Page 47 - Met Museum Export Porcelain 2003

Elias Hasket Derby of Salem became one 53. Sugar Bowl. Chinese (American market), I770-I800. Hard paste. H. 6 in.
of the wealthiest men in the country in large (I5.2cm). Gift of Mrs. Edward S. Harkness, 1935(35.25.2a,b)
part because of his success in China (fig. 48).
In addition to the products he brought back Thefact that therearemoreChineseexportporcelainsdepictingthe coatof armsof
for a local clientele, Derby and others estab- New Yorkthan of any otherstateis an indicationof theprominentroleitplayed in
lished a thriving trade with the southern the trade.ThefirstAmericanshipto makethe voyagecamefromtheport ofNew
states, which were not as actively involved Yorka, ndthecitysurpassedall othersin termsoflong-standingexchangewith China.
in importing goods. As the United States's Thearmsall containthe essentialsymbolsofFame andJustice,but thereisgreat
exchange with China grew, the field also variation inpainting stylesand in the representationof the diferent motifsin the
became highly competitive, with merchants centraldesign,somepersonalizedwith a nameor initials.
from American ports contending for their
share of this lucrative business.

Foreign traders-including Americans-
were restricted to certain areas along the
waterfront at Canton. Each country had its
own site, called a factory, identified by its
national flag. When the United States
began shipping goods from there, the total
number of factories grew from thirteen to
fourteen, an event celebrated by a series of
punch bowls elaborately painted with a
continuous view of the coastal factories

and their colorful flags (fig. 51). Such bowls
were likely part of the earliest Chinese-
American trade: the Empress of China
carried in its porcelain cargo one tub with
"4 Factory Painted Bowles @ 5 1/2 [dollars]
each," dutifully recorded in Captain John
Green's account books from his first and

second voyages. Business at the American
factory grew at a rapid rate. From 1784,
when American vessels accounted for

fewer than 3 percent of all foreign ships in
Canton, to 1800, they had increased by a
factor of ten.

New Yorkswiftly became America's
busiest marketfor Chinese export, a fact that
might explain the large number of extant
porcelains decorated with the arms of the
state, many with family histories and ciphers
and some with imaginatively interpreted
elements of proper coats of arms (fig. 53).

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