Page 216 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

procured using the same levels of connoisseurship Sir Percival exhibited: “Mr. Cope

made his collection with great care and judgment, and many of the specimens were

acquired at the dispersal of the works of art of well-known collectors.” 279 While the

extent of Cope’s collection may not be known, it is apparent that the porcelain he

purchased had strong provenance and adhered to the collecting standards of the time,

which emphasized high vessel quality. Given this strong provenance, the plates can be

considered to be from the late dynastic Qing era and can therefore serve as a

representation of the styles being cultivated at the time. The close connection that these

plates share to Cixi’s earlier dayazhai styles allow this study to establish that the

porcelain imagery promoted by the empress dowager was much more influential than has

been acknowledged.

Looking beyond Cixi’s life, a continuation of artistry is still apparent, connecting

Cixi’s styles to the late Qing period and into the early republic. Two plates in the

Victoria and Albert Museum, dating to approximately 1890 to 1910, serve as

representations of porcelain of this period. The first is a painted in overglaze enamels

using the famille rose palette (Figure 83). The plate contains a floral depiction focusing

on peony blossoms accompanied by a butterfly. The scene created is similar to many of

the images Cixi cultivated and uses the same color palette and iconography. On the

second plate, a floral image is painted in overglaze enamels and uses the same color

palette (Figure 84). On this plate, vivid pink and white begonias fill the space along with

small blue Chinese asters. Both of these plates exhibit a reliance on auspicious floral

imagery, which is a style that this study has found to be directly connected to the empress

279 “Cope Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington,” Journal of the Royal
Society of Arts 51 (1903): 707.
177