Page 142 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 3 Enamelled Porcelain Consumption in Eighteenth-century China

As a result, he sent all the pieces to Beijing as usual. The emperor Qianlong again

decreed: ‘I’ve heard that the imperial design was used such as yellow dragon with five

claws. They are all minor issues and it is nothing.’
57

The increasing availability of imperial wares in the open market of the second

half the eighteenth century allowed private kilns to adapt the design and style of the

court, which was soon accepted and appreciated in urban areas. This brought about a

vast expansion of trans-regional trade and opened up new internal markets for

enamelled porcelain producers. Enamelled porcelain from Jingdezhen began to appear

all over China as the existing trade routes were extended. There were twenty

58
specialists’ shops of fine porcelain in Jingdezhen at this time.

According to another historical record, merchants purchased fine enamelled

porcelain, especially those decorated with a Chinese woman. (Figure 3-7) This type

of porcelain was commented on as being ‘painted in a Western style – exquisite and

beautiful; it is an extremely precious and rare object.’
59

57 The National Palace Museum, Gongzhong dangan zouzhe yilan Qianlong chao [The memorial
of Qianlong Reign], vol.5 (Taipei, 1982), p.435.
58 Michael Dillon, ‘Transport and Marketing in the Development of the Jingdezhen Porcelain
Industry During the Ming and Qing Dynasties’ Journal of Economic and Social History of the
Orient vol.35 (3), 1992, pp.278-290.
59 Ji Yuansou, Tao Ya [The elegance of porcelain], 2 volumes (Beijing, 1918), vol.2, p.15.
126