Art Institute of Chicago

Pair of Teabowls with Bamboo

China

Date

Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Yongzheng reign mark and period (1723–1735)

Medium

Porcelain painted in underglaze blue and overglaze enamels (doucai)

Culture

China

Department

Arts of Asia

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

These eggshell-thin bowls represent an exquisite example of the technique known as doucai (dovetailing or contending colors), in which underglaze-blue outlines are partly filled with overglaze enamel colors. Outlines of bamboo were painted in cobalt and covered with a transparent glaze before firing. The leaves were then colored with pale green, yellow, and red enamels, and the bowls refired at a lower temperature. Bamboo, which remains green throughout the year and whose hollow stems bend without breaking, has traditionally been viewed in China as a poignant image of human resilience. The elegant depiction of nature on these teabowls was undoubtedly inspired by China’s long tradition of bamboo paintings on silk and paper.

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