Falangcai and Fencai in Qing Dynasty Porcelain
Falangcai and Fencai in Chinese Porcelain
A pair of Imperial quails and chrysanthemum bowls from the Yongzheng period led a Chinese works of art sale at Bonhams New York more than five years ago. The estimate stood at US$300,000 to 500,000. The auction house described the pair as a combination of falangcai and fencai. So, what is falangcai? What is fencai? Why call the bowls a mix of both? This guide explains the relationship based on the history of falangcai porcelain.
What Falangcai Means in Qing Dynasty Porcelain
Falangcai means foreign colours. The term refers to porcelains painted inside the imperial workshops of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The enamels used were partly introduced from the West. Production began in the thirty-fifth year of the Kangxi reign, which is 1696. Falangcai wares were made only for the imperial court and the royal family. Output stayed limited because costs were high.
Rarity and Value of Falangcai Porcelain
Falangcai porcelains rank among the rarest and most dazzling ceramic wares of the Qing dynasty from 1644 to 1911. Collectors and connoisseurs still chase these pieces in the current market. Top examples at auction can reach around HK 100 million or HK 200 million. That is about US$13 million or 25 million.
From Cloisonne Enamel to Falangcai Porcelain
Falangcai first appeared in Chinese porcelain through enamelled cloisonne ware. In China, enamel carries the generic name fa lan. Artisans applied enamel on the surface of a metal-bodied vessel. Falangcai porcelain developed out of this enamelled cloisonne tradition.
Imperial Workshops and Jingdezhen Kilns
Most imperial wares of the Qing dynasty were fired in Jingdezhen kilns in Jiangxi province. Falangcai followed a different path. The production process was more complex. Court painters created the designs for falangcai porcelain. Officials selected white pottery from the finest Jingdezhen output. Workers then shipped the blanks to the imperial workshop inside the Forbidden City in Beijing. Painting, decoration, colouring, and firing all took place at court. The artisans used falangcai enamels imported from the West. The semi-opaque vitreous quality of these enamels added depth to the designs. The surface shows rich shades of colour that reveal multiple layers of paint on falangcai porcelains.
How Falangcai and Fencai Relate on Imperial Bowls
The Yongzheng bowls were described as a combination of falangcai and fencai. The description points to how imperial enamel painting could merge palettes on Chinese porcelain. The sections above set out the falangcai side of that pairing and the court process behind it.
Falangcai Innovation in the Yongzheng Period
Falangcai advanced during the Yongzheng reign from 1723 to 1735. The imperial workshop in the Forbidden City kept importing Western enamels. It also pushed research and created new enamel recipes in China. Craftsmen refined kiln technology through constant work with export enamels. By the sixth year of Yongle, the court studio produced new colours that did not exist in the imported palette. This phase shaped Qing dynasty porcelain with brighter enamel painting and richer surface depth.
What Fencai or Famille Rose Means
Fencai means soft colours. It matches the famille rose palette in Chinese porcelain. Fencai grew out of falangcai during the mid Kangxi period. Artisans mixed the enamels with iron powder and a material called poli bai, which means glass white. The opaque enamel allowed smooth blending. Painters could build many shades and tones on a single bowl or vase. Famille rose enamelware opened a wider range of colours and tone than earlier palettes. Artists could render complex images with flowers, figures, birds, and insects in lifelike detail.
How to Tell Falangcai from Fencai
Falangcai and famille rose often look alike. Both use opaque enamels that read soft and dense to the eye. The difference is hard to judge from photos. Experts handle the porcelain to feel the surface and study the tiny changes in colour. In many cases, falangcai appears on smaller imperial ware with motifs that belong only to that palette. Marks also help. Falangcai porcelain carries a unique imperial mark with a rough surface. That differs from the standard mark and period seen on blue and white porcelain and on most other wares.
Why Some Yongzheng Bowls Blend Falangcai and Fencai
The Imperial quails and chrysanthemum bowls from the Yongzheng period are classic famille rose porcelain with six-character Yongzheng marks and of the period. The auction house called them a mix of falangcai and fencai. The reason is the falangcai enamel used in the brown and ochre feathering of the quail on the present bowls. Those falangcai touches lift the visual depth and increase rarity when compared with other famille rose ware from the same era.
A Comparable Yongzheng Famille Rose Quail Bowl
A Yongzheng famille rose bowl sold at Poly Auction in Beijing last year shows a similar composition. Two quails stand before rock work, and the birds are rendered in falangcai. The piece is also a famille rose bowl with partial falangcai enamel. This mix shows how Qing dynasty porcelain artists combined palettes to reach finer colour effects.
Quail Symbolism in Qing Dynasty Porcelain
Quail is a popular theme in Chinese porcelain. In Chinese, the word for quail, an chun, sounds like an, which means security, safety, and peace. A bowl with quails signals a wish for stability and harmony. It reflects Emperor Yongzheng’s hope for a peaceful realm and contented people. This is typical of auspicious motifs in Chinese ceramics.
Auction Highlights and Provenance Details
The pair of Imperial famille rose quails and chrysanthemum bowls with Yongzheng six-character marks and of the period appears as Lot 522. The diameter is 9.5 cm. Provenance traces to Virginia Hobart, born 1876 and died 1958, and then by descent. The estimate is US$300,000 to 500,000.
A magnificent and massive pair of huanghuali inlaid hat chests appears as Lot 512 from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century. The size is 158.8 cm. Provenance includes an American Northwest private collection and an American Southern California private collection. The estimate is US$200,000 to 300,000.
A rare Junyao moon white glazed numbered narcissus bowl appears as Lot 526 from the early Ming dynasty. The diameter is 22 cm. Provenance traces to Virginia Hobart, born 1876 and died 1958, and then by descent. The estimate is US$80,000 to 120,000.
A very rare gold and silver inlaid double Phoenix vase, zun form, appears as Lot 501 from the Ming dynasty. The height is 17.2 cm. Provenance is the Gertrude Strong Achilles Collection. She was the daughter of Henry Alvah Strong of Rochester, NY, President of Eastman Kodak Company from 1880 to 1919, and the piece then passed by descent. The estimate is US$40,000 to 60,000.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong 2018 Spring Auctions Chinese Art Results
On the final day of the 2018 spring auctions in Hong Kong, Sotheby’s staged a strong lineup of important Chinese art sales. The morning opened with a notable single lot auction of a rediscovered Imperial painting by Qian Weicheng that realized HK$146 million. Two more single-lot sessions followed. One centered on a Kangxi pink ground falangcai bowl. The other focused on Xuande Illuminated Wisdom Sutras. Each of those sales crossed HK$200 million.
Kangxi Falangcai Bowl and Xuande Sutras Lead the Auction
The Kangxi pink ground falangcai bowl drew intense interest. So did the Xuande Illuminated Wisdom Sutras. Both lots moved past the HK$200 million mark. Their momentum set the tone for the rest of the Chinese art auction in Hong Kong and underscored demand for Qing and Ming dynasty masterworks.
Leporello Albums of the Prajnaparamita Sutra Rarity and Estimate
Two sets of Leporello Albums of the Illuminated Wisdom Sutra from the Golden Age of Xuande entered with a pre-sale estimate of HK$90 million. This group represents the only surviving example in private hands, with the other known set housed at the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. The rarity helped frame the bidding climate and the price expectations for these Ming dynasty albums.
Buddhist Sutras, Imperial Patronage, and Artistic Quality
Buddhist Sutras are canonical scriptures that transmit the teachings of the Buddha. The texts came from India and were translated for Chinese readers. Copying and spreading these Sutras is considered a meritorious act, similar to commissioning Buddhist images. When an emperor sponsors such projects, the work typically reaches the highest standard. Materials are superior. Artists and craftsmen are the best available. The result is art of exceptional quality.
Xuande Emperor and Monk Huijin Commission in the Ming Dynasty
During the Ming dynasty, the Xuande Emperor, who ruled from 1426 to 1435 CE, appointed the esteemed monk Huijin to oversee a major copying initiative for four principal Buddhist Sutras. The two sets of albums offered here come from the Prajnaparamita Sutra, also known as the Sutra of Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom. They were produced during that imperial program and reflect the court’s devotion to religious art and textual preservation.
Liquid Gold on Indigo Paper Materials and Craft
The albums were executed in liquid gold on indigo colored goat brain ritual paper. The materials signal imperial standards and ceremonial use. The pairing of gold script and deep blue ground shows the refined taste of the early fifteenth-century court and the meticulous craft of Ming dynasty workshops.
Auction Bidding Details and Nicolas Chow’s Role
Bidding for the albums opened at HK$65 million and quickly reached HK$100 million. Most competitors bid by telephone. Many stepped back once the price rose to HK$170 million. That figure was offered by a telephone bidder represented by Nicolas Chow, Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia. The sequence captured the intensity of demand for top-tier Chinese art in the 2018 Hong Kong auctions.
Auction showdown and record sale for Buddhist manuscript
A gentleman at the back of the saleroom suddenly entered the bidding. The fight turned into a duel between him and a telephone bidder. The Imperial Wisdom Sutras were knocked down at HK 210 million and sold for HK 238.8 million with a premium. That set a new auction record for a Buddhist manuscript.
Kangxi pink ground falangcai bowl estimate and market focus
A pink ground falangcai bowl from the Kangxi period served as the centerpiece of Sotheby’s spring sales. The bowl carried a high pre-sale estimate of more than HK$200 million.
Why Kangxi falangcai is rare, according to Nicolas Chow
Nicolas Chow, Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, explained the scarcity in an interview with The Value. Kangxi falangcai came from an extremely limited production in an imperial workshop at Jingdezhen that was set up in 1690. The kilns were small. The enamelling staff was few. Output stayed low. Falangcai reached full maturity only near the end of the Kangxi era, so the production window was short.
Unique design, provenance, and museum history
This pink ground bowl is recorded only with this design. Only two closely related examples are known to survive. The present bowl once belonged to the collector Henry M. Knight. It then disappeared from the market for more than thirty years while in the collection of the Idemitsu Museum of Arts in Tokyo.
Only three pink ground falangcai bowls are known
There are only three known pieces with this color ground. The present bowl. One in the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. One was formerly owned by T. T. Tsui, the noted Hong Kong collector.
Bidding and final price for the Kangxi falangcai bowl
Bidding opened at HK 140 million and was quieter than expected. After seven bids, the auctioneer Henry Howard Sneyd set the hammer at HK 210 million, just above the pre-sale estimate. The pink bowl sold for HK 238 million with a premium to a client represented by Kevin Ching, CEO of Sotheby’s Asia.
