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Dear Forum Members,

This porcelain vase is 37 cm tall with crackle finish under glaze and over glaze enamels decoration.

I call it Wucai because there are 5 colors. The over glaze enamels are all translucent.

All design are outlined in black and filled with wash except the red features which are outlined in red.

There are no signatures of any kind on the body.

Your opinions on this vase's origin and age are greatly appreciated.

Best regards,
Michael

Hi, although "wucai" can be literally translated as "five colours" this vase would not be considered wucai which refers to a type of ware from the Ming period. Normally wucai comprises red, yellow & green enamels with underglaze cobalt blue & the white of the porcelain body making the fifth "colour."
As to your vase, apart from not being Wucai is also, IMO, not very old, probably last quarter of the 20thC.

Phil.

Hi Phil,

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I didn't think this is the Ming version of wucai with underglaze being the fifth color, here's one of the definitions of wucai I've found

Wucai colors tend to be bright and flat (rather than gradated). Ming wucai typically combines underglaze blue with red and yellow or red and green. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) a more varied palette was developed. The use of underglaze blue gradually gave way to blue overglaze enamel, the enamel colors became more opaque (yielding stronger yellows and greens), and underglaze blue was used as an outline for solid opaque enamel masses of color. Qing dynasty wucai may also employ black to define outlines, and may include gold decoration.

Your dating of 1970s may be correct. My impression when I first saw the vase was the same as yours, 1970s decorator piece, and now looking more closely at it I'm not so sure.

Also, I think the shape is Chinese ala yen-yen vase, and the foot rim looks like it may be Japanese?, I'm not sure, so I ask, is it Chinese?

Has anyone else seen 5-color glaze on crackle ground?

Cheers,
Michael

Greetings, Looking at the colors of the glazes, I am thinking Japanese, the colors remind me of Ko-Kutani, although the foot looks more like pre-WWII era. Greg

Yes, very astute observation, and thank you for your helpful post.

Using the search terms you suggested the results provided other examples of this type of vase.

Cheers,
Michael

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