Pair of Plates

235
Pair of Plates
China; Qing dynasty; 18th c.

Two plates decorated in a demanding technique requiring several firings. First the areas to be decorated were masked with paper, and the entire exposed surface of the unfired porcelain stained with cobalt blue powder blown through a bamboo tube. The plate was then glazed and fired at the high temperature of 1300o C.

Later, during the Qing dynasty, works of art were often marked with the name of one of the famous emperors of the dynasty.