Editor's Note
This editor’s note highlights the key facts and market implications behind “Hong Kong Artist Cai Bugu Pioneers ‘New Undergla”, with emphasis on sourcing, product fit, fabrication, logistics, or buyer impact.
In ancient times, porcelain was not only a treasured plaything in imperial courts but was also exported worldwide, serving as a medium for foreigners to understand China. Among these exported porcelains, besides the well-known blue-and-white ware, the brilliantly colored underglaze polychrome porcelain was also highly favored by buyers. Liling in Hunan Province became famous in the late Qing and early Republican periods for pioneering 'underglaze polychrome porcelain.' Hong Kong painter and ceramic artist Cai Bugu has created 'New Underglaze Polychrome Porcelain,' inheriting traditional ceramics through innovative methods. Cai Bugu's work 'Peony Vase.' The artist's ceramic pieces are hand-painted, using exquisite craftsmanship to create 'New Underglaze Polychrome Porcelain.' Painter and ceramic artist Cai Bugu. Liling, Hunan, is one of China's five major ceramic export regions, known as the 'Porcelain City.' The local 'underglaze polychrome porcelain' is prized for its combination of fine body, glaze color, craftsmanship, form, and decoration. Its firing technique was inscribed on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2008. Cai Bugu's Master Building located in the China Ceramics Valley, Liling.
Pioneering New Underglaze Polychrome
Compared to other porcelains, Liling's underglaze polychrome porcelain has a relatively short history. During the late Qing period, it was led by Xiong Xiling, then Premier of the Republic of China and a native of Fenghuang, Hunan. He hired Japanese technicians and Jingdezhen masters, introducing the most advanced ceramic production techniques and equipment, initiating Liling's transition from coarse to fine porcelain production. Within just over a decade of initial firing, it won multiple international awards and gained worldwide fame. Artist Cai Bugu has specialized in ceramic art for many years. She established Cai Bugu's Master Building in the China Ceramics Valley in Liling, Hunan, where she trains graduate students in ceramics while also engaging in creation, research, and international ceramic academic exchanges. Drawing on the strengths of Eastern and Western ceramic art, absorbing the fine qualities of Jingdezhen's Yuan, Ming, and Qing imperial kilns, and integrating Liling's underglaze polychrome, she has pioneered the 'New Underglaze Polychrome' ceramic art category. To understand her ceramics, one can start by appreciating the colors and pigments, the beauty of the porcelain body, and the patterns and painting.
Cai Bugu's work 'Ode to Pear Blossoms,' 33x13cm. Cai Bugu's work 'Green Bamboo,' 33x13cm.
Richer and More Layered Glaze Colors
The uniqueness of polychrome porcelain lies in its vivid yet elegant colors. The colors of 'underglaze polychrome porcelain' are the soul of the ware—rich but not vulgar, subtle yet expressive. Since it is made with lead-free mineral pigments, it is also known as 'green' ceramics. The production process involves firing at temperatures between 1350 and 1400 degrees Celsius, allowing the glaze layer to resist natural acid and alkali erosion, withstand wear, and keep the colors clear, bright, and vivid forever. Cai Bugu's 'New Underglaze Polychrome' integrates Jingdezhen's blue-and-white pigments with Liling's underglaze polychrome pigments to develop a new generation of underglaze colors. These new pigments are not only rich and varied but also purer, clearer, brighter, and more vivid. Fired multiple times at 1380 degrees Celsius, the porcelain surface becomes smoother, brighter, warm, and crystal-clear, possessing the texture of Hetian jade and the water head of icy jadeite, making it uniquely distinctive. For example, Cai's work 'Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains' depicts a beautiful landscape of green mountains, clear waters, white walls, and black tiles, complemented by the glossy porcelain body, creating an elegant interplay. 'Cuckoo Calls' showcases a vividly colored cuckoo surrounded by bright flowers and leaves, with delicate and brilliant hues and an elegant style. Both pieces demonstrate the colorful, refined, and expressive nature of 'New Underglaze Polychrome Porcelain.' Cai Bugu's work 'Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains,' 38x22cm. Cai Bugu's work 'Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains,' 38x22cm.
Artistic Painting on Porcelain Surfaces
Diverse painting themes are another feature of polychrome porcelain, including figures, landscapes, flowers, and birds, combining fine and freehand styles, much like painting art itself. Cai Bugu has achieved considerable artistic success in painting, especially in lotus painting. She translates her paper art onto porcelain surfaces, as seen in 'Gold and Jade Fill the Hall (II),' which depicts her beloved lotus theme. A pair of small goldfish on the porcelain surface exude lively vitality, contrasting with the delicate lotus flowers and lush lotus leaves, creating contrasts in brushwork, color intensity, and dynamic versus static scenes. Her ceramic art blends East and West. The work 'Peach Blossoms for Ten Miles' uses freehand techniques to depict peach blossoms, with varying shades of color, and branches and leaves brimming with spring spirit. Cai Bugu's work 'Gold and Jade Fill the Hall (II),' 33x32cm. Cai Bugu's work 'Peach Blossoms for Ten Miles,' 33x13cm. Painting on porcelain is vastly different from painting on paper. It requires multiple processes, such as the 'assistance' of high-temperature kiln fire and the 'melting and atomization' of mineral pigments (kiln transformation), combining the techniques of firing ceramics and painting to achieve both the practicality of crafts and the aesthetic beauty of art. Cai Bugu's ceramic works range from fresh and elegant to freehand and brilliant, and when placed in a corner of a room, they exude a modern artistic sense. Cai Bugu's work 'Lotus Panama,' 29x15cm.
Source: Read the original article | Published: April 07, 2022