When East Meets West: Aesthetics of the Qianlong Era

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Aisin Gioro Hongli became the sixth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty at the age of 25 and stayed on the throne for 60 years. He adopted the era name "Qianlong" which means "Lasting Eminence". As a capable and cultured ruler inheriting a thriving empire, during Qianlong’s long reign the Qing Empire reached its most splendid and prosperous era, boasting a large population and economy. The Qianlong Aesthetics, extravagant, glamorous and lavish, also showed the prosperity of the ‘Celestial Empire’.
 
In the 18thCentury, Westerners brought Baroque and Rococo arts into China. Qianlong, who were open to Western culture, combined the western styles with his own aesthetics and greatly encouraged the development of a unique style merging Chinese and European aesthetics, which was shown in clothing, jewellery and porcelains. 
 
Yangcai, which literally means ‘Western colours’, was a new term created by the porcelain supervisor. According to Porcelain Supervisor Tang Ying, ‘Yangcai porcelains imitates Western enamels, that’s why they are named ‘Yangcai.’ Whether they are figures, landscape, blossoms or birds, they are all delicately drawn with paint the same as the one for enamels.’ 
 
The West had not only introduced new paint and colours, but also novel styles and decoration, which was demonstrated in the innovation of imperial porcelains of Qing Dynasty. 
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A light-blue ground yangcai ‘rosette’ vase, Qianlong mark and period
 
The globular body rising from a flared foot to rounded shoulders, surmounted by a waisted neck surmounted by a 'garlic-bulb' mouth, painted exquisitely in bright enamels all against a light-blue ground, the neck decorated with two small stylised handles, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark. 
 
Emperor Qianlong ordered the court artisans to do their best to innovate. Yangcai's new technique of "adding the icing on the cake" is the first time in the history of the development of Chinese porcelain that it can show a dazzling pattern like brocade, with delicate and soft effects, rich and noble. Yangcai used Western light and dark shadow perspective to depict the ornamentation. The Chinese and Western painting traditions blended together. This technique won the favor of Emperor Qianlong.
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"Palace Imperial Poetry" is one of the great features of Qianlong's foreign colored vessels. Emperor Qianlong often wrote poems and praises for foreign colored vessels, which shows the emperor's love and attention to this kind of instruments.
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Qianlong was especially fond of cloisonnes. In addition to ordering mass production of them, he also asked his craftsmen to make porcelains imitating cloisonnes. Later generations inherited Qianlong craftsmanship and created several fine faux cloisonnes, which were especially typical in the Daoguang years.
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A turquoise-ground famille-rose cloisone-type vase, Daoguang mark and period

the well-potted ovoid body rising from a short splayed foot to a tall waisted neck and flaring rim, the neck flanked by a pair of handles with gilt highlights, the exterior of the ovoid body finely enamelled and gilt against the turquoise ground with lotus, ‘shou’ character, peaches and red bats together as a symbol of fortune and longevity, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark.
 
The colour is exquisite, and the degree of delicateness is no less than that of Qianlong imperial porcelains. This fresh and elegant decoration makes it stand out. 
With colourful tones, beautiful and fresh artistic style, refined and ingenious craftsmanship, rich and diverse patterns, this vase represents the luxurious elegance of pastels in the Qing Dynasty.
 
Such exquisite aesthetics benefits from two aspects. One is the choice of colour. The vase is painted in green turquoise. The colour is quite delicate and elegant, which makes the colour tone of the entire vase to be clear. The other is the decoration, namely the combination of colours and patterns. This vase is rich in colours, most of them are lighter ones. They form a natural combination, making the vase glamorous and beautiful.
图片
Aisin Gioro Hongli became the sixth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty at the age of 25 and stayed on the throne for 60 years. He adopted the era name "Qianlong" which means "Lasting Eminence". As a capable and cultured ruler inheriting a thriving empire, during Qianlong’s long reign the Qing Empire reached its most splendid and prosperous era, boasting a large population and economy. The Qianlong Aesthetics, extravagant, glamorous and lavish, also showed the prosperity of the ‘Celestial Empire’.
 
In the 18thCentury, Westerners brought Baroque and Rococo arts into China. Qianlong, who were open to Western culture, combined the western styles with his own aesthetics and greatly encouraged the development of a unique style merging Chinese and European aesthetics, which was shown in clothing, jewellery and porcelains. 
 
Yangcai, which literally means ‘Western colours’, was a new term created by the porcelain supervisor. According to Porcelain Supervisor Tang Ying, ‘Yangcai porcelains imitates Western enamels, that’s why they are named ‘Yangcai.’ Whether they are figures, landscape, blossoms or birds, they are all delicately drawn with paint the same as the one for enamels.’ 
 
The West had not only introduced new paint and colours, but also novel styles and decoration, which was demonstrated in the innovation of imperial porcelains of Qing Dynasty. 
图片
A light-blue ground yangcai ‘rosette’ vase, Qianlong mark and period
 
The globular body rising from a flared foot to rounded shoulders, surmounted by a waisted neck surmounted by a 'garlic-bulb' mouth, painted exquisitely in bright enamels all against a light-blue ground, the neck decorated with two small stylised handles, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark. 
 
Emperor Qianlong ordered the court artisans to do their best to innovate. Yangcai's new technique of "adding the icing on the cake" is the first time in the history of the development of Chinese porcelain that it can show a dazzling pattern like brocade, with delicate and soft effects, rich and noble. Yangcai used Western light and dark shadow perspective to depict the ornamentation. The Chinese and Western painting traditions blended together. This technique won the favor of Emperor Qianlong.
图片
 
"Palace Imperial Poetry" is one of the great features of Qianlong's foreign colored vessels. Emperor Qianlong often wrote poems and praises for foreign colored vessels, which shows the emperor's love and attention to this kind of instruments.
图片
 
Qianlong was especially fond of cloisonnes. In addition to ordering mass production of them, he also asked his craftsmen to make porcelains imitating cloisonnes. Later generations inherited Qianlong craftsmanship and created several fine faux cloisonnes, which were especially typical in the Daoguang years.
 图片
A turquoise-ground famille-rose cloisone-type vase, Daoguang mark and period

the well-potted ovoid body rising from a short splayed foot to a tall waisted neck and flaring rim, the neck flanked by a pair of handles with gilt highlights, the exterior of the ovoid body finely enamelled and gilt against the turquoise ground with lotus, ‘shou’ character, peaches and red bats together as a symbol of fortune and longevity, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark.
 
The colour is exquisite, and the degree of delicateness is no less than that of Qianlong imperial porcelains. This fresh and elegant decoration makes it stand out. 
With colourful tones, beautiful and fresh artistic style, refined and ingenious craftsmanship, rich and diverse patterns, this vase represents the luxurious elegance of pastels in the Qing Dynasty.
 
Such exquisite aesthetics benefits from two aspects. One is the choice of colour. The vase is painted in green turquoise. The colour is quite delicate and elegant, which makes the colour tone of the entire vase to be clear. The other is the decoration, namely the combination of colours and patterns. This vase is rich in colours, most of them are lighter ones. They form a natural combination, making the vase glamorous and beautiful.

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