There is a special category within Kangxi blue and white, namely ‘powder blue’ or “souffle blue”. This name refers to a specific technique used to decorate porcelain. Cobalt blue oxide was not brushed onto the surface of the dried object, but was blown onto it through a hollow pipe covered at the other end with a piece of gauze. After the object was glazed and fired, the surface showed small dots and bits of blue that suggest depth and create an interesting texture. Before being blown blue, panels and cartouches could be reserved by covering the surface with paper cutouts of the desired shape. The areas below were still white after firing and were then filled with enamelled decorations, usually of the famille verte type, sometimes in iron red, depicting birds, flowering plants, landscapes or figurative scenes. Gold could be added in a third firing process, but it has mostly worn out by now. Powder blue is rare after 1725. On display is a superb Chinese porcelain round plate. It is underglaze decorated in blown powder blue, both on the shelf and on the border. A square cartouche has been cut into the shelf through which the milky white pâte and glaze are visible. The transition is also left white, as well as four cartouches on the edge. These were then hand-painted overglaze and filled in with various enamels, including various shades of green, iron red, manganese, yellow and black. This is a so-called famille verte decor. For example, a landscape with mountains, pagoda and figures and the sun was painted in the square cartouche. In the cartouches on the edge we always see a floral decor, with a black and green dotted ladybird in two of them. Four leafy branches are painted in the elevation. Finally, scattered gilding was applied. On the powder blue, this gold is partly worn, although it is still well preserved. This wear is normal for the age of this sign. The back is glazed, except for the base ring. It’s not marked. This plate was made during the Kangxi Imperial period, ca. 1700.

Condition: baking flaw in the cover, tiny chips on the base ring, gold on powder blue partly worn. However, excellent state of preservation. Top work!