Page 29 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

categorisation ignores completely enamelled porcelain and has had different trade

patterns in Canton from blue and white.

Among the numerous books on Chinese export porcelain, the most influential are

the works written by the leading museums of Chinese porcelain. For example, curators

of the Victoria and Albert museum in London, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem,

Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Keramiekmuseum Princessehof in Leeuwarden and

Groningen Museum, Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels have produced

classic catalogues which are composed of introductions to collections, discussions of

each category of Chinese porcelain and descriptions, as well as images of each

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object.

The approach to examining objects from the perspective of a specific collection

contributes to the study of art history and cultural history in many ways. For instance,

the considerable scholarship on surviving pieces of Chinese export porcelain of the

eighteenth century provides us with insights into decorative patterns, the history of

design and the history of artistic exchange. By focusing on the individual object, this

approach is useful in many ways. It provides evidence for studies of cultural exchange

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between China and Europe. For example, in studies focused on ‘Chinoiserie’, the

design and taste had a significant impact on European designs, not only in porcelain

production but also in interior decoration, furniture, architecture, painting, textile and

17 Sargent, Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics; Kerr and Mengoni, Chinese Export Ceramics;
Christiaan J.A. Jo ̈ rg, Oriental porcelain in the Netherlands: four museum collections (Groningen:
Groningen Museum, 2003); Famille Verte: Chinese Porcelain in Green Enamels (Groningen:
Groningen Museum, 2011); Chinese export porcelain: chine de commande from the Royal
Museums of Art and History in Brussels (Hong Kong: Urban Council, 1989).
18 This term derived from the French word Chinois, meaning ‘Chinese’ is a decorative style in
Western art, furniture, and architecture, especially in the eighteenth century, characterized by the
use of Chinese motifs and techniques. The best introductions to chinoiserie are Hugh Honour,
Chinoiserie; The vision of Cathay (New York: J. Murray, 1962); Oliver R. Impey, Chinoiserie:
the impact of Oriental styles on Western art and decoration (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
1977); and Dawn Jacobson, Chinoiserie (London: Phaidon Press, 1993).
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