Page 192 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

auspicious flower, she was largely responsible for bringing attention to the style during

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the 19 and 20 centuries. It was the empress dowager who elevated the use of
iconographic flowers to make powerful statements within her art patronage. In this

instance, a direct connection to Qianlong’s reign can be identified proving that Cixi

looked to the past for influence and then harnessed her own artistic prowess to innovate

new styles that have been identified as belonging to late dynastic China.

These wares ultimately joined the British Royal Collection Trust through the

collection of Queen Victoria, strengthening the existing royal porcelain collection and

continuing the trajectory begun by Mary II. Queen Victoria may have been influenced by

these porcelain diplomatic gifts from Cixi and continued to collect fine art from the Far

East. Objects that were part of the royal collection were moved into Buckingham Palace

and given prominence within the space. Again, looking back to the trends Mary II

established, rooms within the palace were filled with Chinese porcelain. The resurgence

of Chinese porcelain within the British royal family continued beyond the reign of Queen

Victoria. Her children and grandchildren were among the first members of the British

royal family to travel to the Far East. During these travels, even more pieces of porcelain

were added to the royal collection, resulting in the British monarchy having an excellent

collection of Chinese porcelain. The collection encompassed a broad timeline and

included both export- and imperial-caliber wares. This range exemplifies the diversity

found within Chinese porcelain more accurately than many other collections in the world.

Toward the end of the Qing dynasty, the concept of the imperial collection

became difficult to actually trace. As Cixi’s power began to fade, China entered into a

tumultuous time period that ended in the fall of imperial rule. As a direct result of this

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