Page 177 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

exploration of sources at the British Library revealed that even contemporaries writing

during the late Qing era found the works being produced to be greatly lacking. One

source dating to 1904 states,

The Empress Dowager rules China in the present day with diminished prestige
when compared with her illustrious predecessors, K’ang-hsi (1662–1722) and
Ch’ien-lung (1736–1795), but undismayed withal, she wields the calligraphic
brush with a firm hand on the autograph scrolls which she distributes among her
adherents, and is a liberal patron of native art. Her ‘seals’ are to be see on many of
the vases and dishes lately looted from the palace of Peking, an evidence that the
fires are again burning at the imperial potteries. 229

While the catalog clearly indicates that porcelain was continually being produced by Cixi

and even refers to her being a “liberal patron,” it manages to belittle her contribution

overall claiming she has “diminished prestige,” as a ruler. Works that the empress

dowager patronized appear to not withstand comparison to the previous wares of the

Golden Age, resulting in them being deemed unworthy of study.

While studies categorize Cixi in a negative manner, thorough investigation into

Cixi’s artwork, patronage, and historical indications provides a different perspective.

Cixi fulfills the qualities of an imperial patron, which is reflected in the vast amount of

both painting and porcelain she oversaw during her lifetime. In this regard, the empress

dowager can be directly connected to the prior patronage of Qianlong. Just as Qianlong

was active in the patronage and collecting of art, the empress dowager continued these

traditions. She embraced the innovations of the West by continuing to promote art that

reflected aspects of modernization and Westernization. This legacy is one scholars

actively associate with Qianlong. A previous chapter established that Cixi clearly

229 Catalogue of the Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, privately printed by Mr. J.
Pierpont Morgan, New York, 1904.

138