Page 140 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

Early trade routes out of China like the Silk Road initiated the spread of porcelain

throughout the world beginning with a progression through the Near East and beyond. 171

Although these early trade porcelain pieces were functional utilitarian objects, surviving

records indicate that they were collected and appreciated as art. Illustrated manuscripts

depict scenes of Mughal India that include rooms with numerous niches filled with

Chinese blue-and-white porcelain (Figure 43). The inclusion of porcelain in the

manuscript reveals the vast dispersion of this medium throughout Asia, along with the

prestige the form was given in the regions within which it was collected. A combination

of social, technical, and economic factors allowed transoceanic trade to become a major

force within China, making porcelain a global commodity. Europe first encountered the

wares being produced in China as a result of Portuguese exploration by individuals like

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Vasco de Gama (c. 1460–1524), who reached Asia during the late 15 century. A major
export market was created, with numerous porcelain wares produced in China and then

shipped to the West. The massive scale at which this global trade occurred surpassed

even the quantities seen on the Silk Road. It has been estimated that more than

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60,000,000 pieces of porcelain were shipped from China to the West in the 18 century
alone. 172 Analyzing this transoceanic trade reveals specific trends in the collecting of

porcelain, specifically within Britain, since the wares acquired were not only influenced

by Chinese exportation but also by the guidance of pre-established European porcelain

collecting.

171 One of the largest collections of Chinese celadon and blue-and-white wares is found in at the
Topkapi Saray Museum in present day Istanbul. These wares were amassed by the then Ottoman
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court from the 15 - mid 19 century.
172 Elinor Gordon, Collecting Chinese Export Porcelain (Pittstown, New Jersey: Main Street
Press, 1984), 24.

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