官窑瓷器

Over the centuries, the royal court generated massive demand for Chinese Imperial porcelain, now highly collectable antiques. Imperial China had main palaces and residences and the royal princes had subsidiary regional courts. There were also many regional temples that required Imperial ware. In China, each household rank was entitled to a very specific collection set out in a written list. The last of which was produced in 1899 and specified that:The Empress Dowager Cixi received 821 pieces of Imperial yellow Chinese porcelain, the Empress received 1,014 pieces, a concubine (first rank) received 121 pieces of Imperial yellow Chinese porcelain with a white interior and a concubine (second rank) received 121 pieces of Imperial yellow Chinese porcelain decorated with green dragons.As more and more Imperial ware from China made its way into international collections, especially the cobalt blue designs from the Ming dynasty, Chinese Imperial porcelain developed a major influence over the world’s most famous design houses, most notably Delftware from the Netherlands.The Kangxi Emperor (1661 – 1722) revived the Imperial Chinese porcelain factories in Jingdezhen after a 60-year period of dormancy. Under his reign, and of his successors Yongzheng and Qianlong, the Imperial Chinese porcelain factories flourished. Not only did they take inspiration from their predecessors, they combined it with amazing developments in production techniques to make exceptionally high quality Imperial ware. China, for example, led the way in the development of many of the techniques still in use today, including the development of opaque overglaze enamel colours that allow artists to create a much broader range of shades and hues.