Dobrovits Aladár szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 1. (Budapest, 1954)

Idegennyelvű kivonatok

Some blue and white porcelain from the transition period and K'ang Hsi time in the Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts Tibor Horváth Thé porcelain is quite well represented in our Chinese collection, although Francis Hopp, the founder of the Museum, had a preference for bronzes, cloisonnés, and jades. Nevertheless, what he had collected on his trips to The Far East, were not much in quantity, but of very good quality. By later additions, trough the bequest of István Delhaes and by purchases, this Hopp collection has grown larger and has become more representative in the last few years, when the Oriental ceramics were transferred from the Museum of Arts to our Museum. With this material we also received the major part of the Vincze Wartha'

s collection, belonging originally to the Polytechnicum of Budapest. Vincze Wartha (the professor of Chemical Technics pf that institution) worked mostly in the field of ceramics, collaborating closely with Vilmos Zsolnay. The invention and application of eozin, a kind of special glaze, is due to their efforts. Vincze Wartha's collection is of special interest, since he went in as much for the representation of technics as for buying representative pieces. It is a pity therefore, that porcelains from the Chinese collection of our Museum are, except for a very few, still unpublished. This time I have selected some of the blue and white pieces from the period of Transition and from the reign of K'ang Hsi, which could be interesting for art historians and experts of Chinese pottery and porcelain. The term. „The Transitional Period between the Ming and the Ch'ing Dynasties" was used first by Fr. Perzynski.i He dated this period as: 1620 — 60,2 partly helped by dating possibilities of pieces mounted in Europe, Following Edward Dillon,

3 he added some more names to the list of Netherlands' painters of still life who put Chinese blue porcelains into their pictures. To characterize this group, I quote Fr. Perzynski.

4 After 1619 „the internal troubles compelled the porcelain factories, which had before employed so many hands, either to close their works or to depend on the orders of foreigners, Persians, Indians, Portughese and Dutchmen. Deference to the taste of Western consumers is evident in the flora now used by preference for ornament and in the change from a perfectly free realistic manner of drawing to a very strict decorative style". R. L. Hobson, who accepted the views of Prezynsky summarized this group of blue and white family as „of a strong build suitable for export and of good material, with a clear white body often left unglazed on a flat base. The glaze is thick and rather bubbly, and the blue is of a bright violet tone, which seen under the bubbly glaze suggested the graphic simile violets in milk. The decoration, too, has frequently repeated characteristics which seem to indicate the use of a set of patterns. A common type is a figure scene, set in a landscape with a wall of rocks emerging from swirling clouds and grass expressed in a mannered fashion by a series of V-shaped strokes. Borders of stiff leaves, rolling foliage, and a formal plant design suggestive of a tulip are further traits by which this transition ware can be recognized".

5 In his Handbook

6 the writes, „Chinese ceramic histores are virtually silent on the period between Wan Li and K'ang Hsi, viz. 1620—62. It may be that the Imperial factory was neglected during these troubled times. At any rate, there was no progress to record, and we are left to find out for ourselves the characteristics of the wares of this intermediate period." W. B. Honey in his The Ceramic Art of China and other countries of the Far East

7 talks about this group as .,

towards the middle of the 17th century an entirely new type of blue and white made its appearence." N. Ottema brings up this period to 1860. „Düring the sixty years between 1620 and 1680 we can hardly take any account of the Imperial Porcelain factories. The only porcelain during that time which can be ascribed with any certainty to Chingte Chen is the fine blue and white porcelain, which is exclusively a product manufactured for export in private kilns."« S. Jenyns went a little step further up. „The period of transition between the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties can be said to run from the death of the Ming Emperor Wan Li in 1620 to the appointment ok Ts'ang Yin-hsüan as director of the Imperial factori in the twentyfirst year of K'ang-Hsi in 1683."° We could see that practically no difficulties arise to separate the wares of the transition period from the Wan Li pieces. On the other hand it is not so easy to follow the end of it, being transformed into the definitive K'ang Hsi style.