We often refer to “Wucai” as five colors, but it’s not necessarily limited to just five colors. It includes combinations of three, four, or five colors, either on the glaze or combined on both glaze and body, creating various designs and patterns. The emergence of Wucai can be traced back to the Song Dynasty, building upon the foundation of low-temperature red and green colors on white-glazed ceramics from the northern regions. It also incorporated the firing techniques of red and green colors from the Jingdezhen kilns since the Yuan Dynasty, along with the addition of other color pigments.
Wucai porcelain appeared during the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, as documented in “Ge Gu Yao Lun”: “Xuande Wucai has a deep and layered appearance.” For a long time, there were no extant pieces known until 1984 when a Qinghua Wucai lotus pond mandarin duck bowl inscribed with “Made in the Xuande Reign of the Great Ming Dynasty” was discovered in Sajia Monastery in Tibet. This discovery revealed the true essence of Xuande Wucai porcelain and unveiled the mystery surrounding it.
Wucai porcelain from the Chenghua period is also relatively rare, mainly featuring red, green, purplish-red, and black colors, often complemented with peacock green. The decorative lines are soft and elegant. During the Hongzhi period, Wucai ceramics included red, green, ochre, black, and peacock green colors. The tones are subtle and elegant, with graceful decorative lines.
The quantity of Wucai porcelain increased during the Zhengde period, with distinctions between blue and white Wucai and overglaze Wucai. “Blue and white Wucai” refers to blue and white ceramics painted with red, yellow, and green colors after firing, creating a combination of underglaze blue and overglaze colors. “Overglaze Wucai” refers to ceramics with various colors painted on a white-glazed base and then fired, representing a pure overglaze color variety.
Both blue and white Wucai and overglaze Wucai share the common characteristic of vibrant and colorful hues, with the Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli periods of the Ming Dynasty being the most renowned for Wucai porcelain production.
By the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, especially in the early years, the maturity of overglaze blue coloring techniques shifted the dominant production of Wucai ceramics from blue and white to overglaze Wucai. Kangxi Wucai porcelain is known for its bright colors, dazzling appearance, and “hard” feel due to the higher firing temperature and intense colors.
Since Kangxi’s reign, there have been many innovative varieties of Wucai porcelain, including Qing glaze Wucai, rice-glazed Wucai, red-glazed Wucai, ink-glazed Wucai, and ge-glazed Wucai, in addition to the traditional white-glazed variety.
