White Porcelain as a canvas

White porcelain serves as a canvas for potters. Its clean white surface provides a wonderful background for paintings. Iron oxide and cobalt oxide were commonly used as pigments. Both can withstand the high firing temperatures of around 1,200°C and produce distinctive colors in the glaze.

Iron oxide pigment is well suited for expressing the light and shadow found in natural subjects. It can preserve variations in tone within a brushstroke, creating an effect that resembles natural variations in light and shadow. Bamboo and orchids are common subjects in paintings on white porcelain, partly because variations in tone can make these natural subjects appear more lifelike.

In contrast, cobalt oxide pigment produces more vivid colors, giving paintings a sharper and more vibrant appearance. It tends to show less subtle variation in tone than iron oxide because even a small amount of cobalt can produce an intense blue. The striking contrast between the blue pigment and the white surface made blue-and-white porcelain especially appealing as a luxury ware.

Creating a clean white surface required considerable work. Potters had to remove impurities from white clay mined from clay deposits. Snow-white porcelain was therefore the product of skilled and labor-intensive craftsmanship. Graceful shapes, clean white surfaces, variations in tone, and vivid colors are some of the main features we can appreciate in white porcelain.