Canton porcelain Canton porcelain Canton or Cantonese porcelain is the characteristic style of ceramic ware decorated in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong and (prior to 1842) the sole legal port for export of Chinese goods to Europe. As such, it was one of the major forms of exportware produced in China in the 18th and 20th centuries. Typically, the exportware was made, glazed, and fired at Jingdezhen but decorated with enamels in Guangzhou (then usually romanized as Canton) for export to the west via the Thirteen Factories of the Canton System. Canton Famille rose in the 19th century was typically decorated with
Biscuit porcelain by giving them a temporary coating of wax or something similar to keep the glaze off; this is a fairly common feature of Longquan celadon (which is porcelain in Chinese terms), and also found in Ming dragons. Some Chinese pieces are described as "porcelain with polychrome enamels on the biscuit" - that is, using the normal "overglaze" technique on biscuit, but with no actual glaze, often a revivalist style evoking earlier sancai wares (which were not in porcelain). The laborious and mostly 19th-century pâte-sur-pâte technique often uses biscuit for at least one of the colours. Biscuit porcelain Biscuit porcelain, bisque