Chinese Folk Painting on Porcelain

By: Bi Keguan

Chinese Porcelain (in general) // Min Yao

bikeguan.jpgChinese Folk Painting on Porcelain

At the Shanghai Museum Shop and probably at many other Museum Shops this book should be available. This is an unusual book even if in some minor parts some dates are wrong, but most important is that he has an interesting point in speaking up for the “peoples porcelain” min yao as an art form separated from the Imperial tradition.

Translated from Chinese, the book discusses the art of underglazed porcelain painting at private kilns, various styles, decorations and artistic values. Its about the impressionistic and simplified peoples drawing that can’t help but being closely related to the Chinese written language. It is very easy to observe once you have begun to think about it and this is what makes this book valuable in my eyes. It also traces down the developmen of some well known patterns, and on the whole, makes common everyday wares more interesting.

Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1991.

CLASSIC – on decorations on Chinese folk wares

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Foreign Languages Press (December 1991)
ISBN-10: 7119014056
ISBN-13: 978-7119014050

March 26th, 2008

Yuan and Ming Blue and white wares from Jiangxi

By: Yau, Hok Wa

Min Yao // Ming Porcelain // Yuan Dynasty

This is a catalogue produced in conjunction with an exhibition jointly organized by the Jiangxi Provincial Museum and Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

It consists of 128 items of Yuan and Ming (14th to mid 17th centuries) provincial blue and white wares. Half of the exhibits, primarily specimens with datable contexts, come from Jiangxi Provincial Museum and the cultural institutions in Jiangxi. The rest, mostly products for local and overseas markets, are selected from the Art Museum collection and loans from private and public collections in Hong Kong and the Philippines. All exhibits are illustrated with colour plates and detailed entries in both Chinese and English. It contains also two scholarly essays, “Yuan and Ming Provincial Blue and White Ware from Jingdezhen” by Peng Minghan and Yin Qinglan and “Chinese Blue and White ware of the 14th to 15th Centuries: A Philippine Perspective” by Rita C. Tan, and an appendix of “A Selection of Dated Ming Blue and Whites”. The book provides indispensable reference materials for studies on the Yuan and Ming blue and white wares from Jiangxi. 8.5 x 11.8″, 238 pp., 151 color plates, text in Chinese and English, hardcover, Hong Kong, 2002.

Probably the best book on so called “provincial Ming” available in English. Worth trying to find.

March 26th, 2008