Antique Chinese and Japanese Porcelain collector's help and info page

GLOSSARY

Palace bowls

During the Qing dynasty the Imperial household ordered bowls specifically for the palace, decorated with dragons in different color combinations depending on the rank of the user.

Palace Bowls Porcelain Colors of Rank

  1. Yellow inside and out: Emperor, Empress and Empress dowager

  2. Anhua dragons on yellow ground, white inside: Huang Guifei, Consorts of the First Rank.

  3. Green dragons on yellow ground, white inside: Guifei and Fei, Consorts of second and third rank.

  4. Yellow Dragons on blue ground, white inside: Bin, Consorts of forth rank.

  5. Aubergine and green dragons on yellow ground: Guiren, Imperial family and consorts of fifth rank.

  6. Red dragons on polychrome ground: Changzai, Consorts of sixth rank.

  7. Polychrome: Daying, Consorts of seventh rank.

Beside these colors schemes for household wares, a number of specific shapes with special monochrome colors; red, yellow, blue and white respectivly - was made for sacrificial use.

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