We continue sampling tidbits from the doctoral thesis of Tang Hui, in order to draw out facts which help us date Chinese porcelains, and to pass along a few interesting stories which attend to the porcelain industry and trade in the 18th century.
By way of review, the Kangxi emperor established an enameled porcelain shop within the imperial court in 1693, and the wares produced were exclusively for the court. Yet as also noted, these wares also became produced and consumed by lower strata of Chinese society.
In fact, chapter 3 of Dr Hui’s dissertation is that enameled porcelains of the European flavor were produced and used for all levels of society, and for export as well.
Citing the work of Robert Finlay, Hui states that domestic porcelain consumption during the 10th – 1th centuries was a substitute for jade or made for every day utensils, whereas the most decorative were in imitation of bronzes.
Turning to Shelagh Vainker, Hui notes that blue and white porcelain, along with silk, became a commodity more so than a luxury item, and had long lost its status symbolism in the 18th century, a situation quite different than in Europe.
One of the points Hui makes about porcelains in the 18th C. is that they were valued as much for their technical craftsmanship as for their aesthetics in much the same way that a watch maker or car manufacturer might tout a new patented technology which makes their products more valuable than a competitor’s.
One interesting change which enameled porcelains brought was painting without outlines, a method which previously was standard, if not mandatory. The new colors allowed more spontaneity and freedom in decoration. In fact it is color which drove the domestic and export consumptions as the new colors enabled better representations of the decoration subjects. The improved visual impact of the polychrome decoration fueled the use of porcelain as status symbols because they were very inviting to display in homes, and to impress visitors.
Finally, Hui notes that the Chinese were just as enamored of European goods as the latter were of Chinese.
We are not quite half through chapter 3, but honoring the aphorism that brevity is the soul of wit, we will close here with completion of this chapter in our next installment.