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Doucai
''Doucai'' () is a technique in painting Chinese porcelain, where parts of the design, and some outlines of the rest, are painted in underglaze blue, and the piece is then ceramic glaze, glazed and fired. The rest of the design is then added in overglaze enamels of different colours and the piece fired again at a lower temperature of about 850°C to 900°C. The style began in the 15th century under the Ming dynasty in the Jingdezhen ware, imperial factories at Jingdezhen, and its finest products come from a few years in the reign of the Chenghua Emperor, mostly small pieces like the famous Chicken Cup (Chenghua), Chicken cups. The style was discontinued after a few decades, as a suitable overglaze blue was developed, but later revived under the Qing dynasty. It is not to be confused with the ''wucai'' style, which was a related early technique for polychrome painting. ''Doucai'' can be translated as "contrasted colours", "fitted colours", "colours which fit together" or "dove-tail ...
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Chicken Cup (Chenghua)
A Chicken Cup is a bowl-shaped vessel made of Chinese porcelain painted in the ''doucai'' technique. Chicken cups were created during the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644), during the Chenghua Emperor's reign (1465 – 1487) in China, and originally functioned as a vessel to drink wine from. Chenghua Chicken Cups were created in an imperial kiln in the Jingdezhen porcelain factory, in Southern China. The Emperor Chenghua had the Chicken Cup created in the 15th century as an act of devotion for his empress mother who was recorded to have an appreciation for small objects and valued a simple design taste. Chicken cups are decorated with chickens, hens and cocks. There are a rooster and a hen which feed their young chick, as they grub for worms and stretch out their wings. The chickens on the cup are interpreted as representing core dynastic Chinese values, such as continuing the family line and nurturing the young. There are currently thirteen authentic Chenghua cups held by museums and ...
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Wucai
''Wucai'' (五彩, "Five colours", "Wuts'ai" in Wade-Giles) is a style of decorating white Chinese porcelain in a limited range of colours. It normally uses underglaze cobalt blue for the design outline and some parts of the images, and overglaze enamels in red, green, and yellow for the rest of the designs. Parts of the design, and some outlines of the rest, are painted in underglaze blue, and the piece is then glazed and fired. The rest of the design is then added in the overglaze enamels of different colours and the piece fired again at a lower temperature of about 850°C to 900°C. It has its origins in the ''doucai'' technique. The usual distinction made with ''doucai'', which also combines underglaze blue with overglaze enamels in other colours, is that in ''wucai'' only parts of the design include blue, and these cover wider areas, and are often rather freely painted. In ''doucai'' the whole design is outlined in the blue, even if parts are overlaid by the enamels and ...
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Percival David Collection DSCF3161 10
Percival (, also spelled Perceval, Parzival), alternatively called Peredur (), was one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. First mentioned by the French author Chrétien de Troyes in the tale ''Perceval, the Story of the Grail'', he is best known for being the original hero in the quest for the Grail, before being replaced in later English and French literature by Galahad. Etymology and origin The earliest reference to Perceval is in Chrétien de Troyes's first Arthurian romance ''Erec et Enide'', where, as "Percevaus li Galois" (Percevaus of Wales), he appears in a list of Arthur's knights; in another of Chrétien's romances, '' Cligés'', he is a "renowned vassal" who is defeated by the knight Cligés in a tournament. He then becomes the protagonist in Chrétien's final romance, ''Perceval, the Story of the Grail''. In the Welsh romance ''Peredur son of Efrawg'', the figure goes by the name Peredur. The name "Peredur" may derive from Welsh ''par'' (spea ...
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Wan Zhen'er
Imperial Noble Consort Wan () (1428-1487), born Wan Zhen'er (), was an imperial consort during the Ming dynasty. She is sometimes known as Consort Wan or Lady Wan and was the favorite consort of the Chenghua Emperor. She was approximately fifteen to seventeen years older than the emperor. Biography Wan Zhen'er's father, Wan Gui, was a county official. During the Xuande period, he was sent to Bazhou in Shuntian Prefecture for breaking the law. Therefore, when Wan Zhen'er was four years old, she was selected to serve as the maid of one of the Xuande Emperor's grandsons of the Ming dynasty. In 1449, Emperor Yingzong of Ming was captured after his army lost the Battle of Tumu Fortress against the Mongols. His capture by the enemy force shook the empire to its core, and the ensuing crisis almost caused the dynasty to collapse had it not been for the capable governing of a prominent minister named Yu Qian. In the emperor's absence, Empress Dowager Sun and court officials supported Y ...
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Metropolitan Museum Of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is by area one of the world's largest art museums. The first portion of the approximately building was built in 1880. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains an extensive collection of art, architecture, and artifacts from medieval Europe. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 with its mission to bring art and art education to the American people. The museum's permanent collection consists of works of art from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt, paintings, and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern ...
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Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta in South China. With 7.5 million residents of various nationalities in a territory, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Hong Kong is also a major global financial centre and one of the most developed cities in the world. Hong Kong was established as a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island from Xin'an County at the end of the First Opium War in 1841 then again in 1842.. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War and was further extended when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898... British Hong Kong was occupied by Imperial Japan from 1941 to 1945 during World War II; British administration resume ...
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Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintains a significant presence in the UK. Sotheby's was established on 11 March 1744 in London by Samuel Baker, a bookseller. In 1767 the firm became Baker & Leigh, after George Leigh became a partner, and was renamed to Leigh and Sotheby in 1778 after Baker's death when Leigh's nephew, John Sotheby, inherited Leigh's share. Other former names include: Leigh, Sotheby and Wilkinson; Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge (1864–1924); Sotheby and Company (1924–83); Mssrs Sotheby; Sotheby & Wilkinson; Sotheby Mak van Waay; and Sotheby's & Co. The American holding company was initially incorporated in August 1983 in Michigan as Sotheby's Holdings, Inc. In June 2006, it was reincorporated in the State of Delaware and was renamed Sotheby's. In Ju ...
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Jingdezhen
Jingdezhen is a prefecture-level city, in northeastern Jiangxi province, with a total population of 1,669,057 (2018), bordering Anhui to the north. It is known as the "Porcelain Capital" because it has been producing Chinese ceramics for at least 1,000 years, and for much of that period Jingdezhen porcelain was the most important and finest quality in China. The city has a well-documented history that stretches back over 2,000 years. History Throughout both the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the area of present-day Jingdezhen belonged to the Chu State. After the fall of the Chu, the area was incorporated into the Qin Dynasty as part of Fan County () in . Under the Han Dynasty, the area belonged to Poyang County () in . Under the Han Dynasty, the particular area of future Jingdezhen was known as Xinping (). Historical records show that it was during this time that it began to make porcelain. The town was established during the Jin Dynasty under the n ...
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Percival David Foundation
The Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art (abbreviated as the PDF) holds a collection of Chinese ceramics and related items assembled by Percival David that are on permanent display in a dedicated gallery in Room 95 at the British Museum. The Foundation's main purpose is to promote the study and teaching of Chinese art and culture. The collection consists of some 1,700 pieces, mostly of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain from the 10th century to the 18th. It includes a painting, ''Scroll of Antiquities'' ( , 1728, Yongzheng's reign). The collection concentrates on pieces in the "Chinese taste" rather than export wares, and on Imperial porcelain, much of it Jingdezhen ware. It includes examples of the rare Ru and Guan wares and two important Yuan dynasty blue and white porcelain temple vases (the " David Vases"), the oldest dated blue and white porcelain pieces, from 1351. The Foundation also has a large library of Western and East Asian books related to Chi ...
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Yongzheng Emperor
, regnal name = , posthumous name = Emperor Jingtian Changyun Jianzhong Biaozhen Wenwu Yingming Kuanren Xinyi Ruisheng Daxiao Zhicheng Xian()Manchu: Temgetulehe hūwangdi () , temple name = Shizong()Manchu: Šidzung () , house = Aisin Gioro , dynasty = Qing , father = Kangxi Emperor , mother = Empress Xiaogongren , religion = Tibetan Buddhism The Yongzheng Emperor (13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, born Yinzhen, was the fourth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned from 1722 to 1735. A hard-working ruler, the Yongzheng Emperor's main goal was to create an effective government at minimal expense. Like his father, the Kangxi Emperor, the Yongzheng Emperor used military force to preserve the dynasty's position. Although Yongzheng's reign was much shorter than that of both his father (the Kangxi Emperor) and his son (the Qianlong Emperor), the Yongzheng era ...
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Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 to 1796. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796. In 1796, he abdicated in favour of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor, out of filial piety towards his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor, who ruled for 61 years, so that he not officially usurp him as the longest-reigning emperor. Despite his retirement, however, the Qianlong Emperor retained ultimate power as the Emperor Emeritus until his death in 1799, making him one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history, and dying at the age of 87, one of the longest-lived. As a capable and cultured ruler inheriting a thriving empire, during his long reign, the Qing Empire reached its most splendid and prosperous era, boasting a large popul ...
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Four Great Classical Novels
Classic Chinese Novels () are the best-known novels of pre-modern Chinese literature. These are among the world's longest and oldest novels. They represented a new complexity in structure and sophistication in language that helped to establish the novel as a respected form among later popular audiences and sophisticated critics. They include the ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', ''Water Margin'', ''Journey to the West'', and ''The Plum in the Golden Vase'' of the Ming dynasty and ''Dream of the Red Chamber, Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone)'' and ''The Scholars (novel), The Scholars'' of the Qing dynasty. The scholar C. T. Hsia wrote that these six "remain the most beloved novels among the Chinese." Nomenclature and subgroupings The scholar Andrew H. Plaks writes that the term "classic novels" in reference to these six titles is a "neologism of twentieth-century scholarship" that seems to have come into common use under the influence of C. T. Hsia's ''The Class ...
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