
Collection Online as of February 3, 2023
Porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue decoration
Overall: 20.4 x 12.2 cm (8 1/16 x 4 13/16 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.174
not on view
Underglaze blue-and-white designs reached their highest painterly quality during the reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662–1722). Porcelain decorators achieved a level of artistic and technical sophistication that rivaled that of professional painters. Blue-and-white porcelains in brilliant cobalt blue catered to the taste of the educated class, the court, and foreign markets. Notice the blue-and-white porcelains in Pierre Bonnard’s painting Fruit and Fruit Dishes (CMA 2020.100); such ceramics on a French dining table would have been inspired by Chinese porcelains of this type.