Page 43 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

companies, and museums because their interest in export porcelain lay in its perceived

beauty and elegance, the role it could play in creating a decorated interior that conveys

a sense of classic good taste, and its antiquarian associations with the European and

57
American past.
Admittedly, most of these objects made during the eighteenth and nineteenth

centuries were only consumed and collected by European consumers and they existed

only in Western countries. Particular forms were made only for the European market,

58
such as big pitchers, ewers and mugs. However, despite their western shapes and

59
decorations, they also form a part of the history of the material culture of China. In
addition, historical evidence consistently appears to prove that objects usually

classified as ‘export wares’ and wares classified as for the ‘domestic market’ were in

fact produced in the same period in Jingdezhen, and some of these were even

60
decorated in the same pattern.

The history of Chinese enamelled porcelain has not been sufficiently historicized

in present scholarship. Present scholarship assumes a fixed identity for enamelled

porcelain, either as ‘imperial wares’ or ‘export wares’. Within the study of enamelled

porcelain as ‘imperial wares’, scholars believe this type of porcelain was only

commissioned and used by the court, while consumption outside of court circles was

57 Ibid.
58 The subject on special forms of Chinese enamelled porcelain for export market is covered by
many museum curators and collectors. See Sargent, Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics. Rose
Kerr and Luisa Mengoni, Chinese Export Ceramics.
59 Craig Clunas, Chinese Export Art and Design (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1987),
p.12.
60 Tang Hui, ‘Rethinking 'Imperial Taste': the Yongzheng Emperor and His Role in Court
Enamelled Porcelain Production’ (Unpublished MA dissertation, The School of Oriental and
African Studies, 2012); Guo Guanyou, ‘Kangyongqian Sanchao Falangcai Huawen Yanjiu’ [The
Study of the Floral Patterns of the Enamelled Porcelain in the Imperial Kiln by the Kangxi,
Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns] (MA dissertation, Taipei: National Taiwan Normal University,
History of Art, 2010). pp.80-90.
27