Chinese Porcelain

Chinese export porcelain is porcelain made in China specifically for the European market and, from the late 18th century, the American market. From about the late 15th century blue and white ware were made and decorated with their armorial devices; by the late 16th century, towards the end of the Ming period, several provincial factories seem to have begun production specifically for the European market. The porcelain these factories produced was generally the same in shape and decoration to that being produced for the Chinese market- except that it was inferior in quality.

Under the Ch’ing dynasty, the export trade increased and larghe quantities of Yi-hsing stoneware, Celadon, white Te-hua porcelain (called blanc-de-chine in Europe) as well as blue and white polychrome porcelain (particularly Famille Juane, Rose and Verte) were sent to Europe each year.

The Chinese porcelain makers made certain concessions to European tastes: plates were made with wide flat rims, saucers were supplied with tea cups, vases were made in sets of three or five. The porcelain’s decoration also tended to be much more crowded and without as much symbolic significance. (Europeans tended to prefer picturesque mixtures of dragons, flowers and men to symbols of the Eight Precious Things.

In the late 17th century, factories started to produce porcelain based on the drawings of the coats of arms provided to them by European customers. The drawings would be enameled in the centre of every plate and tureen and surrounded by pretty borders of Chinese flowers. This practice proved to be enormously popular throughout England in the 18th century. The American market preferred representations of the American flag and eagle or little ships flying the flag.

Interest in China began to decline in the 19th century and the Chinese began to cater to increasingly lower strata of European society. The quality of the ware decreased significantly; the best products of this period are probably the unpretentious blue and white nanking’ plates (left).

Interested in collecting Chionese Porcelain? Check out this Beginner’s Guide.

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