Chenghua doucai porcelain

Timeline

1. 1465–1475Imperial Kiln Factory, Jingdezhen · JingdezhenThe Chenghua court reorganized the imperial kiln, outlining designs in delicate underglaze blue on pure white bodies, firing at about 1300°C, then filling in red, green, yellow, purple and other overglaze enamels and refiring at low temperature. Compared with the heavy, bleeding blue-and-white of the Xuande reign, Chenghua doucai pursued fine lines, thin bodies, and small vessels, suiting the court's taste for delicate everyday and display wares.
2. 1475–1487Imperial Kiln Factory, Jingdezhen · JingdezhenIn the later Chenghua reign the imperial kiln fired small pieces such as chicken cups, high-footed grape-motif cups, and children-at-play cups. The chicken cup's outer wall depicts a hen and chicks pecking at food, interspersed with Chinese roses, orchids, and lake rocks, with a mouth diameter of about eight centimeters, and is regarded by later ages as the representative doucai piece. Strict selection meant very few finished pieces survived; unfinished excavations at the Zhushan site prove the process of blue-and-white first, then enamel filling. The Chenghua emperor died in 1487, and this peak ended with the era name.
3. 1573Beijing court and Jingdezhen kilns · ChinaThe Wanli Veritable Records and literati notes list the Chenghua doucai chicken cup as the finest of wine vessels. The Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong imperial kilns of the Qing dynasty produced imitations of Chenghua doucai by imperial command; the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the Palace Museum in Beijing, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art still hold both originals and imitations. Modern archaeology and scientific testing further distinguish Chenghua originals from later copies, making doucai a standard reference in Ming and Qing ceramic history.