The process of European imitation of Chinese porcelain
2021-04-13

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The spread of ancient Chinese culture and art usually reached Southeast Asia first, so did the ceramic culture. By the third century AD, Chinese culture and art had already exerted a profound influence in Southeast Asia. A case in point is that many palaces in Southeast Asia have Chinese-style things.

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Some countries also employ Chinese craftsmen in the fields of furniture, jewelry and lacquer carvings to decorate their palaces. At the same time, Chinese technology and design ideas are combined with local traditions to create new art forms. After that, porcelain became the focus of the dissemination and export of Chinese culture and art. The unearthed data from Thailand, Korea, Japan, Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and other places proved that, for example, white porcelain from Xing kiln of the Tang Dynasty, celadon from Yue kiln, Changsha kiln, Meixian kiln of Guangdong Province, and utensils from the Tang tri-glazed pottery were unearthed.

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Porcelain exported during the Song Dynasty was excavated in many places in Asia and Africa, such as Longquan kilns in Zhejiang, Dehua, Tong 'an and Quanzhou kilns in Fujian, Chao 'an kilns in Guangdong, Xicun kilns in Guangdong, Cizhou kilns in Hebei, and Yaozhou kilns in Shaanxi.

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From the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, there were specially fired porcelain for sale abroad, such as blue and white of the Yuan Dynasty. It is mainly sold to Japan, Vietnam, India, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Iran, Turkey and other places. The main export products are Longquan kilns, Qingbai porcelain, Jizhou kilns, Jianyao kilns and porcelain kilns in the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong.

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The Ming Dynasty continued to sell to Asia and Africa, but also began to export a large number of porcelain products to Europe. Until the second half of the 17th century, Chinese porcelain has been all over the world.(Note 2)

Chinese porcelain spread all over the world, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, with Europe being the main destination. Then the period of the early spread to the Middle East opened the prelude to the import of Chinese porcelain into Europe.

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And this prologue became more and more valuable. "They [the Persians] produced a hard translucent pottery, somewhat similar to the soft porcelain that was later made in Europe. It is obvious that this pottery imitates a certain type of Chinese Song porcelain, either fixed or shadow celadon. At that time, both were imported to the Near East where they were generally valued."(Note 3)

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From this text, it can be seen that Chinese porcelain had already reached the Islamic region before it was exported to Europe, and then crossed into Europe through this region. As for the first spread of Chinese ceramics to the Arab world, Western scholar Ryan made a clear distinction: "At least in 800 AD, Chinese pottery and porcelain entered the Islamic region, prompting the unusual development of pottery in this region. The influence of Chinese pottery and porcelain on the region occurred in three stages, the first wave during the Tang Dynasty, the second wave during the Song Dynasty and the third wave during the Ming Dynasty."(Note 4)

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According to a large number of excavations, the production of blue and white porcelain and colored glaze with white background in Islamic areas was influenced by China.

When German scholar Ledderose studied the formation of the world market and the production of porcelain in the 17th and 18th centuries, he believed that the production mode of the Chinese enabled them to dominate the international trade and changed the history of the world ceramic industry. We will also see how the West is trying to catch up with China.(Note 5)

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Chinese porcelain exported to Europe was mainly blue and white porcelain from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Since the middle Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, millions of pieces of Chinese porcelain were continuously shipped to different parts of the world by Portuguese and Dutch merchant ships. Dutch merchants began to introduce the shapes and patterns of utensils popular in Europe to China in order to make the daily necessities produced in Jingdezhen conform to the habits of European people. During this period, the porcelain decoration appeared foreign characters, family emblems of western countries, compacts, spouts, etc., which also forced Jingdezhen kiln factory to pay more attention to the needs of Europeans.(Note 6)

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Europeans absorbed a large number of Chinese porcelain. According to rough statistics of Western experts, from the 17th century to the early 19th century, the number of porcelain imported from China to Europe reached 137 million to 144 million pieces. Especially in the 18th century, the European porcelain trade experienced such stages as ordering porcelain (1721-1744), custom-made porcelain (1744-the end of the 18th century), and importing general porcelain (1780-the end of the 18th century).

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Ordering porcelain reflects the large demand for Chinese porcelain in Europe. The customization stage reflects the independent and diversified demands of the European market. Importing general porcelain reflects that Europe has developed its own porcelain and no longer relies on high quality goods imported from China, but only needs general goods to meet daily needs.(Note 7)

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From the point of view of the cultural exchange process, there are such processes as import, imitation, variation, innovation and so on, that is, from the complete import and imitation of Chinese porcelain; To part of the imitation of part of the creation, such as the design of the creation; Finally, self-innovation, the establishment of new varieties.

In order to be authentic, no matter what kind of porcelain it looks like, it will be marked "Made in China" on the base.

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This is the usual pattern of cultural exchange, and it is consistent with the view of cultural anthropology that the spread of a culture is like a catapult pond, which stirs up microwaves on the surface of the water, spreading layer by layer from the inside to the outside. On the contrary, when a country accepts a foreign culture, it is gradually digested and absorbed from the outside into the inside.

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One hundred years ago, a Chinese scholar described the spread of Chinese porcelain to the West in this way: "Starting from the Korean educational system, it gradually spread to the East and West. It is regarded as a ring treasure, and it is engaged in imitation. Compared with the Chinese porcelain, it will eventually fail to catch. To, the town craftsmen, once went to Japan, see its attainments are not deep, calmly if lost. Foreign countries also regard themselves as worthy."(Note 8)

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"When outsiders first came to China, they saw good porcelain. They buy with a lot of money without hesitation. Exquisite bottle a bowl expensive to thousands of gold. Then he has hired good workers, deliberately copied. Although its style is good but not better than that made by China."The Chinese scholar gave an objective account of the process by which Western countries, their Asian neighbors, imitated China's porcelain production. However, in the process of imitating China, Western countries eventually gave birth to their own porcelain manufacturing industry.

Note 1, ARTS OF SOUTHEAST ASIANO.6, by Fiona KerlogueThames & Hudson world of art

Note 2, Concise Ceramic Dictionary Edited by Wang Qingzheng, 51 pages, Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House

Note 3, Oriental Blue and White China by British Harry Garner, 2 pages, Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 1992

Note 4, Early Islamic Pottery P5,by Arthur Lane, Faber AND Raber 24 Russell Square, London

Note 5, All Things by Redehou, Sanlian Publishing House, 2005

Note 6, Identification of Porcelain in Ming and Qing Dynasties by Geng Baochang, 124 and 141 pages, Forbidden City Press, etc.

Note 7, The History of Cultural Relations between China and the West, by Zhang Guogang and Wu Liwei, 335 pages, Higher Education Press

Note 8, "Jiangxi Tongzhi" (Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China), 175 pages, Guide to the Identification of Ancient Porcelain, by Wu Zongci, Beijing Yanshan Publishing House, 1993

Note 9, "Guide to the Identification of Ancient Porcelain" (Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China), 176 pages, Wu Zongci, Beijing Yanshan Press, 1993