Page 49 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

calligraphy, surrounding herself with skilled artists to instruct her and improve her

techniques. Cixi’s self improvement through painting, calligraphy, and overall artistic

patronage allowed her to further solidify her hold on the throne of heaven. The pursuit of

these intellectual endeavors was not unique to Cixi and was a pastime that interested

many previous emperors. The shared desire to cultivate oneself via the classics means

that Cixi shared a similar foundation to former rulers. Despite sharing this common base,

trends of patronage throughout the Qing dynasty were primarily influenced by major

shifts in culture.

The earliest forms of Chinese art patronage can be divided into two groups. One

group sought patronage from the imperial court, and the other group was associated with

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the traditional patronage of the literati. Artists who resided within the imperial court
could be designated as painter officials or academy painters. The painter official

typically held an administrative position within the court and painted to better

themselves, only occasionally being directed by imperial authority. The academy painter

was simply a skilled artist that usually had not completed a civil service examination.

Academy painters were expected to complete the commissions directly expressed by the

imperial court. The high standards that existed within court painting were also present
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within porcelain production. Only the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen could fulfill imperial

commissions, and only the best quality materials and artists were utilized to achieve the

desired wares. The established standards for the imperial kilns are examined later in this

28 Wai-kam Ho, “Introduction,” in Artists and Patrons: Some Social and Economic Aspects of
Chinese Painting, ed. Chu-tsing Li (Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas, 1989), 23.
29 Daphne Lange Rosenzweig, “Reassessment of Painters and Paintings at the Early Ch’ing
Court,” in Artists and Patrons: Some Social and Economic Aspects of Chinese Painting, ed. Chu-
tsing Li (Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas, 1989), 76.

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