Page 260 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 7 Porcelain Dealers and their Role in Trade

This section examines those porcelain shops depicted on albums of the period

between 1730s and 1790s, with a few examples from the early nineteenth century,

where the shop type remained unchanged from the late eighteenth century. Because

of their similarities, it concentrates on the shops themselves including the porcelain

on display and the space to see how porcelain shops changed, along with trade.

Through the systematic investigation of these paintings, it may be seen that

porcelain shops enjoyed a sophisticated development, along with trade in 1730 and

1790. Firstly, a significant difference in the design of shop’s name existed between

earlier periods and the later ones. This comparison shows that porcelain shops of the

later period have a proliferation of texts in marketplace signage. (Figure 7-3)

Figure 7-3 A porcelain shop Guangfa, Gouache on paper.
Height: 39.5 cm, Width: 51 cm, c. 1820, Guangzhou.

Photo Courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, E82555.12.

It should be noted that a foreign customer was usually accompanied by a

translator when they intended to purchase a commodity at Canton. In the late

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