Page 58 - Chinese Export Porcelain Art, MET MUSEUM 2003

to be copied. One rare surviving memoran- Foochow (Fuzhou) in 1844, when the United
dum dating to 1811 concerns a service States signed the Treaty of Wanghia, so
ordered from Benjamin Chew Wilcocks of named after a small village near Macao.

Philadelphia, who operated a successful While tea and textiles were still imported in
business in Canton (fig. 61). It mentions a sizable quantities, porcelain and other deco-
drawn pattern, regrettably no longer known rative items now accounted for a smaller
to survive, sent with the order to Canton. percentage of the China trade.
A bowl from this service bears classical At midcentury tastes turned to overelab-
motifs similar to those on Parisian wares, oration of the decoration on silver, carpets,
indicative of the importation into China of carved furniture, and upholstery fabrics.
designs fueled by the prevailing taste of This shift in preference had an immediate
wealthy Americans for Parisian porcelains. effect on imported Chinese goods. For

As the nineteenth century progressed, example, heavy repousse designs of flowers
travel became easier, and tourists from this and landscapes in a naturalistic style, pro-

country witnessed firsthand the skills of moted in America especially by Samuel Kirk
Chinese artisans and painters and were fas- of Baltimore, were mimicked by Chinese
cinated by their creations. They returned craftsmen. Their high-relief designs on
with many goods, including reverse paint- Western silver forms made for export fea-
ings on glass (fig. 60) and watercolor and ture scenes of Chinese warriors in battle and
gouache landscapes and vignettes of the are graced with dragons' heads and tails
stages of work needed to produce various that served as finials and handles (fig. 62).
handcrafted products. Also prized were The vogue for large porcelain services
decorative household furnishings made of was revived, especially by families retaining

lacquer, carved ivories, silks, soapstone ties to the China trade. These services were
carvings, metalwork (silver, pewter, and often densely decorated in overglaze enam-
paktong, an alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel els and gilding, with tight floral scrollwork
that resembles silver), and, of course, surrounding panels of figures or flowers-a
porcelains. style that gained in popularity beginning
Porcelain was still imported commer- about 1840. They were often personalized
cially in very large quantities. By the 1820s, by the addition of an elaborate monogram
at least, the more common blue and white in a central reserve (fig. 63). Ulysses S.
ware-called Canton ware-was shipped in Grant ordered such a service just prior to
such numbers that this cargo was calcu- becoming president, and no doubt this
lated as part of a vessel's ballast. During the acquisition for use in the White House
mid-nineteenth century, trade, which was ensured the success of the style in America.
disrupted during the Opium Wars of the Patriotism revived late in the century,

1840s, became less regulated. Merchants, culminating in a major celebration of the
who had been required to deal only with nation's one-hundredth birthday in 1876 at
the small number of factories in Canton, the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.
were given far greater latitude and the right Among the many attractions of the fair was
to do business in Hong Kong, Shanghai, the Chinese booth, where decorative items
Ningbo, Amoy (Fujian [Xiamen]), and were displayed and offered for sale.

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