Doucai, also known as “duocai” or “tiancai” (meaning filled colors). The term “doucai” first appeared in the “Nan Yao Notes” during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns of the Qing Dynasty: “Cheng, Zheng, Jia, and Wan all have three kinds of doucai, wucai, and tiancai. First, draw flowers and birds with green material on the body, then add color, complete the whole, called doucai. Tiancai, use green material to draw flowers, birds, and figures on the blank body. After completion, put it into the color furnace, fill in the five colors, called tiancai. Wucai, is the pure porcelain painted with colored materials.” From this passage, it can be seen that doucai refers to the practice of first using blue-and-white material to outline the pattern under the glaze, then applying various colored materials within the outline, followed by firing to create a vivid contrast between the underglaze blue and the overglaze colors, resulting in a gorgeous decorative effect. Doucai of the Chenghua period was famous for its unique decorative effect, with doucai chicken cylinder cups, Sanqiu cups, grape cups, Tianzi jars, and others being the most precious. From the Jiajing period to the Qing Dynasty, there were many imitations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The famous doucai chicken cylinder cup was recorded as early as the Wanli “Shenzong Shilu”: “During the Shenzong period, there was a pair of Chenghua colored chicken cylinder cups, worth ten thousand coins.” This indicates that doucai chicken cylinder cups from the Chenghua period were already considered priceless during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. The doucai chicken cylinder cup, with its design originating from the Chenghua period, was named after its depiction of male and female chickens and chicks. This cup has an open mouth, deep belly, and lying foot, with a dignified and beautiful shape, smooth curves, and extremely fine craftsmanship. The cup is decorated with male and female chickens, as well as chicks, as well as rocks, orchids, peonies, and other decorations. The male chicken flaps its wings and sings loudly, while the female chicken leads the chicks in foraging and playing; the elegant rocks and orchids, combined with the delicate and bright underglaze blue lines, create a harmonious and gentle color palette for the entire painting. Chenghua doucai chicken cylinder cups were imitated in various dynasties of the Qing Dynasty, with imitations from the Kangxi and Yongzheng periods being the most exquisite, and some imitations even reaching the level of being indistinguishable from genuine ones.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Doucai, also known as “duocai” or “tiancai” (meaning filled colors). The term “doucai” first appeared in the “Nan Yao Notes”<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n