Tibor of the Qing dynasty. China, late 19th century-early 20th century. Hand-decorated porcelain.

Tibor of the Qing dynasty. China, late 19th-early 20th century.
Hand-decorated porcelain.
Measurements: 30 cm (height) x 20 cm (largest diameter).
Pair of Chinese porcelain tibors decorated in the style of the Canton Green Family, a Western name for a style of Chinese polychrome porcelain derived from wucai (literally, "five colours"). Wucai was created in the Ming dynasty and has been widely used in China ever since. It is characterised by only some of the motifs being executed in cobalt-blue underglaze, while the rest of the decoration is applied already on the glaze. In addition, black glaze is added for the outlines, in early times covered with a translucent green glaze to fix it. The Green Family style is a type of wucai called yingcai ("solid colours"), which is characterised by the predominance of copper oxide green. The name yingcai refers to the quality of the glazes, which are crystalline because they are mostly applied to the glaze.