The Shunzhi era (1644-61), marking the end of the Ming Dynasty and thebeginning of the Qing, was a transitional period in Chinese history. Asfar as porcelain was concerned, until the last 20 years, it was alittle-known reign not only in the West but in China itself.

By thelate 1630s, painters on porcelain had developed a new, highlyrecognizable, and successful style. Many of the innovative themes weretaken from woodblock prints, with landscapes and narrative scenesparticularly inspired by contemporary scroll and album paintings. Soonafter 1644, potters began to paint wonderful landscapes, with stylisticdevices such as clouds and rock formations used to fill in the "back"of the pot. The beauty and liveliness of the pots' paintings, alongwith the evolving shapes of the pots, stands out and makes these yearsa most significant period the art history of China. In the Shunzhi era,more than any other time in the last 500 years of Chinese porcelain,there was a strong emphasis on individual works of art, each oneunique.