Page 194 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 5 Porcelain Trade at Canton 1740-1760

We need to consider the factors from China’s perspective. Unlike present

scholarship, this research thus considers the porcelain trade within a Chinese historical

context. I shall argue that the fluctuation of the porcelain trade was greatly affected

not only by the political events that took place in Europe, but also by other factors

from China’s side.

1200000

1000000

800000

600000
Enamelled
B&W
400000

200000

0
1740 1742 1744 1746 1748 1750 1752 1755 1758 1760

Figure 5-1 Quantities of imported porcelain by the VOC and the EEIC, 1740-1760. (in
pieces). Source: Appendix B.

The large quantity of blue and white trade was certainly affected by the

production at Jingdezhen, and the production was affected by many factors. The

production and export of porcelain at Jingdezhen were dictated by market forces since

the Song-Yuan period. Porcelain kilns in Jingdezhen have been identified as private

enterprises, and they were trade and profit-oriented, and much of the operation was

12
almost certainly geared towards exports. Yet this claim was not applicable in the

12 Deng Gang, Maritime sector, institutions and sea power of premodern China (Westport:
Conn.1999), pp.60-61.
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