Page 32 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

elegance) wares create strong visual connections to the paintings attributed to Cixi. This

study evaluates the connection between Cixi’s paintings and the designs on the porcelain

she patronized, thereby establishing her as a major imperial patron.

This dissertation provides an extensive investigation into Cixi’s porcelain

patronage and considers the lasting effects her developments had on the early Republic.

This study argues that even beyond Cixi’s reign porcelain was produced at an imperial

caliber, and that the categorization of late Qing porcelains as poor quality must be

reevaluated. The last Qing emperor, Puyi, fell from power in 1911, effectively causing

imperial porcelain patronage to come to a halt. Out of this chaos, the political

opportunist Yuan Shikai 袁世凱 took advantage of China’s weakened state and

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proclaimed himself the Hongxian Emperor from 1915 to 1916. By reinstating the

dynastic system in China, Yuan took on the duties of a traditional emperor. One of these

acts was the ordering of approximately 40,000 pieces of porcelain from the imperial kilns

at Jingdezhen 景德鎮 and continuing the Chinese tradition of imperial patronage.

Nevertheless, fewer than 200 of these pieces are documented within existing collections

today. The limited number of surviving porcelains is partly due to the fact that Yuan’s

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reign lasted only 82 days, ending in March of 1916. Although Yuan’s reign was quite

short, it had a lasting impact on the arts and shared a distinct connection with the

previous patronage of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Similar to the academic community’s disregard for Cixi’s porcelain, Hongxian

2 Richard T. Phillips, China Since 1911 (London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1996), 24.
3 H.A. Van Oort, The Porcelain of Hung-Hsien: A Study of the Socio-Cultural Background and
Some Characteristics of the Porcelain Produced at Chingtechen During the Imperial Reign of
Yüan Shih-Kʻai (Netherlands: Uitgeversmaatschappij de Tijdstroom, 1970), 97.

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