Page 50 - Chinese Export Porcelain Art, MET MUSEUM 2003

Elias Hasket Derby of Salem became one
of the wealthiest men in the country in large
part because of his success in China (fig. 48).
In addition to the products he brought back
for a local clientele, Derby and others estab-
lished a thriving trade with the southern
states, which were not as actively involved
in importing goods. As the United States's
exchange with China grew, the field also

became highly competitive, with merchants
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
53. Sugar Bowl. Chinese (American market), I770-I800. Hard paste. H. 6 in.
"4 Factory Painted Bowles @ 5 1/2 [dollars] (I5.2 cm). Gift of Mrs. Edward S. Harkness, 1935 (35.25.2a, b)
each," dutifully recorded in Captain John
Green's account books from his first and Thefact that there are more Chinese exportporcelains depicting the coat arms of
of
New York than other state is an indication role it in
second voyages. Business at the American of any of theprominent played
the
the trade. The firstAmerican ship to make the voyage camefrom port ofNew
factory grew at a rapid rate. From 1784,
York, and the city surpassed of long-standing exchange
with China.
all others in terms
when American vessels accounted for
The arms all contain the essential symbols of Fame andJustice, but there is great
fewer than 3 percent of all foreign ships in variation in painting styles and in the representation of the diferent motifs in the
Canton, to 1800, they had increased by a central design, some personalized with a name or initials.
factor of ten.
New York swiftly became America's
busiest market for 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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