Page 196 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

porcelain. The popularity of this exhibition prompted the purchase of many of these

objects, leading to several museums in Europe adding to their own collections. China’s

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involvement in exhibitions during the late 19 century connects to the timeline of the
empress dowager attempting to utilize artistic patronage to promote a Westernized and

modern China. Many of the empress dowager’s interactions with the West resulted from

this artistic exchange, making her one of the most globally influential patrons of Chinese

porcelain.

During the 1870s and 1880s, China actively participated in both small and large

exhibitions worldwide. While art of a wide variety was exhibited, it was not until

London’s International Exhibition of Chinese Art in 1935 and 1936 that an exhibition

included a wide array of Chinese ceramics. 251 China had the unique role of actually

deciding which wares would be sent to the exhibition, and therefore they determined that

these wares had to possess superb form, artistic drawing, and glaze color. It seems that

even though Western collectors felt they were viewing an exhibition cultivated by

Western collectors, a great deal of what was displayed was controlled, and therefore

influenced, by China. This occurrence perhaps emphasizes some of the subtle influences

of the Chinese connoisseur on the Western market. Therefore, imperial rulers like the

empress dowager and Yuan Shikai actively shaped not only the wares produced in China,

but those viewed by the West. The relationship cultivated between these patrons and

porcelain shaped the way the West encountered and understood porcelain.

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By the 19 century, the market for Chinese porcelain had expanded even further.

Sales had transitioned from being predominantly export industries reliant on global

251 Honey, The Ceramic Art of China and Other Countries of the Far East, 3. The ceramics in the
exhibition were predominately porcelain dating to the Ming dynasty.
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