Page 222 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS
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Historically, British collectors did not necessarily collect what Chinese collectors
would have considered the best porcelain. Many collections include wares that were not
from the “peak” era of porcelain, or wares that are not of imperial quality. It is due to
this idea of open collecting that British collectors amassed porcelain broadly. The
manner in which British collectors amassed porcelain is reminiscent of Qianlong’s desire
to represent all types of art within his imperial collection. British collectors wanted as
much porcelain as possible, creating massive collections that rival the holdings of
institutions in China. Additionally, Britain’s historic access to China allowed collectors
to collect porcelain from China directly, creating strong provenance within these
collections. After completing this research, it became clear to me that the predominant
resource for understanding the wares of the late Qing dynasty and the early republic is the
collections housed in Britain. Due to British collecting trends, especially British
collectors’ desires to have comprehensive and global collections, these collections sought
some of the best examples of late dynastic porcelain. The aesthetic of massive
collections was prevalent in Britain, encouraging numerous collectors to pursue a large
scope of vessels rather than a narrow collection. These vessels were key components
within British collections and were acquired in an era in which reproductions were not as
common, establishing unquestionable provenance.
This study has found that current scholarship regarding the late Qing dynasty into
the early republic is severely lacking, predominately due to the lack of surviving objects
with a strong provenance to accurately establish their authenticity. While many
institutions worldwide own pieces of porcelain that date to the 19 and 20 centuries,
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these often occur in relatively small numbers. Based on the research completed during
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