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Orders from Europe: Features of Chinese Export Porcelain
Chinese porcelain was first imported to Europe by Portuguese traders. However, the glossy ware was not supposed to be profitable and was bought as ballast for silk, lacquer ware, spice, and other dearly cargos.
It turned out European customers thought differently: they were mesmerized by the "ballast" from the East and porcelain gradually took the place of silk and spice in maritime trade. The first shipments of Chinese porcelain were not tailor-made for European customers and were still of strong Chinese and Islamic styles. In terms of decoration, the export porcelain followed the Chinese tradition which was characterized by a number of motifs ranging from fables and myths to nature and buildings. Auspicious emblems were also found on the export porcelain: mandarin ducks for love, cranes for longevity, bats for happiness, horse and monkey for promotion, deer for a raise in emoluments, etc. .
Kraak porcelain is typical Chinese export porcelain in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. "Most characteristic of Kraak decoration is the use of foliated radial panels. In other words, the surface of the porcelain is divided into segments, each containing its own discrete image." The number of segments ranges from four to more than twenty and they are usually fan-, oval-, or diamond-shaped. Inside the segments are Chinese traditional patterns of stylized flowers, chrysanthemums, and pomegranate.
As Chinese porcelain entered the European market, Europeans began to throw in coats of arms and other western elements. As a result, the European upper classes then started the fashion of using made-toorder porcelain ware. Now, we can still appreciate the 7-page pattern catalogs of the East India Company in Hague Municipal Museum and the two sample dishes in Victoria and Albert Museum. The few remaining evidences have also helped us reproduce the process of the porcelain business. In 1730s, China saw masses of orders rolling in from Europe. Customers handed their patterns to merchants who then passed the orders to ceramists in Jingdezhen. Finally, the ceramic masters mimicked out the lustrous and luxurious items, which were shipped from Guangzhou back to the European customers.
Another common type of Chinese export porcelain is armorial porcelain. Armorial ware is ceramics decorated with coats of arms of a family,...