Page 312 - Chinese and japanese porcelain silk and lacquer Canepa

Conclusions [3.6] from the private kilns of Zhangzhou in the southern province of Fujian was regularly

imported, too, from the late sixteenth century onwards. Finds have also demonstrated
that the fine white-glazed porcelain known as Blanc de chine from the private kilns of
Dehua in Fujian began to be imported into both the New World and Western Europe
at least as early as the late 1630s.
The similarities of the porcelain imported by the Iberians and by the Dutch
and English are not surprising. The Portuguese purchased porcelain that was brought
by Chinese junk traders first to Shangchuan and other clandestine trading posts,
and later to Macao; the Spanish purchased from the Chinese traders (and also from
Portuguese merchants) that brought porcelain to Manila and for a short period also
to Formosa. The Dutch and English acquired porcelain, as they did with silk, through
privateering against Portuguese and Spanish ships, as well as Chinese junks, or by
purchasing it from Chinese traders that came to their trading posts in Bantam, Patani
and Batavia. The differences that can be observed had their roots, just as with silk,
in the distribution, consumer reception and use of the various types of porcelain
imported into the home countries in Western Europe and the colonies in the New
World, and were related to their individual political, mercantile and religious policies.
As the studies by Gasch-Tomás and Krahe have recently demonstrated, they are mostly
found, rather unexpectedly, between the Iberian societies of Portugal and Spain, and
the Spanish colonial societies of the New World. In Portugal, the large quantities
of porcelain imported were highly valued by the royalty and high-ranking nobility.
By the early 1560s, as shown in the previous pages, the nobility had incorporated
porcelain into their daily life not only by displaying pieces in private and public spaces
From the information provided by the primary and secondary sources, and the of their households but also by using it as tableware. It is in fact in Portugal that
marine and terrestial archaeological finds discussed in this Chapter it is possible to the custom of displaying porcelain in a separate architectural space or room specially
conclude that the Iberians, the Dutch and English regularly imported Chinese trade created for that purpose has been first recorded. Members of the Lisbon royal court
porcelain into Western Europe and the New World, the Iberians since the sixteenth played an important role in spreading a taste for porcelain as they supplied relatives
century, the Dutch and English since the early seventeenth century. They purchased residing at other European courts, and also provided the clergy, as well as courtiers and
several porcelain types that were similar, but in the early seventeenth century already servants, with porcelain and other Asian goods. It has been shown that in particular
a difference in shape and decorations can be distinguished in the assortments of the the clergy valued porcelain for both religious and practical uses not only in Lisbon,
Dutch, compared to those of the others. but also in other cities. Archaeological excavations have demonstrated that by the
The majority of the porcelain imported was blue-and-white from the private turn of the sixteenth century porcelain was widely distributed throughout Portugal.
kilns of Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Initially, traditional sixteenth century trade In contrast, only a small quantity of porcelain appears to have been imported into
porcelain was shipped, but from about 1573 it mostly consisted of a new type known Spain, via Lisbon or the viceroyalty of New Spain, where it was intended almost
as Kraak. This porcelain rapidly became the standard trade ware until the early 1630s. exclusively for the royal court, clergy, high-ranking nobility and wealthy merchants
Marine archaeological finds confirm textual sources that since then the porcelain of Seville. Considerable quantities of porcelain, however, are documented as having
imported into Western Europe and the New World included both Kraak and the been imported into the Southern Netherlands by the early seventeenth century, where
porcelain decorated in the so-called Transitional style. The finds have also shown that the custom of displaying porcelain has been recorded as early as the late 1610s. In the
until the turn of the sixteenth century the imports consisted mostly of porcelain of New World, the large quantities of porcelain imported in the late sixteenth century
open forms, such as dishes, plates and bowls. The decorative schemes of certain types into New Spain, and for a period also into Peru, were widely distributed throughout
of this blue-and-white trade porcelain, such as plates with the phoenix in profile, must the Spanish viceroyalties and thus came to be incorporated into the daily life not only
have been very popular as they continued to be made at Jingdezhen and imported into of the Spanish elite, Creoles and clergy but also of the indigenous population, if only
both Western Europe and the New World for several decades. Porcelain decorated in small quantities.
with overglaze enamels, solely or in combination with underglaze cobalt blue, was Something similar occurred in the Northern Netherlands/Dutch Republic,
imported in small quantities. This included porcelain of the Kinrande type with gold where the enormous quantities of porcelain imported by the VOC or as private
leaf decoration, as well as wucai (five colour) porcelain. Textual sources suggest that trade in the early decades of the seventeenth century appear to have been widely
blue-and-white porcelain with gold leaf decoration was also imported. Archaeological distributed. Textual, archaeological and visual sources have shown that porcelain was
finds indicate that a small quantity of the thicker and somewhat coarser porcelain highly appreciated by the Stadholders, VOC servants and wealthy merchants, who

310 Silk, Porcelain and Lacquer Trade in Chinese Porcelain 311