Imre Jakabffy (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 6. (Budapest, 1979)

KÁRPÁTI, Andrea: „Blanc de Chine" porcelain in the collection of the Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts

ANDREA KÁRPÁTI „BLANC DE CHINE" PORCELAIN IN THE COLLECTION OF THE FERENC HOPP MUSEUM OF EASTERN ASIATIC ARTS The white porcelain sculptures and vessels produced in the manufactories of Te-hua in Fukien Province are to be found in every important public or private collection in Europe. Inspite of this, P. J. Donnelly couldn't include in his book „Blanc de Chine"

1 the customary bibliography, for, as he points out, „No previous work on Chinese ceramics, Chinese or Western, has more than a page or so on our subject, and apart from the reports of the excavations at the kilns

... no specialist articles of substance are to be found."

2 Donnelly's work is the only scholarly description so far of the blanc de Chine pieces. The learned collector, who modestly calls himself a ,,connoisseur", spent 10 years studying blanc de Chine in Western public and private collections and in the „Porzellansammlung" of Dresden. Following his pioneer researches, it became possible and necessary to publish the material to be found in Eastern European museums, for the promotion of further study and critical evaluation. Before describing the pieces of our museum, we try to give a brief account on the history of blanc de Chine, according to Donnelly's studies. The French term, which was coined in the middle of the 19th century, is contemporary with such appellations as „famille verte", ,,

famille noire" and „famille rose", and also refers to the colour of the decoration of the ware. These „Chinese white" pieces are produced north of Amoy, in the province of Fukien, in the vicinity of Te-hua. With the coinage „blanc de Chine" the European connoisseur wanted to mark off the creamy white-glazed ware from the plaster-white, pallid porcelain of the European kilns. There were no imperial factories in Te-hua — which means a lack of chronicles, and of descriptions concerning the foundation of the kilns. Sutton assumes, that the production started in Sung-times, while Farley and Hobson date it from the Mingperiod''. Donnelly supposes that the kilns were founded in early Ming-times, and the best pieces were made between 1640 and 1740, that is to say, in the period when the porcelain export to Europe was at its height. As many of the wares made in Tehua found their way to the European collector, they can be dated with an approximation of 20—50 years, with the help of shipping lists, auction catalogues, inventories and metal supplements made in Eur93