Page 285 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 8. Conclusion

This thesis has set out to investigate Chinese enamelled porcelain of the eighteenth

century using a more contextual approach, so as to consider the introduction and

circulation of new techniques and their impact on consumption, both within the

Chinese empire and across the globe. In doing so, it has been possible to see the

production, distribution and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain as

interdependent systems, shaped by cross-fertilization and interaction. My thesis has

sought to demonstrate that China was not merely a place of manufacture, but an active

participant in all processes, from the initiation of new ideas to the sale and marketing

of final products. My research has also shown that the history of domestic porcelain

and export porcelain cannot be separated.

Chinese porcelain and its history have been well studied by scholars from various

disciplines. Connoisseurs, collectors, and museum curators generally concentrate on

the aesthetic qualities of these wares to examine their design motifs, forms, kiln

complexes, archaeological finds and notable collections. The history of Chinese

porcelain trade between China and other countries has also been well illustrated on

the basis of archaeological finds and the historical records of the East India

1
Companies. Meanwhile, economic historians have used Chinese porcelain as a

1 The most widely read texts on this subject are David Howard and John Ayres, China for the
West: Chinese Porcelain and other Decorative Arts for Export Illustrated from the Mottahedeh
Collection (London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1978); C.J.A. Jörg, Porcelain and the Dutch China
Trade (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1982); John Carswell, Blue & White: Chinese porcelain
around the world (London: British Museum Press, 2000).

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