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13 Archaeological Distribution of Chinese Porcelain in Mexico 223

Fig. 13.2 Wucai style lids, Wanli period, from the San Jerónimo Convent in Mexico City. Photo
Patricia Fournier
and are not associated de!nitively with the life style of the nuns. However, based on
formation processes of archaeological contexts in the lacustrine Valley of Mexico,
we believe that they represent general consumption trends in the capital of New
Spain from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth century.
The vast array of samples from the Late Ming and the Qing dynasties can be
somewhat overwhelming. Kraak porcelain dishes, plates, bowls, and small boxes
among other vessel forms is abundant. Wucai meiping vases, lids (Fig. 13.2), bowls
and cups are also common. Zhangzhou (previously known as Swatow or simply
provincial porcelain) with blue on white and polychrome bowls, dishes and plates
were identi!ed (Fig. 13.3). The so-called transitional style is represented by blue on
white dishes, plates, bowls, and cups (Fig. 13.4), as are all the polychromes and the
familles of the Qing dynasty. Finely-made blue on white plates, dishes, bowls, cups,
bottles and meiping vases are common. Armorial polychrome porcelain, albeit
scarce, is also part of the sample, as are a few examples of Qing shards with
decoration in the Nankin and Canton styles (Fig. 13.5) dating from the late sev-
enteenth century to the early nineteenth century (e.g. Madsen and White 2011) and
a small porcelain sculpture of a famille verte “Foo Dog”.
In the central highlands, an interesting collection of shards from surveys was
recovered at several rural ranches and haciendas (cattle and agricultural landed
estates of signi!cant size, whose owners were known as hacendados) in the Otumba
Valley. Our thorough study illustrates how not so far from urban sites, people had
access to porcelains of different styles, albeit in small quantities. We identi!ed
Kraak blue on white, wucai (dating to the Wanli period); Dehua or Blanc de Chine
(cups with applied reliefs of twigs and prunus flowers); Qing dynasty blue on white
samples, probably dating to the Kangxi period; Qianlong period blue on white; a
few shards of the famille verte (1662–1730) (Fig. 13.6); and some of the armorial
style or Chine de Commande, dating to the Qianlong period (Fournier and Otis
Charlton 2015: 52–53).