Cantonese enamel first emerged in the Qing dynasty. It formed as Guangzhou artists developed their own
technique from Cloisonné (enamelware
with a metal body) to form a new
kind of porcelain specially painted and fired in the Guangzhou region. It
uses a white porcelain body usually imported from Jingdezhen, and then outline the picture and add the enamel glaze in Guangzhou [1]. Finally the glazed porcelain will be fired in a kiln at
around 800⁰C. It has a very distinctive and royal quality because of the use of
strong gold, red and green. Its compact composition which seldom leaves empty space and 織地 technique which is to imitate Chinese silk patterns in golden colors made Guangcai distinctive.
At first Cantonese enamel wares used Chinese imagery like Manchu
people (the main tribes in the Qing) and traditional pavilions,
but as western painting skills were introduced in later time, most of the Cantonese enamel became
export art and was tailor-made
for western favor. Hence it was well
received in the west but not in the local communities, because these enamel
wares was regarded as foreign goods which
did not satisfy the Chinese aesthetics of simplicity, elegancy or spiritual likeness.
Interestingly in
the modern age it is again praised for its spirit of innovation and revolution in Kwon-glazed porcelains.