Page 45 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

1.4.1. Imperial Workshops Archives

In order to examine the transmission of enamel technology from the court to the sites

of local manufacture, the archival records of the Imperial Household Department will

be used. The Imperial Household Department, an institution of Qing-dynasty China,

62
and was established in the 1620s. It was the first time in Chinese history that a
household department was established. Its primary purpose was to manage the internal

63
affairs of the Qing imperial family and the activities of the inner palace. It managed
the everyday affairs of the court and palace. The most important records that are

familiar to art historians of the Qing dynasty are those for the imperial palace

workshops.

62 Evelyn Rawski, The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions (Berkeley, Los
Angeles, and London, 2001), p.180.
63 Torbert Preston M.,The Ch’ing Imperial Household Department-A study of Its Organization
and Principle Functions, 1662-1796 (Harvard University Press, 1977).
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