Page 100 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

of porcelain. Although some of her works may have created revivals of earlier styles, it

is evident that her personality was present in many of the wares she commissioned.

Unlike her male predecessors, Cixi laid new groundwork for porcelain, breaking with

tradition and putting her own personal designs on porcelain. Any discussion of patronage

revolves around the concept of how a patron affected the nature of the artwork itself. In

the case of the empress dowager, the evolution of porcelain styles indicates that as a

patron, she directly changed the trajectory of porcelain. Based on visual analysis, it

seems abundantly clear that Cixi incorporated the traditional iconography of the past but

ultimately pushed porcelain imagery further than it had progressed under the direction of

prior emperors. This is evident in the unique composition of the motifs, which arrange

the traditional elements according to Cixi’s own style while also emphasizing unique

colors and brush techniques. The visual changes apparent in her porcelain mimic those

found in her style of painting, conclusively identifying favorable aesthetics of the late

Qing period. The role of patron casts a new light on Cixi, because it shows one of the

few areas of her life that fully embraced contact with the Western world. 105 The

quantities of porcelain and paintings utilized as gifts served as a representation of China’s

emerging global identity in the late Qing dynasty. Cixi harnessed art to convey her

appreciation for modernization and Westernization while simultaneously paying homage

to more traditional Chinese values.

China’s last dynasty was characterized by major changes in porcelain as a direct

result of the last key imperial patron, Cixi. Many of these changes were the direct result

105 During her reign, Cixi presented numerous gifts to individuals from the West. Documented
gifts were received by Queen Victoria (r.1837-1901) from the empress dowager in 1897 for her
Diamond Jubilee, showing a clear relationship between Cixi and the Western world prior to the
Boxer Rebellion. Several gifts dating to the Diamond Jubilee are analyzed in section 3.7.
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