Page 88 - Collecting and Displaying China's Summer Palace in the West

“True Beauty of Form and Chaste Embellishment” 73
name did (圓 園 or 園), defining it as a site of an imperial residence and therefore
declaring an imperial presence in the form of goods and of course the emperor. The
name “Summer Palace” quickly entered the lexicon as can be seen in the catalogue
of an auction in June of 1861, which describes the objects specifically as “taken from
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the Summer Palace.” This signaled the creation of a new provenance for objects—
“from the Summer Palace.” It is a specific location but it is more specific than just
“China” and therefore is further associated with certain conceptions and judgments
that reflect the prevalent attitude towards imperial goods as well as the act of
destruction and plunder itself. This has been interpreted as a feeling of superiority
over a once mighty nation and a kind of gleeful revenge. 5
Initially, soldiers’ regiments sold much of the plunder in China as was common
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practice with “spoils.” Subsequently, these and other plundered items left China and
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entered the art markets in Britain and Paris. At the end of this chain of goods move -
ment, the art collector perhaps felt the visceral connection to the destroyed site less
than the soldier but the perceived drama and significance of the events that took
place at the Summer Palace imbued the new provenance with meaning and weight

Figure 5.1 Cover page from an early sale catalogue of Yuanmingyuan porcelains. Phillips,
London, January 1861.