* 54 Gao Yang

A pair of Canton Enamel Masterpieces in the Rijksmuseum

Canton enamelled porcelain (guangcai) usually refers to porcelain made in , , and decorated with enamel in Canton. The Rijksmuseum has a pair of identical porcelain vases in its collection that may represent one of the earliest examples of Canton enamel porcelain (fig.1). The vases were collected by J.Th. Royer (1737-1807) and transferred to the Rijksmuseum in 1883. One side of these vases shows two Chinese ladies playing a game of go. On the other side is a 15-character Chinese inscription reading Boyi tu jiachen huazhao xie yu lingnan zhujiang jingshe (‘A game of go, painted on the day of the Flower Festival in the year jiachen, in a beautiful house on the Pearl River in Lingnan’) (fig. 2).1 Canton was a part of the Lingnan area of Qing China (1644–1911), and the Pearl River is also in Canton. Hence the inscription reveals that these vases were decorated in Canton.

The enameller

Generally, information about the enamellers of Chinese porcelain is very rare. However, in this case, we can learn a lot about the enameller. The inscription is followed by a ruby-red seal of Tang Jintang. Qing- dynasty painters usually placed their seals after the inscription in this way. Occasionally, craftsmen of objects did this too. An enamel copper in the collection of R. Albuquerque has a seal reading zhuju (‘living with bamboo’).2 This signet is followed by the inscription zhuju zhuren xie (‘written by the bamboo house owner’).3 Tang Jintang is mentioned in the Qing imperial court records as a craftsman from Canton who was summoned to the court to do enamel work for the imperial workshop in the sixth year of Qianlong reign (1741).4 In 1757, the Qing government ruled that Canton should be the only export trade port, and it remained so until the Treaty of Nanjing (29 August 1842). Canton continued to play a vital role in the Chinese export industry after 1842. Canton’s craftsmen were skilled in the technique of enamelling copper as a result of Canton’s exposure to Western trade. This is why the Qing court summoned Tang Jintang and other enamel artisans to help

C anton E namel Porcelain M aster p ieces with the making of enamelled copper in the court workshop.

Tang Jintang was recorded as a craftsman of enamel on metal, but it is highly likely that he also worked on porcelain. The enamel on porcelain is very similar to the enamel on metal. Both are imitations of European enamel. Enamel was developed in and was sent to Jingdezhen for the purpose of decorating porcelain.5 The workshop mastered the technique of making enamel pigment later and sent materials as well as craftsmen to Beijing during the Yongzheng Fig. 1 period.6 The introduction of these new enamel techniques gave Identical vases with enamelled porcelain a different tone from famille verte porcelain two ladies playing a pigments developed locally in China. The Dutch game of go, porcelain, h. 16 cm, China, (VOC) noticed that in 1740s production started to shift from Jingdezhen 7 1724, Rijksmuseum to Canton. According to the narrative of modern Canton enamellers, Amsterdam, inv.no. the first group of Canton enamelled porcelain copied the technique and AK-NM-6352 style of Jingdezhen porcelain.8 The story goes that the first enamellers in Canton were two craftsmen called Yang Kuai and Cao Jun who moved there from Jingdezhen. Hobson argues that both porcelain and copperware was enamelled in Canton during the same period, and possibly even in the same workshops.9 It is possible that Tang Jintang himself was one of the earliest enamellers to work on porcelain in Canton.

The year jiachen

The year jiachen in the inscription also gives rise to discussion.10 In the Chinese lunar calendar, years are recorded in 60-year circles. Jiachen is one of the years in this 60-year circle. Based on the style of these vases, they are possibly works from the Yongzheng period (1722–1735) or date from the Qianlong period (1736–1795).11 Enamelled porcelain in these two periods has a special style, with a blank background, a black inscription and pink seals. The quality of these two vases in the Rijksmuseum is comparable to Qing court porcelain products from these two periods