Jingdezhen Blue & White Porcelain Bauble, 'Midnight Blossom'

Jingdezhen Blue & White Porcelain Bauble

White blossoms and flower medallions scattered across deep cobalt blue, like snowflakes on a midnight sky. Jingdezhen, in China's Jiangxi province, has been the country's porcelain capital for more than a thousand years. Its fine white clay (the word kaolin comes from nearby Gaoling village) and its imperial kilns made Chinese blue-and-white, qīnghuā, famous around the world: designs painted in cobalt beneath a clear glaze, then fired at high heat so the blue glows from within the porcelain. Hung on a navy satin ribbon.

• Country / Region: China
• Artisan: Jingdezhen porcelain workshop
• Material: Glazed porcelain, satin ribbon
• Dimensions: 6 cm diameter; ribbon 14 cm
• Weight: 10 g