Page 167 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 4. Early Eighteenth-century EEIC Porcelain Trade in

Canton 1729-c.1740

4.1. Introduction

The innovation of applying new enamel colours to porcelain only took place within a

short period, and came to dominate porcelain consumption in the later period, both in

China and beyond. This change had a significant impact on the Chinese porcelain

trade, not only in manufacturing sites but also the trade port of Canton. This chapter

examines the trade of enamelled porcelain from 1729, when it first appeared in the

EEIC records. The period from 1729 towards the end of the 1730s was a time of

growing interest in enamelled porcelain from both the EEIC Company and private

trade. Of this period, enamelled porcelain was sold and purchased as a new type of

porcelain product that reflected the latest fashion and design which created a niche

market at Canton.

In terms of scholarship on Chinese porcelain trade, as I have shown in Chapter 1 of this

thesis, there have been many versions of history produced regarding the specific aspects

of the trade of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These studies are very diverse

in their focus, but most of them can be separated into three basic categories: first,

literature that focuses on collections from museum and collectors to examine

exchanges of culture and design; second, literature that focuses on one ethnic group

or company such as the English, Americans or Dutch; and third, literature that

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