Lobed vase with underglaze cobalt blue decoration

Underglaze blue-and-white designs reached their highest painterly quality during the reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662–1722). Porcelain decorators achieved a level of artistic and technical sophistication that rivaled that of professional painters. Blue-and-white porcelains in brilliant cobalt blue catered to the taste of the educated class, the court, and foreign markets. Notice the blue-and-white porcelains in Pierre Bonnard’s painting Fruit and Fruit Dishes ( CMA 2020.100 ); such ceramics on a French dining table would have been inspired by Chinese porcelains of this type.