Since its creation, doucai porcelain has been famous far and wide. Although doucai porcelain began to be fired during the Chenghua period, once it was introduced, it became renowned for its elegant style and meticulous craftsmanship.
Chenghua doucai porcelain has a thin and light body, with colors mostly transparent and bright, ranging from rich and vibrant to light and subtle. The colors are extremely diverse, but black and peacock green are not seen in Chenghua doucai. Red, yellow, green, and purple are splendid and varied. Generally, three or four colors are found on a single object, with some having six or more colors. Even within the same color, there are variations in depth and intensity. For example, red colors range from bright red like blood to slightly heavy and glossy oil red; yellow colors vary from apricot yellow with hints of red, to tender and bright goose yellow, to a color resembling amber. Green colors include shades like aqua green, pine green, leaf green, and peacock green. Purple includes colors like grape purple, ochre purple, and bright purple. The most vivid red is only used in small amounts. One of the most outstanding features of Chenghua doucai is the use of a color resembling ochre purple, which has a dry and matte surface, making it a special criterion for identifying Chenghua doucai, surpassing imitations by later artisans. Typical objects include tall footed cups with floral and bird designs, chicken cylinder cups, tall scholar cups, Sanqiu cups, infant play cups, Tianzi jars, etc. Chenghua doucai porcelain, like other types of Chenghua ceramics, has a white and light body, a rich glaze, and elegant and beautiful shapes with graceful curves.
From the Hongzhi period after Chenghua until the end of the Ming Dynasty, the quantity or quality of doucai porcelain production never reached the level of the Chenghua period. During the Hongzhi period, due to frugality policies, official kilns were shut down several times, making doucai ware hard to come by until production resumed in the Zhengde period. The firing of Zhengde doucai resulted in two different styles due to variations in coloring techniques: one with a larger proportion of blue-and-white decoration, and heavier use of red and green colors; the other with less blue-and-white and more yellow and green colors, with a more elegant tone. Jiajing doucai porcelain was crafted with more finesse, with shapes and designs mostly similar to Chenghua doucai, and the coloring was more subdued. Among them, the Jiajing imitation of Chenghua doucai infant play cups was particularly exquisite, with colors and painting almost indistinguishable from the original. However, these products conspicuously lack the use of ochre purple seen in Chenghua doucai, making it a crucial distinguishing feature between Chenghua and Jiajing doucai. Longqing doucai continued to emulate the style of Chenghua doucai, with similar color tones in decoration, but with the addition of the Longqing reign mark. There were few doucai items from the Wanli period, and those seen still followed the style of Chenghua, with mainly tall footed cups, fruit bowls, and figurine bowls, but the colors of Wanli doucai were generally darker and more vibrant than Chenghua, similar to the hues seen in contemporaneous wucai porcelain. Doucai porcelain production disappeared by late Ming.
Doucai porcelain in the Ming Dynasty, represented by the Chenghua period, was often imitated in later periods, but the elegance, delicacy, style, and charm of Chenghua doucai were qualities that later imitators could not replicate.
