Page 47 - Made For Trade Chinese Export Paintings In Dutch Collections

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their evaluation today and in the past. culture brings “a good deal of baggage” and “it
Finally, Appadurai refers to the commodity carries a sense of shared meanings and symbolic
context of the variety of social arenas within or codes that can create communities of people.” 38
between cultural units. Where and when does For this reason, visual culture can be useful in
exchange take place? To elaborate, it is clear that my analysis of what these paintings mean, taking
the exchange with ‘strangers’, as is the case ‘culture’ (the producing as well as the receiving
within the China trade, provided the right culture) as a starting point for this visual
circumstances for the commodification of the analysis. However, this is not the aim of this
paintings under discussion. This specific context dissertation. As mentioned, the actors active in
– a true bazaar setting likely to encourage the historical China trade community did not
46 commodity flows – with transactions across share a common cultural background and
cultural boundaries, brought together buyers generally differed in ideas about cultural
from abroad and local sellers from China. These concepts. That is why, in this study, the
actors originated from quite different cultural construction of use value is examined. Spatial
systems and shared only the most minimal and temporal elements, human or institutional
understandings from a conceptual point of view actions towards these artworks, organised
about these paintings. They agreed only about systematically or not, and their materiality, all
the terms of trade. have a role to play at a specific moment in time.
To re-capitulate the commodity dynamics at Meanwhile, Poole argues that the word
work in the case of Chinese export paintings in ‘economy’ suggests that: “the field of vision is
Dutch collections, we have seen that manifold organised in some systematic way.” 39 In a more
facets are at work: spatial, temporal and social specific sense, working with this visual economic
aspects in order to identify their use value; the standpoint, I think of a creative, efficient and
forms of functions of use (or exchange), how the well-organised system that is characterised by
artwork, with its materiality, acquired or lost connections and structures that are related to
value; the ways in which said values affected production and exchange in order the meet the
interactions between people and objects; and the high demand of Western customers for visual
ways in which these interactions are to be attractive paintings. In addition, the term ‘visual
determined. Using the commodity approach in economy’ allows us to think clearly about the
this vibrant manner, it is possible to state global channels through which these paintings
something about Chinese export paintings’ have travelled between the South Chinese
valuation in the course of time. Other, harbour cities of the Pearl River delta and the
complementary, concepts that are sufficient for Western world. Through their exchange –
disclosing a more complete image of this primarily through economic networks – they
painting genre and for understanding this entered the global ‘visual economy’ as highly
specific artistic phenomenon are ‘visual desirable and attractive curiosities. We can easily
economy’ and ‘material complex’. imagine them as part of a shared economy, but
to speak of them as part of a shared culture is
2.3. rather more difficult.
Chinese export painting as part of For Made for Trade, which studies value
a visual economy accruement mechanisms, the visual economy
The concept of ‘visual economy’ is discussed by angle reveals aspects that we must consider
visual anthropologist Deborah Poole in Vision, when appraising the painting genre central to
Race and Modernity. 37 This notion of a this research. Again, the Leembruggen View of
comprehensive organisation of people, ideas and the waterfront of Canton painting in Museum
objects, is useful due to the similarities with the Volkenkunde, for example, can be looked upon
historical China trade, from which the export as exemplary for this visual economic practice.
painting practice emerged. Poole prefers, and Reproductions of this painting can be found in
I agree with her, to use ‘visual economy’ above various authorative museum collections around
‘visual culture’, because, as she states, the term the world, as well in ethnographic, (art) historic

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37 Poole 1997. Since 2002, Deborah Poole has been Professor at the Department of Anthropology of The Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore. Following an intensive examination of photographs and engravings in European,
Peruvian, and US archives relating to the Andean image world, in Vision, Race and Modernity she explores the role
visual images and technologies have played in shaping modern understandings of race.
38 Poole 1997, 8.
39 Ibid.