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A pair of foliate-rim oval zhai jie pai (abstinence plaque)
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| Object Name | A pair of foliate-rim oval zhai jie pai (abstinence plaque) |
| Description | This pair of foliate-rim oval zhai jie pai (abstinence plaque) contains dark blue cords on both ends. Zhai jie pai became popular in the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty. It may be rectangular or oval with holes at both ends so that it can be attached to the garment with a cord as an accessory. The two sides of zhai jie pai usually have the same enameled border designs in the famille rose* palette, which surround two Chinese characters 'zhai jie' meaning abstinence on one side and Manchurian writing on the other.
On these two zhai jie pai, both Chinese characters 'zhai jie' (abstinence) and the two Manchurian characters (possibly meaning 'abstinence' as well) on the other side are in black, and are incised against a light green dotted background. Cloud collar designs in the famille rose palette surround the Chinese and Manchurian characters. Their foliate rim is gilt.
According to the original inventory record, these two pieces were produced during the recent period, approximately the late 19th century to the mid-20th century.
* Famille rose (fen cai) refers to a palette developed in the same basis of the famille verte palette (kang xi wu cai) of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty and which was under the direct influence of the enamel decoration ware. In the last years of the Kangxi reign, foreign rouge-red enamel was used to color flower petals. This started the trend toward a new palette (known in the West as famille rose) during the succeeding Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns. The famille rose is characteristically used in this way: glassy white (bo li bai) in which an opaque white enamel (lead arsenate) is employed as the base for coloring garments or flower petals; also, rue oil is used as the drying oil in mixing some pigments. Many enamels of the palette include certain imported materials, such foreign red, foreign yellow, foreign-green, and foreign white. Compared with the famille verte, the new palette fires at a lower temperature and has a wider color range. It also appears softer and gentler, hence its other name 'soft colors' (ruan cai). During the Yongzheng reign, famille rose wares reached their zenith, replacing the famille verte of the Kangxi reign and becoming the dominate palette in overglaze decoration. The decoration was painted not only on a white background, but also on such colored backgrounds as coral, red, light green, caramel, black, etc. During the Qianlong reign, new techniques continued to develop. As a departure from the earlier simple washing method, flower petals in rouge red were outlined. More colors began to appear as the background. The designs also grew increasingly complex, especially in the case of wares with a red or green phoenix tail design as the background (feng wei wen), which was fashionable in the late Qianlong and early Jiaqing period. As this new decorative technique used many imported materials, and it method of mixing pigments was also 'foreign', it acquired the name 'foreign colors' (yang cai) in the Qianlong reign. |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Medium | Porcelain, famille rose, dark blue cords, gilt |
| Dimensions | Length 5.6 cm; Width (the widest) 4.2 cm |
| Period | Qing dynasty
Republican period
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| Date Original | Late 19th to mid 20th century; 1870s-1950s A.D. |
| Location Number | AA 72 |
| Classification | Porcelain
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| Inventory Number | B88, B89 |
| Repository | Special Collections, Gettysburg College |
| Contact Information | http://www.gettysburg.edu/special_collections/contact.dot |
| Rights | Digital images copyright Special Collections, Musselman Library, Gettysburg College. All rights reserved. For permission information, see http://www.gettysburg.edu/special_collections/policies/copyright_information.dot |
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