Chinese Porcelain GlossaryChinese porcelain glossary of must-know porcelain terms and explanations of some related Chinese language terms. |
| age faking | Methods to produce faux antique porcelain. See section on age faking. |
| Anhua | Hidden decoration – relates to hidden decorations mainly in monochrome wares. The decoration is visible when viewed against the light. |
| Annam | The old name of Vietnam, especially the northern part of todays Vietnam. |
| armorial porcelain | Armorial porcelain is custom made porcelain decorated with the coat-of-arms of the ordering party. |
| Batavia | Today's Jakarta. Was headquarters for the activities of the Dutch in the Far East and South East Asia.. |
| Batavia ware | Wares that have a brown outer face (cups, containers, etc.) or are brown on the underside and/or top side (dishes and plates). Batavia wares were a favorite of the Dutch at the time and they were produced specifically for export. |
| Beitunzi | Feldspatic rock which is an important ingredient in the clay of Chinese porcelain |
| biscuit firing | see bisque firing |
| bisque | see bisque firing |
| bisque firing | Bisque firing is the initial firing at a low temperature to give the dry clay enough firmness for decoration before the second firing. |
| blanc-de-chine | Pure white porcelain produced by Dehua kilns. It is without any painted decoration. Made of a ceramic body using China clay(Kaolin) and fired at a high temperature. It was/is frequently used for decorative ceramics and figurines. |
| bleu de Hué | Bleu de Hue is underglaze blue export pocelain ordered and made for nobility in Hué (located in central Vietnam). Hué at the time was the capital of the Nguyen dynasty of Vietnam. |
| blue and white | The first color decoration of porcelain was blue on a white glaze. |
| Budai Heshang | see Laughing Buddha |
| Canton wares | Canton wares are a type of mostly blue and white porcelain made for export during the 19th century. This was shipped from Canton (Guangzhou). These wares usually depict a landscape with Chinese buildings and a bridge in the center and have a decorated rim. |
| celadon | Celadon porcelain consists of a body of Kaolin clay and a glaze ranging from greenish or green to blue. Does not include deep blue, usually. Other green glazed wares are early non-porcelain ceramics. |
| ceramics | Name for all types of clay-based wares. |
| china | As the first porcelain was discovered and made in China, porcelain items from China were soon called china in the English speaking world. Equals the term porcelain. |
| chine-de-commande | This French term is used for porcelain "ordered in China", i.e., export porcelain. |
| Chinese Imari | When the sea prohibition ended the Chinese re-entered the porcelain trade, but had to procure porcelain with a similar decoration as the Japanese Imari at first. The Imari made in China soon started to show some differences and is now called Chinese Imari. |
| chinoiserie | When Chinese porcelain imports became the rage in Europe, European potters started imitating Chinese designs. Chinoiserie is European porcelain decorated in with a Chinese-style pattern. |
| chip | Term used for a spot of any size where a piece of the rim, foot or edge is "chipped" off. Sometimes a crack is associated with the chip, diminishing the item's value further. |
| clay | Base material for both pottery and porcelain |
| crack | A crack is a break going through both glaze and ceramic body. |
| crazing, craze lines | These are not serious faults diminishing the value of antiques. Crazing develops naturally with age or due to environmental conditions. The craze lines are present only in the glaze. Some kilns in China were specialized on crazed glazes that covered the whole ceramic body. The effect is obtained by adding some mineral element(s) to the glaze. |
| Dehua | Dehua kilns is better known for its pure white porcelain, especially for figurines and libation cups, etc. However, it made initially greenish white porcelain and also underglaze blue porcelain during the Song dynasty. In the Ming dynasty its production shifted and its main products were the white porcelain known as blanc-de-chine. Later, during the Qing dynasty blue-and-white and porcelain with color decorations was added. |
| doucai | Doucai combines the underglaze blue-and-white with an overglaze polychrome decoration. |
| dragon | Mythical Animal |
| eight immortals | Figures from Chinese folklore |
| enamel | Enamelled porcelain has usually an overglaze decoration layer that is thicker and often less smooth to the touch than other overglaze decorations. |
| encre-de-chine | Means Indian ink (aka Chinese ink). Decoration drawn mostly in black lines, rather like a drawing. |
| fencai | Overglaze decoration in less bright colors. |
| firing fault | Defect of body or glaze that develops during the firing process in the kiln. |
| Fitzhugh pattern | Named after a director of the British East India Company whos is thought to have ordered a dinner service with this pattern first.. |
| flea bite | Originally used to describe a minute chip that is so small that it is hardly visible. Today this term is frequently used by sellers for small chips of any size to diminish its seriousness. |
| folk kiln | see private kiln |
| foo dogs (lions) | Called "lions" in Chinese, these guardian lions come always in a pair and stand to the left and right of entrances. Usually, one is male and the other female. |
| frit, frittings | Terms for minute chips. |
| glaze | The glaze is a vitreous substance applied to the surface of ceramics. This results in a shiny layer and is usually subjected to a second firing at a higher temperature than the bisque. It has both decorative and practical purposes. This makes the ceramic body harder and prevents penetration of water into the porous clay. The glaze can be monochromous or transparent. |
| glaze contraction | Small spot where the glaze is concave or not covering the clay body. The cause is a fatty or oily substance adhering to the clay surface. When the glaze is applied it cannot cover the clay at this spot, which then evaporizes during the firing process, leaving no glaze on the ceramic body at this spot. |
| glaze line | A glaze line is a very thin crack inf the glaze, that does not penetrate the ceramic body. It may be very faint and glaze lines are often visible only if viewed at an angle under the right lighting conditions. Glaze lines can develop after firing, when clay and glaze cool at a different speed. |
| glaze skip | Small area where the clay was not covered completely by the glaze before firing. |
| graviata | see roller-knife decoration |
| grisaille | A decoration of mainly in tones of gray, presenting an appearance with more shades than "encre-de-chine"; with few exceptions mostly used in export porcelain. |
| Guanyao | Official kiln, imperial kiln – kiln producing ceramics for the palace (only the official kiln in Jingdezhen was called Yuyao) |
| hairline | A hairline is a very fine crack that is often difficult to detect, visually, unless the right lighting conditions are present. It can be difficult to tell if it goes through to the other side and often it is easier to detect hairlines by moving a finger nail over the surface. |
| high-fired | Ceramics fired at a high temperature (1200°), usually porcelain |
| Imari | The Ming sea prohibition prevented the export of the porcelain so much desired in Europe. Japan's porcelain manufacurers soon were able to fill the gap and provided the porcelain instead. The export was effected from the port of Imari in Japan, hence the name. |
| imperial kiln | see official kiln |
| Japanese Imari | Porcelain made in Japan and exported from the port of Imari. |
| Jingdezhen | China's porcelain capital with a history of more than a thousand years. |
| Kaolin | Kaolin clay was first used in a place called (in Mandarin) Gaoling (Kaoling). |
| Kendi | Ritual water vessel with long spout |
| kiln system | In a kiln system there is a main kiln producing certain types of porcelain, and a number of other smaller kilns that produce the same type. |
| Kraak | Kraak is a type of blue-and-white Ming dynasty porcelain that the Dutch exported to Europe. |
| Laughing Buddha | The Laughing Buddha is known as Budai Heshang to Chinese people. He is always depicted with a big belly, and sometimes with a sack. He was a Buddhist monk of the 10th century. "Budai" means "cloth sack" and "Heshang" is "monk" in the Chinese language. It is said that he was always seen carrying a sack. Many Chinese believe he was an incarnation of the Boddhisattva Maitreya. |
| Low-fired | Ceramics fired at a low temperature (600-800 |
| Mille fleur, mille fiori | (French/Italian) Thousand flowers, a decoration where the whole face is covered in flowers, without showing the ground. (Chinese name: 百花不落地) |
| Ming sea prohibition | During the years from 1550 thru 1578 the Ming court prohibited all activities on sea, effectively closing China off and stopping all foreign trade. |
| Minyao | Private kiln (or folk kiln) |
| monochrome | single-color |
| nib, nibbles, nicks | Terms describing very small chips |
| nyonya | see Peranakan |
| official kiln | Kiln producing solely for palace use. The official kiln in Jingezhen was called (Yuyao) imperial kiln. |
| overglaze | (also on-glaze) Refers to a decoration painted on top of the glaze |
| Peranakan | Peranakan is a name for the early Chinese immigrants in the Malacca straits area, and also for their unique culture. Chinese porcelain made for the Straits-Chinese has its own unique color designs. |
| Petunse | see Beitunzi |
| polychrome | multicolored |
| porcelain | Ceramic body produced from Kaolin clay and fired at a high temperature |
| porcelain mark | Also "china mark"; these marks have mostly a different purpose than the logo-type marks applied to European porcelain. See section on marks. |
| pottery | Pottery is the earliest form of all ceramics. It uses non-Kaolin clays and is more porous than porcelain. |
| private kiln | Produced pottery and porcelain for export and the general population. |
| qianjiang | A style of decoration imitating the traditional Chinese water-color paintings. Mostly in less bright colors. |
| qilin | Mythical Animal |
| qingbai | Ceramics of a color between green and white. Some very pale celadon glazes may appear green only in recesses where more glaze accumulates. |
| restoration | Repair and/or re-decoration of an antique |
| roller knife decoration | (graviata) A decoration finely incised with a roller knife on the base color of a piece of porcelain. |
| rose medallion | This is a type of export porcelain with pink roses in the decoration. Usually it has several "windows" along the circumference and a central circle, all with decorations. |
| Ru Ding | Some wares are glazed on the bottom side and have no foot(ring). Instead they have usually up to five small protruding points on which the porcelain item stands when fired. |
| sancai | Sancai means ” tri-color” in the Chinese language. This type of decoration is famous for its use on the pottery of the Tang dynasty and the Liao dynasty. |
| Sgraffito | Scratched decoration |
| shipwreck porcelain | Ceramics recovered from the wrecks of sunken trading ships, mostly in the Far East and South East Asia. See shipwreck ceramics |
| spectrum analysis | Spectrum analysis or spectral analysis uses the emission ray spectre to analyze the elements contained in the clay. |
| staple repair | As high-quality glues were not available in the past, old time pottery and porcelain was repaired using staples. Holes were drilled on both sides of the break to insert the staples which hold the broken edges together. |
| Swatow ware (aka Zhangzhou ware) | Wares exported mainly in the late Ming dynasty. However, Swatow (now Shantou City) in southeast China was not the production site of these Swatow wares. The kilns were located in Zhangzhou, Fujian province. |
| rose medallion | A typical export decoration for the western taste. The colorful patterns contain many pink roses in circles or without. |
| temple jar | The temple jar first appeared during the Jiajing and Wanli reigns of the Ming dynasty as urns for monks’ ashes. The Chinese name for Temple Jar means General Jar. Oddly, both seem to have the name from the shape of the lid. The western name probably coming from a similarity to the shape of a temple roof while the Chinese name is taken from the similarity to a warrior general's hat or helmet of old. |
| Thai ceramics | At some time there were important kilns in present day Thailand. There were kilns which produced ceramics very similar to those made in China. It is likely that during the Ming sea prohibition many Chinese kiln workers emmigrated to South East Asia to find work as these kilns continued to produce porcelain for export during the Ming sea prohibition, which effectively prevented exports from China. |
| thermo-luminescence analysis | Thermo-luminescence analysis is currently the most widely used scientific authentication method for ceramics. It is not very suitable for thin porcelain, however. |
| transitional | The transitional style porcelain is a decoration style produced from the end of the Ming dynasty until the early Kangxi period. This style is neither typical for the Ming nor the Qing dynasty. It is probable the result of the upheavals before the fall of the Ming until after the establishment of the Qing court as kilns may have been unable to operate normally during those times. |
| underglaze | Refers to the decoration being painted on the ware before the glaze is applied. |
| V.O.C. | Abbreviation for the Dutch East India Company |
| Vietnamese ceramics | Vietnam (Annam) was a major pottery and porcelain producer and exporter in the region |
| wucai | Wucai means ”five colors”; that explains it all. It is an early polychrome decoration with limited colors. |
| zhadao decoration | see roller-knife decoration (graviata) |
Bilingual Ceramic Damage and Condition Terms
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