1. Home
2. Publications
3. Specialized books

The Porcelain of Hung-Hsien

A study of the socio-cultural background and some characteristics of the porcelain produced at Chingtechen.

Oort, H.A. Van

The object of this book is to broaden the range of aesthetic enjoyment in the field of Chinese porcelain. First of all the writer has dealt once and for all with the myth that after Ch'ien-lung almost no porcelain worthy of our attention was produced any more. Secondly, it was shown that the revival in the porcelain industry at the end of the Ch'ing dynasty obtained a heavy stimulus from Yuan Shik-k'ai, the first President of the Republic of China.

This culminated in the production of very fine porcelain bearing the reign mark HUNG-HSIEN of his usurped emperorship in 1916. Finally we see that after the death of Yuan Shik-k'ai the porcelain production did not suddenly come to a standstill but instead continued to turn out ware that can rival some of the best pieces of the past. In order to corroborate this point of view, the revival of porcelain art is discussed against the background of social and cultural change. In particular attention is drawn to the importance these high technical achievements have for the production of porcelain marked with better known reign marks of previous periods. The thesis set forth in the book is elucidated by illustrations covering each period from the middle of last century right up to the People's Republic.

E-mail us to order