Chinese export porcelain mug with Chinese Imari decoration. First decades of the 18th century, c. 1700-20.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson, Coll., 2022
Chinese Imari export porcelain plate and two oblong spoon trays. First decades of the 18th century, c. 1700.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson, Coll., 2022
Chinese Imari is a decorative style characterized primarily by dry iron red enamels with gilt highlights, applied to underglaze blue and white porcelain. Its immediate source of inspiration is the Japanese aka-e (red painting), while its original roots can be traced back to the Ming dynasty decoration "Wanli wucai" and the Chinese Taoist philosophy of the five directions and its matching five (wu) colors or enamels (cai).
In the latter half of the 17th century, the decline of the Ming dynasty led to a decrease in porcelain exports from China. The dominant western trade partner, the Dutch East India Company (VOC), then turned to Japan for its porcelain. Among the Japanese porcelain shipped to the Netherlands, some featured aka-e or "red painting," giving rise to the term "Imari" porcelain from the name of the Japanese export harbor.
While "Imari" initially referred to any porcelain shipped from the Japanese Imari port, the name gradually became synonymous with the red-painted style, gaining significant popularity in Europe. After the Qing dynasty conquered the whole of China and ousted the previously ruling Ming dynasty during the mid 17th century, the Chinese porcelain trade for large-scale export recovered and rapidly made the Japanese porcelain industry mostly obsolete.
Chinese artisans began to imitate the Japanese "Imari" designs to take back their customers by meeting their demands, thus creating a new distinct export decoration category. This style, often combined with "Batavia brown" glaze, found favor particularly among Dutch merchants and was also one of the favored staples of the Swedish East India Company, SOIC, (1731-1813) during the first half of the 18th century.
The earliest Chinese Imari emerged towards the end of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1662-1722) and remained in vogue until the mid-18th century. Generally, Chinese Imari pieces are more finely crafted and feature a thinner, more uniform glaze compared to their Japanese counterparts. The red enamels in Chinese Imari are usually thinner and more translucent than the darker, fuller reds of Japanese pieces. Additionally, the underglaze blue in Chinese Imari tends to be brighter and clearer than that found in Japanese versions.A
Back to Gotheborg.com Home Page