Page 233 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 6 A New Context of Porcelain Trade 1760-1770

and regulated system, naturally, relatives of Hong merchants, clerks, outside traders

and shopkeepers were able to increase their trade. Some of them eventually developed

themselves into Chief Hong merchants. According to Chen’s research, there were

seven outside traders, and five shopkeepers became Hong merchants between 1760

48
and 1843, which was the largest group among others such as clerks and relatives.
Porcelain dealers took advantage of this policy to expand their business, and

eventually became Hong merchants in the 1780s. Although the trade of principal items

such as tea was still under the privilege of Chief Hong merchants, porcelain dealers

had the best opportunity to raise their capital by starting their tea business with the

East India Companies. The examination of the VOC and the EEIC’s records shows us

that some of the dealers who were originally porcelain dealers started their tea

business in the early 1760s. Four main porcelain suppliers managed to expand their

trade from porcelain to tea. It is worth noting that from 1760 onwards, their business

extended to the tea trade and stopped porcelain trade. Table 3 shows that the porcelain

trade of Sweetia and Geequa experienced growth during the period before 1760. The

turning point took place at 1761, when their porcelain trade dropped sharply, and from

1760 onwards, their names remain silent in porcelain trade but of tea and other trade.

As the main suppliers of porcelain, their reducing investment clearly had a direct

impact on trade.

48 Chen Guodong, The Insolvency of the Chinese Hong Merchants, 1760-1843 (Taipei: Institute
of Economics, Academia Sinica, 1990), pp.153-156.
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