Framed Chinese Porcelain Famille Vert Plaque. Two red-crested cranes in a tree, with flower decorations. 

Overall Size (with Handle): 12 1/4 X 12 1/4 in. 

Sight: 9 1/2 X 10 1/2 in. 

#2778 . 

Famille verte, adopted in the Kangxi period around 1680, uses green in a few different shades and iron red with other overglaze colors. It developed from the wucai style, which combines underglaze cobalt blue with a few overglaze colors. The famille verte enamels may be painted on the biscuit (a term for an unglazed pre-fired ware) with no underglaze blue, or over high-fired glaze, producing wares of different appearances. Wares with enamel painted on the biscuit usually have a solid-color ground such as yellow, black or green, while those painted over the glaze may have a white ground. Occasionally both underglaze and overglaze blue may be seen in the same object. The firing to fuse the enamels was done at a relatively low temperature. The colors found in famille verte are typically green, red, yellow, blue and aubergine (non-vivid purple). Black may also be used and occasionally gold. The blue color is more violet or royal blue in tone, which is different in shade from the blue used in Ming Dynasty porcelain. The ability to achieve color gradation famille verte is limited, as the enamels are often painted over the pure white body of the porcelain which then carries over through the glaze. The colors may also be set off on black or yellow grounds (known as famille noire and famille jaune respectively), and more rarely aubergine and green. Famille verte wares were popular for several decades until the 1720s after the reign of Kangxi when it became supplanted by famille rose, which is known to have a greater color range. It continued to be made in small amounts in the subsequent periods, and its popularity was revived in the West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.