Page 250 - 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

Imported enameleld porcelain by the VOC and

the EEIC between 1740 and 1780

800000
700000
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
1740 1742 1744 1746 1748 1750 1752 1755 1758 1760 1762 1764 1766 1768 1770 1772 1774 1776 1778 1780

Figure 6-8 Imported enamelled porcelain by the VOC and the EEIC between 1740
and 1780. Source: Appendix B.

The impact of the establishment of a craft guild was profound. As shown in Figure

6-8, the total amount of enamelled porcelain imported by the VOC and the EEIC

reached its peak during the late 1770s. This craft guild is important with porcelain

merchants in organising an industry in the face of competition and changes in market

conditions. With the appearance of porcelain factories in Europe in the mid-eighteenth

century, the demand for Chinese export porcelain began to diminish, and by the end

of the century the trade was in serious decline. Following the nation’s newfound

independence in 1784, America officially entered into trade with China. Consistent

with European trade, Chinese porcelain dealers managed to trade with their new

clients. Thus, in late eighteenth and nineteenth century Canton, the industry achieved

74
great success in producing enamelled porcelain for the American market.
The shift in production and the establishment of a craft guild both resulted from

a long-term development and with the active response to the market and changes in

74 Mudge, the American Trade, pp.91-95.
234