Eleven plates. China, 19th century

Set of 11 plates from the Rosa Family. Qing Dynasty. China, 19th century.
Glazed porcelain.
Measurements: 22.5 cm.
A set of eleven Chinese porcelain plates, decorated in the Cantonese Rose Family style, which were intended for export to Europe. Hand-painted, they feature flowers with large corollas, predominantly in shades of red, purple, green, and yellow on a white background. The Rose Family style originated in the late Kangxi period, named after the Qing dynasty emperor who reigned from 1662 to 1722. The new decorative style is based on the introduction of new glazes, the most famous of which is pink, which would give the style its name. Other new colors were also added, such as opaque yellow, white, and black—now used on its own (until then, to set the black glaze, it had to be covered with a glaze of another color, usually translucent green). Technically, the most important was opaque white, as it could be mixed with other glazes to achieve a wide range of pastel tones, in addition to allowing for a smooth tonal gradation that made it possible to successfully imitate Western painting. What defines the “Rosa Family,” therefore, is not the predominance of that color, but rather this new polychromy. The new style led to the abandonment of the previously dominant “Green Family,” characterized by the abundance of that color and the use of more watery glazes.