Vase in the shape of an ancient bronze vessel with scenes of landscapes

Overglaze Multicolor Enamel Decoration

During the late 1600s in the imperial workshop in Beijing, porcelain pieces were decorated with colorful enamels imported from Europe.

By the early 1700s, the imperial workshop had developed formulas, based on European samples, for new colors, which they applied to glazed porcelain pieces produced in Jingdezhen in southeastern China. These enameled wares are customarily divided into two types, those with a dark ground and those with a white ground.