The Tianqi and Chongzhen reigns together spanned twenty-four years. In practice, however, during the early Shunzhi period, Jingdezhen remained under the jurisdiction of the Southern Ming regime. Throughout the transitional phase between Chongzhen and Shunzhi, kiln operations in Jingdezhen remained relatively stable, and trade with the Japanese market continued largely uninterrupted. As a result, porcelain produced during the early Shunzhi years can be considered a direct continuation of Chongzhen-era wares and is often discussed within the same historical context.
Common forms of wucai from the Tianqi period include blue-and-white with red and green overglaze, red-and-green overglaze, and full wucai polychrome decoration. Two representative examples bearing reign marks are the “Blue-and-White Wucai Dish with an Immortal” (Fig. 7) and the “Blue-and-White Wucai Dish with Figural Scene” (Figs. 8-1, 8-2). Both are inscribed with the four-character double-circle mark “Tianqi nianzhi” (Made in the Tianqi reign) in underglaze blue.
Such pieces with Tianqi reign marks exist in notable numbers and are found in several major Japanese museums as well as private collections. They serve as important reference works for the study of Tianqi wucai. Comparative analysis of these examples and related wares suggests they were produced during the same period - and quite possibly by the same workshop.
These standard examples provide a valuable concentration of information, allowing for the identification of other contemporaneous pieces that share similar characteristics. From the study of such Tianqi-marked wares, several defining features have been observed:
1. Porcelain Body: The clay body tends to be relatively loose in texture and lighter in weight. Noticeable voids and impurities are present in the body material, distinguishing it clearly from the finer, denser white body typical of the Chongzhen period.
2. Iron Content: The clay has a higher iron content, often resulting in a yellowish-brown hue on the unglazed foot rim.
3. Glaze Composition: The glaze used is a wood-ash glaze, with calcium as the primary flux. It is characterized by high transparency and a subtle bluish tint.
4. Rim Flaking: Due to the properties of the body and glaze and the production techniques of the time, glaze loss along the rim is common - so much so that it is referred to in Japan as “mushikui” (“bug-eaten”). After the Chongzhen reign, to address this flaw, potters often applied a brown, so called “purple-gold” glaze to the rim: after the ash glaze was applied, the rim would be scraped clean and refilled with this protective glaze. This change in technique also serves as a useful clue for dating pieces.
5. Underglaze Blue: The cobalt used contains a higher amount of iron, resulting in a bluish tone. In areas where the pigment is applied heavily, iron speckling or crystallization (known as “iron spots”) is often visible.
6. Painting Style: Compositions are simple and fluid, with brushwork that is lively, free-spirited, and slightly naïve. This stands in sharp contrast to the densely patterned decoration of the Wanli period and differs from the more standardized, formalized style of the Chongzhen era.
Based on these criteria, a number of representative Tianqi-period pieces can be identified, such as the “Blue-and-White Wucai Dish with the Five Steeds” (Fig. 9), the “Blue-and-White Wucai Arhat Dish” (Fig. 10), and the “Blue-and-White Wucai Dish with Landscape and Poem” (Fig. 11), all in the collection of the Yanshan Art Museum in Jingdezhen.
Wucai wares in its pure form from the Tianqi period are noticeably rarer than their blue-and-white or blue-and-white with wucai counterparts, and no examples with confirmed date inscriptions have yet been identified. However, based on comparative analysis of previously discussed Tianqi characteristics, several notable pieces can be regarded as outstanding examples of Tianqi wucai.
Among these are two “Wucai Hunting Scene Dishes” (Figs. 12, 13) in the collection of the Yanshan Art Museum and two “Wucai Figural Dishes” (Figs. 14, 15) held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All four works appear to belong to the same production group, united by their figural subject matter, simplified compositions, and lively brushwork. The color palette includes red, yellow, green, and turquoise.
One distinctive feature in these paintings is the appearance of a brown tone - seen, for example, on the saddles (Fig. 16) and in the light brownish grass (Fig. 17). While it may initially resemble a mix of raw black and fanhong to achieve a reddish-brown, this effect is, in fact, a known variation of Ming-dynasty overglaze yellow. Due to the balance between silica and lead in the glaze composition, the same pigment can appear yellow in thicker areas and brownish where the application is thin. This yellow glaze formula persisted continuously from the early Ming through the Shunzhi period, but no examples of its use have been documented after the Kangxi reign.
This chromatic trait not only provides a valuable chronological marker but also helps distinguish Jingdezhen overglaze pigments from their Japanese counterparts. While Japanese potters have continuously imitated Ming blue-and-white and wucai ware - from the Edo period to the present - no convincing reproductions have yet been found that replicate this yellow-to-brown tonal variation, even among high-level imitations.
An especially rare example of Tianqi landscape-themed wucai is the “Poetic View of Mount Wangtianmen” dish (Fig. 18) in the collection of the Kyoto National Museum. The painting is elegant and free-flowing, with a restrained, archaic use of color. Its poetic inscription and imagery reflect a new artistic trend that gained popularity during the Tianqi era - an increased emphasis on poetic expression and literary aesthetics in ceramic decoration. This trend, emerging alongside the cultural influence of the literati, reveals a deepening humanistic sensibility in late Ming porcelain.
Taken together, these works demonstrate the maturity of Tianqi wucai craftsmanship, marked by a modest yet refined color sensibility and a distinctive painterly style. The imagery often carries poetic or narrative qualities, favoring expressive content over rigid patterning. Although Tianqi lasted only seven years, it marked the beginning of a broader aesthetic shift in late Ming society - one that profoundly shaped the visual character of polychrome porcelain. In this regard, Tianqi wucai occupies a pivotal position in the evolution of Ming ceramics, bridging the decorative complexity of Wanli and the technical and artistic sophistication of the Chongzhen period.
To be continued ...
This blog article series is based on a paper written by Mr. Li Yanxun of the Yanshan Art Museum in Jingdezhen for the 2018 special exhibition Eastern Brilliance: Special Exhibition of Japanese-Commissioned Porcelain from Late Ming China, organized by the Tang Ying Society. The paper was published in the exhibition catalogue released in 2021.