Canton porcelain
A Canton Famille rose porcelain punch bowl (c. 1765)
Traditional Chinese	廣州彩瓷
Simplified Chinese	广州彩瓷
Literal meaning	Guangzhou colored porcelain
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guǎngzhōu cǎi cí
Guangcai
Traditional Chinese	廣彩
Simplified Chinese	广彩
Literal meaning	GZ color
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guǎngcǎi

Canton or Cantonese porcelain is the characteristic style of ceramic ware decorated in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong and (prior to 1842) the sole legal port for export of Chinese goods to Europe. As such, it was one of the major forms of exportware produced in China in the 18th and 20th centuries.

History

Typically, the exportware was made, glazed, and fired at Jingdezhen but decorated with enamels in Guangzhou (then usually romanized as Canton) for export to the west via the Thirteen Factories of the Canton System.^[1][2][3] Canton famille rose in the 19th century was typically decorated with figures and birds, flowers and insects, predominantly in pink and green.^[2]

The decorative famille rose patterns used in export wares may be differentiated by the following terms: Rose Canton which is decorated with flowers, birds and insects but with no human figures; Rose Mandarin with human figures as the main subject and introduced in the late 18th century; and Rose Medallion which has different panels that may be of different subjects and introduced in the 19th century.^[4]