Jingdezhen and the history of porcelain

Jingdezhen, in Jiangxi province, has a history of porcelain that reaches well beyond the blue-and-white vessels most often associated with its name. Its early kilns became known for qingbai, porcelain covered by a pale, translucent blue glaze. The color came from a small amount of iron in the glaze and the conditions of firing. It was a different kind of blue from the painted cobalt decoration that would later become so influential.

Producing porcelain required a network of activities. Raw materials had to be extracted and transported; bodies had to be prepared, shaped and fired. Jingdezhen developed techniques for combining kaolin with porcelain stone, as well as new kiln designs and ways of organizing production. The surviving industrial sites make that larger system visible. A finished vessel represents many connected decisions, from the material entering the workshop to its position in the kiln.

Court commissions formed one part of the city’s output. Commercial kilns also supplied customers within China and overseas, responding to different uses and tastes. By the fourteenth century, Jingdezhen occupied a central place in an international ceramics trade that expanded further in the sixteenth century.

For us, that history offers a useful way to look at porcelain: as a material continually shaped by people and exchange. A city’s name provides context; the form, surface and decoration of each object invite a closer reading.