Polychrome porcelain craftsmanship flourished during the Kangxi period (1661-1722), when new ceramic production techniques, styles and coloured enamels were developed. Wucai (‘many colors’) is the Chinese name given to porcelain decorated with dominant clear greens, yellows and reds, such as this porcelain teapot. This style of decoration became known to the West as Famille Verte, a term coined by the French art historian Albert Jacquemart (1808-1875) towards the end of the 19th century in his seminal book L’Histoire de la Céramique . This teapot was most likely made for export to Europe as the teapot is enhanced with a modelled surface resembling a bundle of bamboo canes, which would have been seen as exotic and would have appealed to Western taste.
