Page 211 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

enamel application within the collection demonstrates that skilled artists worked on each

piece of porcelain, resulting in vessels that have artistic merit and express individuality.

3.9 Trends of the Late Qing and Early Republic

This study finds that collecting continued beyond Qianlong’s reign, with rulers

actively contributing to the patronage and collecting occurring within the Forbidden City.

Collecting was able to not only survive but even thrive into the late Qing dynasty. As

previously mentioned, porcelain collecting increased during the reign of Empress

Dowager Cixi. It also continued to be a major aspect of the attempted reign of Yuan

Shikai, as outlined in earlier chapters. The collecting performed by these rulers was

dramatically different from that of Qianlong because it was on a smaller scale. The wares

were also often utilized as diplomatic gifts. In comparison to Qianlong’s collecting, the

collections of late-dynasty Chinese rulers often experienced a more global existence

rather than remaining within the confines of the Forbidden City. The movement of

objects associated with the rulers of the late Qing dynasty made them far more global in

their reach than previous rulers. The styles that were patronized by Cixi and Yuan Shikai

were created at a time when global exchange was more common and therefore a major

factor in the designs found on porcelain. While the mindset of late imperial patronage

remained tied to traditions and maintaining an imperial standard, the wares they

patronized displayed a unique modern vitality that differed from the dynamic cultivated

in earlier dynastic styles.

Along with the previously explored collection housed at the British Museum, the

Victoria and Albert Museum contains an extensive collection of Chinese porcelain that

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