Page 283 - 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

it is impossible to identify their direct connections. However, their role in stimulating

local production is evident. It is their corporative connection that resulted in a steady

growing trade till the early nineteenth century. This is important, since it challenges

us to reconsider well-established scholarship on Canton trade. It shows that Canton,

as a port city, formed networks not only for trade, but also from manufactures.

The focus on Chinese porcelain dealers illustrates the network of porcelain trade

at Canton in the second half of the eighteenth century. With the same economic

interests, porcelain dealers connected with different trade systems with foreign traders

and with the Jingdezhen porcelain centre. For studies on Canton trade, the

examination of such networks is definitely important as it would shed light on the

internal mechanism, which could bring a better understanding of the trade.

7.5. Conclusion

Porcelain shops were the main source of porcelain for the European East India

Companies, and their trade activities were valuable for gaining a better understanding

of Chinese porcelain trade of the eighteen century. Yet, little research has been done

with regard to porcelain shops and shopkeepers. Moreover, due to the lack of material,

the investigation was hindered by fragmented textual records. The approach adopted

in this chapter has combined textual records and visual representations and has

illustrated the development of porcelain shops at Canton.

This chapter has demonstrated that the success of porcelain dealers also depended

on their capacity to combine their technical skills with a certain knowledge and

understanding of the trade. By presenting and displaying samples to their foreign

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