Blue White Plate
Posted in Art Pottery on 02/10/2011 07:49 pm by adminWhy is a lot of China (the porcelain artwork/bowls/plates) usually blue and white?
I have always noticed that Chinaware tends to be blue and white, and I am very intrigued as to why? Perhaps, it was easier to make it these two colors? I have researched it briefly and have read that cobalt oxide is what made this blue pigment, but why did they tend to use this? Any answer is greatly appreciated, thanks.
It is believed that when pottery jars were first decorated, ink was used simply because it was plentiful, inexpensive, and easily used.
Although Chinese porcelain included many colours, such as celadon, peachblow, oxblood, and Mohammedan blue, it is Chinese blue and white porcelain that caught the attention of the world.
Chinese blue and white porcelain may have been the first truly "global" commodity. Porcelain is thought to have originated in China in the 14th century. The oldest existing examples are attributed to the 15th century.
Notes from the Gardiner Museum state that Chinese blue and white “developed quickly and in fewer than a hundred years became a common feature of daily life throughout China, East Asia, and the Islamic World.”
By the early 16th century, Chinese blue and white porcelain “had reached every continent on earth except Australia and Antarctica.”
In fact, global demand for the blue and white was so strong that it wasn’t long before potters in other countries around the world—from Japan to Vietnam, from Iran to England—began to imitate it. Even today, blue and white porcelain is a favourite. It remains an icon of China and for ceramics in general.