Large 18th century famille rose bowl

[Stan]

Thanks kardinalisimo for the site great information.

[peterp]

As was already said, the foot rims of plates cannot be compared to those of other items.
The underside decoration of red bamboo is actually typical for the Jiaqing/Daoguang period.
Due to the perfect condition of the interior painting I have been asking myself if this could have been repainted later. Usually, fencai decorated wash basis have a fair amount of abrasion, etc., sometimes to a degree that the decoration is almost gone. This is of course due to daily use.

What concerns Falangcai, I recommend forgetting about this...unless a very high amount of money or  extraordinary luck is involved, it is difficult to ever get any!!!

Real falangcai of the imperial period was painted in the workshops inside the palace. The body was fired in JDZ, then the blanks were transported to the palace. Falangcai was not at all accessible to outsiders. Its production method seems to have been carefully guarded until the end of the empire. There was only a limited number of items made for the palace. These items should of course all have official/imperial marks. Usually, that type of enamel is very thin, not like fencai enamel that can be felt with the fingers because it contains glass powder.

[Stan]

Thank you Peter and kardinalisimo, Peter you always amaze me by your knowledge, so the glaze in this is Fencai it has a very heavy enamel when running your finger over the top surface on the inside, the outside is thin.

[kardinalisimo]

Peter, i am getting confused about Falangcai. I thought that this was the Fencai decoration during early Qing, when the enamels were transparent.
I know they started experimenting with it during Kangxi in the palace workshop  but what exactly are the characteristics of Falangcai.  Was there also Fencai decoration during early Qing?  Was Falangcai strictly made only for the court?

[peterp]

The problem may be that both are called "enamel" in English. Basically, falangcai enamel is thinner, and not necessarily transparent. This was developed from the enamel wares imported from the west, where the enamel is usually on a base of brass, copper or other metal. I think using the enamel on a porcelain base was a Chinese innovation. This started in the Kangxi reign, but basically it is separate from fencai, which was developed in the late Kangxi reign, early 18th century, also based on some western painting materials.
The enamel material is possibly different. I only know that fencai had glass powder, lead, etc. added, which make that enamel basically toxic. It is possible that Canton enamels used yet another type of enamel, but I have not enough information on that.

[calder]

Hi Stan that's a lovely bowl I was looking at something similar last week.
I will start a  new thread rather than hijacking this one.

[kardinalisimo]

Peter, can you tell me briefly what is this about?
http://topic.artron.net/topic/110114/
I am struggling with google translator. According to it, I see terms like Cloisonne, Pastel, Fencai Ci, Enamel
Thanks