century
• About yuan dynasty : Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_dynasty
• 马未都说：元青花中的玄机  Ma Weidu said: the mystery of Yuan blue and white
• The British Museum  https://www.britishmuseum.org/
• The Chinese The Palace Museum  https://en.dpm.org.cn/cd/action/ListInfo.php?classid=19&ph=1&class_name=ceramics
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 Related Books:

1. <<Splendors in Smalt:Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain Proceedings>>

《幽蓝神采：元代青花瓷器特集》Splendors in Smalt: Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain You Lan Shen Cai: Yuandai Qinghua Ciqi Teji

Chinese Porcelain: An Export to the World 作者 Shirley Ganse 出版社 三聯書店(香港)有限公司(聯合電子) ISBN 9789620427534 出版日期 2008-01-01