Page 31 - Met Museum Export Porcelain 2003

the company left it almost entirely up to the

Chinese, stipulating generic patterns and

color schemes. Butthere were occasional

specific instructions: "samples of textiles" are

mentioned in 1736 in a solitary reference to

that medium as a design source; also in 1736

the first patternwas commissioned from

Cornelis Pronk(fig. 27). The painting of ewers

in 1762 was to be "inthe Dresden manner,"

and two years later a dinner service was to

have a "Marseilleground." In 1777 and 1778,

in reaction to competition from the Swedish

market,commercially popular patterns were

requested. The presence in Cantonfrom

1784 to 1791 of Willem Tros, a Dutch designer

who had been employed-possibly as a

modeler-at the Loosdrecht porcelain factory

near Utrecht, is the only known instance of

a Europeanartisan active in Canton, although

it is not certain whether he was active as a

modeler or a painter. 33. Dish. Chinese (Continental market), I770-75. Hard paste. Diam. 53/4in.
As the principaltrading center, Canton be- (40 cm). Bequest of George D. Pratt, I935 (45.I74.35)

came a dispersal point for designs and shapes

originatingin differentcountries.The readydis- A rareexampleof exportporcelainreflectingGermanceramicstyle,this dishcomesfrom

semination of pictorialand decorative designs a dispersedserviceof morethan 13o pieces,eachpainted with a diferent emblemand
was a naturalresult of the mechanics of the motto.A smallnumberof the imagesand mottoesappearin Devises et emblemes
trade in which customers-company or pri- anciennes et modernes, byDaniel dela Feuille,publishedin Amsterdamin I697.
vate-simply handed over a patternfor copy- Themajority,includingthepresentimage,areuntracedand wouldhave beengathered
into ayet unidentifiedcompilationfrom othersourcesT. heexuberantcartouchecorresponds

ing. Once received in a painter'sworkshop, it closelyto the workof theAugsburgornamentistFranz Xavier Habermann(1712-I796),

became design currency and an additional whosedesignsoccuron Fiirstenbergporcelain.

element in a widening repertoire made gener-

ally accessible through the finished porcelains

displayed in the porcelain merchants' shops. I
Thus, we find a number of standard border

patterns enframing pictorialsubjects and

armorials for different markets;and at the i
same time, a borderas original and specific as 0Id
that in figure 30 has been found on porcelain

with generic decoration. Similarly,a single ip' ---i~~~~~~~~~~
printsource would be rendered in different 0
palettes and with different borders. While

this explains the ubiquity of certain designs, Dish, detailof cartouche

33