Blue and white porcelain

It is one of the decorative techniques for ceramics, and also refers to the product. It has a blue-and-blue design on a white background, and is called Qinghua (or Yurisei) in China, Qinghua white porcelain in Korea, and blue and white or underglazed blue in English. It is a decorative ceramic ware in which a design is painted with a brush on the surface of a white base vessel using a pigment mainly composed of cobalt oxide called Gosu (gosu) or Chawanyaku (both in Japan) or Kaikaiqing (China and Korea), and then a transparent glaze is applied on top and it is fired with a strong reducing flame (1300-1350℃).

It is believed that the world's first blue and white porcelain was invented in either China or Persia. It is certain that in Persia, attempts were made to create blue and white pottery in the 9th century, using cobalt underglaze tin white glaze to create patterns, and it seems to have existed in China as early as the 10th century, but it cannot be said with certainty that it preceded Persia. Although Persia later used blue and white in parts of patterns, it did not see any major development, whereas in China, in the late Yuan dynasty in the 14th century, a groundbreaking innovation was developed at the Jingdezhen kilns in Jiangnan (Jiangxi Province), which developed blue and white porcelain in which clear blue patterns stood out clearly against a pure white porcelain base. This is what is commonly known as "Original Blue and White Porcelain," and its charm of using glazes (such as Sumari Chin) imported from West Asia to boldly yet meticulously depict motifs of dragons, lotus ponds with algae, and waves in a miniature style in deep blue, particularly attracted the attention of foreign nobles. It was exported to all parts of the world, not only the Orient but also as far west as East Africa, where it was very well received. Direct copies were soon made in Vietnam, and Seto kilns in Japan and Goryeo celadon kilns on the Korean Peninsula each produced copies of the shapes and patterns using traditional techniques, and Meshed kilns in Persia and Iznik kilns in Turkey have been actively imitating Jingdezhen kiln blue and white porcelain since the 16th century.

However, the blue and white porcelain made at Jingdezhen kilns during the Yuan dynasty was not highly acclaimed by Chinese literati or the imperial court, but it was not until the early 15th century during the Ming dynasty that the official kilns first produced it, and it became more stylized and was recognized as the official ware of the imperial court. From then on, blue and white porcelain became increasingly refined, acquiring intricacy and outstanding coloring, and became a representative presence of Chinese ceramics in both name and reality, and became the foundation of Ming and Qing ceramics.

The momentum for firing blue-and-white porcelain began in the Korean Peninsula in the mid-15th century during the Yi Dynasty. At the official kilns such as Gwangju Kilns (Gwangju County, Gyeonggi Province), which were already skilled in producing white porcelain, court painters or painters specializing in painting were certainly involved in painting blue-and-white porcelain by the early 16th century, but it seems that initially it was extremely difficult to obtain the pigment hweiqing. Then, in the 17th century, the blue-and-white style with elegant designs unique to the Yi Dynasty, such as autumn grass patterns, was perfected.

In Japan, at the beginning of the 17th century, Imari ware (Arita, Saga Prefecture) was the first to produce blue-and-white porcelain, inspired by the Chinese blue-and-white porcelain that had been imported up until that point. This early blue-and-white porcelain is called "Early Imari" and is highly regarded for its bold and charming designs. When exports to Europe began in 1659 (Manji 2), pottery techniques were further refined and Japanese and Chinese blue-and-white styles were established. Production then began at the Nabeshima clan kilns, in Kyoto, Seto, and other places, and by the late Edo period, porcelain was being fired all over the country.

In Europe, following the techniques of West Asian blue and white pottery, blue and white porcelain was invented in Italian majolica ware and the Delft kilns in the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries, and from the second half of the 18th century full-scale porcelain firing began, becoming one of the pillars of modern pottery.

[Yoshiaki Yabe]

"Complete Collection of World Ceramics 14: Ming" edited by Ryoichi Fujioka and Rakuji Hasebe (1976, Shogakukan) " "Treasures of Japanese Art 26: Blue and White Porcelain and Overglaze Porcelain" by Yoshiaki Yabe (1980, Shogakukan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

陶磁器の装飾技法の一つで、その製品をもさす。白地に藍青(らんせい)色の絵文様のあるもので、中国では青花(チンホワ)（または釉裏青(ゆりせい)）とよび、朝鮮半島では青華白磁、英語ではblue and whiteまたはunderglazed blueと称する。白色胎の器面に筆で呉須(ごす)・茶碗(ちゃわん)薬（以上日本）、あるいは回々(かいかい)青（中国・朝鮮半島）とよばれる酸化コバルトを主成分とする顔料で文様を描き、その上に透明釉(ゆう)をかけ、強力な還元炎（1300～1350℃）で焼成した加飾陶磁器である。

　世界で初めて染付を発明したのは中国、ペルシアのいずれかとみられている。ペルシアでは9世紀に錫(すず)白釉の釉下にコバルトで文様を表す染付陶器が試みられたことは確実であり、中国では10世紀には存在していたようだが、ペルシアに先行すると断定することはできない。ペルシアではその後文様の一部に染付を用いることはあっても、大きな発展がみられなかったのに対し、中国では14世紀の元(げん)代後期に画期的なくふうが江南の景徳鎮(けいとくちん)窯（江西省）で進められ、純良の白磁胎に清冽(せいれつ)な青の文様がくっきりと浮かび上がる染付磁器が開発された。俗に「元の染付」とよばれるものがそれで、西アジア伝来の釉薬（蘇麻離青(スマリチン)など）を使って細密画風に竜、蓮池(れんち)藻魚、波濤(はとう)などの文様を大胆かつ細心に濃藍で表す魅力は、とくに外国の貴紳に注目された。東洋はもちろん、西は東アフリカに至る世界各地に輸出されて大好評を博した。ベトナムではすぐその直模が行われ、日本では瀬戸窯が、朝鮮半島では高麗青磁(こうらいせいじ)の窯が、それぞれ従来の技法で形や文様をまねたものをつくりだし、ペルシアのメシェド窯やトルコのイズニーク窯では、16世紀になってから景徳鎮窯の染付磁器を盛んに模倣している。

　しかし元代につくられた景徳鎮窯の染付磁器は、当の中国では文人や宮中で高い評価を得ることもなく、明(みん)代の15世紀初頭に初めて官窯が手を染めてから様式化も進み、宮廷御器として認知された。以後いよいよ洗練されて精妙さと卓抜な発色を得た染付磁器は、名実ともに中国陶磁の代表的存在となり、明清(みんしん)陶磁の基幹となった。

　朝鮮半島で染付磁器を焼造する気運がおこるのは、李朝(りちょう)の15世紀中ごろである。すでに白磁づくりに習熟していた官窯の広州窯（京畿(けいき)道広州郡）などでは、16世紀初頭までには確かに宮廷画師か絵付専門の絵師が染付磁器の絵付に携わるようになっているが、当初は顔料の回々青の入手に困難を極めたようである。そして17世紀には、秋草文などに代表される李朝独特の清雅な絵模様の染付様式が完成した。

　日本では17世紀の初めごろ、それまで輸入されていた中国の染付磁器に刺激されて伊万里(いまり)焼（佐賀県有田町）が初めて染付磁器を手がけた。この初期の染付は「初期伊万里」とよばれ、その雄渾(ゆうこん)で愛憐(あいれん)な絵模様の評価は高い。1659年（万治2）にヨーロッパ輸出が開始されると、陶技は一段と洗練され、和様と中国様の染付様式も確立され、ついで鍋島(なべしま)藩窯、京都、瀬戸などでも製作が始まり、江戸後期には全国各地で焼かれるようになった。

　ヨーロッパでは西アジアの染付陶器の技法を受けて、イタリアのマジョリカ焼やオランダのデルフト窯において陶胎染付が16～17世紀にくふうされ、18世紀後半からは本格的な磁器焼成が始められて近代陶芸の一つの柱となった。

［矢部良明］

『藤岡了一・長谷部楽爾編『世界陶磁全集14　明』（1976・小学館）』▽『矢部良明著『名宝日本の美術26　染付と色絵磁器』（1980・小学館）』

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