5. The Transitional era (1620 - 1680)

History

In 17th century China great social and economic changes causing serious instability took place. This instability grew worse after the 1630s because of incessant civil wars and unavoidable progress of the Manchu from north of the Great Wall. In 1644 Li Zicheng, leader of the revolutionary Manchu movement, conquered the imperial capital Beijing. The last emperor of the Ming dynasty, Chongzhen (1628-1644) committed suicide to avoid being captured. Refugee princes of the Ming court escaped to the south and pretended their continued authority, surrounded by Ming loyalists, in the populous provinces of Guangdong and Fujian.

Apart from the resistance of these groups the Qing had to reckon with another force: the private merchant clan led by the Zheng family. Their foothold in Fujian and Guandong provinces, where they owned land and capital, was very strong. Mountains separate the coastal areas from the inland provinces and coastal and maritime trade had for generations been the source of livelihood for the people. Emigration had spread the Chinese throughout Asia. They set up extensive trading networks shipping rice, sugar, and spices to the mainland, and metals, silks, porcelain, and tea to southeast Asia. As the junk trade was extremely important for the area, the crew of about a thousand junks and private armed forces of 200.000 men supported the Zheng family in their course for independence of the southern regions of China.

In 1624 the Dutch had built a settlement on Formosa (Taiwan), fort Zeelandia. The island was close to but not part of China and accessible all year round. Junks sailing to or from Japan stopped there. For the VOC it became a very important storage point for merchandise from China or Japan in transit to Europe. Also, it was a convenient stop for Company ships on their way to Japan.
However, by introducing taxes to Chinese immigrants entering the island, the Dutch created tensions. The population would eventually turn against them and support Zheng Chenggong when he invaded Formosa in 1661. After the struggle, the survivors of the Dutch garrison were taken prisoner, only to be freed in 1682 when the armies of Qing emperor Kangxi (1662-1722) conquered Formosa.

Throughout most of these troubled times the kilns in Jingdezhen remained in operation. By 1610 the production in the imperial kilns had lessened considerably. This was advantageous for the provincial min yao kilns making everyday wares and working for the large orders of the Dutch. They now had access to excellent raw materials and decorative schemes that used to be reserved for the court. Also skilled potters previously working at the imperial kilns brought expertise to the min yao kilns, making beautiful and original porcelains.
As a consequence of the wars however, it became increasingly difficult to continue to meet the demands of the international trade. After 1650 the VOC didnt place orders anymore. The kilns continued working on a smaller scale, largely managed by private entrepreneurs and for the private trade.

Forms and decoration

Scholars of Chinese ceramics in the past have coined the period of Transitional porcelain production from 1620, when emperor Wanli died to the 1680s when emperor Kangxi reasserted control over the porcelain industry at Jingdezhen. Recently, porcelain made within this time period is only regarded as Transitional on the basis of the following technical and decorative characteristics:
The clay of transitional wares is of a very high quality, as is the finishing. The objects are well-balanced with rounded foot rings. The glaze is smooth, white and without impurities. The cobalt decorations are applied in many shades of blue creating depth and adding to their liveliness.

The decoration is continuous over the surface of the object. Often landscapes or river scenes are portrayed with scholars and their attendants, men of military rank, or scholar-officials, while swirling clouds or large banana trees are used to separate events. These themes were influenced by the literati class who, by the end of the Ming dynasty, set the tone with regard to Chinese aesthetics. For this group of educated men loyalty to a falling dynasty, honour and virtue, study and reclusion were essential concerns. Illustrations of novels, romances and plays provided inspiration. The identification of the sources deployed in the decoration of Transitional porcelain is still a subject of research, although a number of the designs have been identified.
V-shaped grasses, banana trees, and tulip motifs along the neck of vases and ewers are part of the decorative scheme during the Chongzhen reign.
Vases or jars with flowers standing on a low table in a garden or on a terrace or ladies attending to children at play are part of the repertoire from the 1640s. Alluring landscapes are inspired on contemporary landscape painting. Another type of design is the flower spray, scattered over the surface of the object or within a single-line medallion. In this context fan-shaped medallions are often seen.

Although open forms as dishes and bowls were made, Transitional wares are mostly closed forms. The Chinese forms include bottles, vases, ewers and rolwagens. The VOC ordered special shapes sending wooden models or western wares in 1635 to copy or make moulds from.
Boxes used for medicines or cosmetics and small cups for drinking wine were largely destined for the southeast Asian market.
A large number of different types of Transitional porcelain were found in the so-called Hatcher wreck, a Chinese junk that went down in the South China Sea around 1643. This date was deducted from inscriptions with a cyclical date on the covers of two jars aboard. The ill-fated junk serves as an important point of reference with regard to the dating of mid 17th century wares. Among the wares in this catalogue a number have been recovered from this wreck.
Transitional porcelain with polychrome enamels or a combination of underglaze blue and polychrome enamels had mainly been produced by the imperial kilns reserved for the court but started flourishing after the government lost control of the non-imperial kilns. Initially probably for the Japanese market to replace the polychrome Swatow wares, it was also sent to Holland.