Guangcai Porcelain in Qing Dynasty is a kind of porcelain for export made of Jingdezhen white porcelain from Jiangxi Province that is later processed in Guangzhou. The export of Guangcai Porcelain was quite flourishing from the beginning of the reign of Qianlong to the end of the Qing Dynasty, and a considerable amount was processed according to samples supplied by customers, many of which were specially designed and sent from the West. Therefore, innovations such as painting pictures by emulating the style of Western traditions and drawing stories about Western characters mushroomed. The patterns also diversified as some of them were painted in accordance with the heraldry or badges submitted by foreign merchants in addition to the traditional patterns of plants and animals, stories of heroes, landscapes and antiques. Under such influence from the West, the overall pattern of Guangcai Porcelain is highly decorative, rich and compact, plus the universally applied gold-weaving technique, rendering the Guangcai Porcelain an artwork of unique style characterized by resplendence and gorgeous colours.

Zhuyuan Taoshuo (“Ceramic Discourses in the Bamboo Garden”) says: “Since the opening of new ports and new sea-routes, the merchants who came to China from the West would first arrive in Macao, and then wend their way to Guangzhou. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the port was overwhelmed with vessels, and thereby the business thrived. Knowing that the European markets cherished the Chinese porcelain much, the Chinese merchants modified their business to meet the needs. They first burned white wares in Jingdezhen and then transported the wares to ports in Guangdong so that they could hire craftsmen to paint in imitation of Western-style. Next, the painted wares were baked and dyed on the southern bank of Pearl River. Thus, the colourful porcelains were made and then sold to the Western merchants.” One can tell from the unique decorative patterns and the composition style different from Chinese traditions that the most important characteristic of “Guancai Porcelain” is the integration of Chinese and Western cultures.

Collection of the Macao Museum of Art