Page 266 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780
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CHAPTER 7 Porcelain Dealers and their Role in Trade
In the porcelain trade at Canton, porcelain dealers used samples to reduce their
risk. The risk that porcelain dealers have to face was rejection from supercargoes. In
the period before the late 1740s, competition between European companies depended
on whether they could purchase enough quantities to floor their ships. However,
things changed when quality began to matter. Supercargoes might spend days looking
up musters or samples from porcelain shops before they started to buy or make any
order. Except for guaranteeing quantity, the quality of porcelain became the main
factor that the supercargoes concerned. So the porcelain dealers ran a risk that pieces
which could not meet their requirement might be rejected and left over in stock. From
1760 onwards, presenting porcelain samples became more important, as new
manufactures have been set up locally to produce pieces for export. The porcelain
dealers would make sure the presented patterns were accepted before putting them
into production. In this sense, presenting samples to clients was a way of reducing the
risk of being rejected.
Moreover, samples were used as a means of advertising. There are a group of
plates decorated in several patterns within one plate have survived, which are named
22
‘sample plates’. These sample plates were decorated with multiple designs around
the rim and armorial devices and monograms in the centre. Each pattern was marked
by a number to illustrate a merchant's chosen style from the range available. Except
for monograms, each plate also bore numbered patterns. For example, Figure 7-7
shows a sample plate of Victoria and Albert Collection, surrounding the border of
patterns, numbered 21, 22, 23, and 24. Of this collection, there is another piece that
22 There are two pieces in Victoria and Albert museum, museum numbers are: C.120-1923 and
C.121-1923.Two in Rijksmuseum, museum numbers are: AK-NM-13505 and AK-NM-13506.
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