Famille jaune, noire, rose, verte are terms used in the West to classify Chinese porcelain of the Qing dynasty by the dominant colour of its enamel palette. These wares were initially grouped under the French names of ("green family"), and (pink family) by Albert Jacquemart in 1862. The other terms (yellow) and (black) may have been introduced later by dealers or collectors and they are generally considered subcategories of famille verte. Famille verte porcelain was produced mainly during the Kangxi era, while famille rose porcelain was popular in the 18th and 19th century. Much of the Chinese production was Jingdezhen porcelain, and a large proportion were made for export to the West, but some of the finest were made for the Imperial court.
Famille verte
Famille verte (康熙五彩, Kangxi wucai, also 素三彩, Susancai), adopted in the Kangxi period around 1680, uses green in a few different shades and iron red with other overglaze colours. It developed from the wucai (五彩, "Five colours") style, which combines underglaze cobalt blue with a few overglaze colours. The famille verte enamels may be painted on the biscuit (unglazed prefired 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-colour 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 colours 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 colour 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 colour gradation famille verte is limited. The coloured enamels are often painted over the pure white body of the porcelain which comes over through the glaze. The colours may also be set off on a 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 has a greater colour range. It continued to be made in small amounts in the subsequent periods, and its popularity revived in the West in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Famille jaune
Famille jaune is a variation of famille verte, using famille verte enamels on a yellow ground.
Famille noire
Famille noire (Chinese: 墨地素三彩, Modi susancai) uses a black ground (although some clobbered wares had the black added in the 19th century). Famille noire wares were made in the Kangxi era. They may have a copper-green lead based enamel painted over dry black cobalt ground on the biscuit, and a transparent green glaze was then applied, giving it a near-iridescent appearance. Famille noire was once highly appreciated by western collectors, which led to high prices and many pieces were then counterfeited, with the result that a large proportion of those believed to be surviving examples are actually forgeries. The popularity of this type of porcelain has since declined.
Famille rose
Famille rose, known in Chinese as fencai () or ruancai ( / ), 'pale colours' or 'soft colours'), yangcai (), lit. 'foreign colours'), and falangcai (, lit. 'enamel colours'), is a type of porcelain defined by the presence of pink colour overglaze enamel. The colour palette was introduced in China during the reign of Kangxi (1654–1722), possibly around 1720, but perfected only in the Yongzheng era when the finest pieces were made. Famille rose is named after its pink coloured enamel, but which may actually ranged from pale pink to deep ruby. Apart from pink, a range of other soft colour palettes were used in famille rose, hence the term fencai. The gradation of colours was produced by mixing coloured enamels with 'glassy white' (玻璃白, boli bai), an opaque white enamel (lead arsenate).