The History of Chinese Porcelain

during the 19th century britain was mass producing large quantities of beautiful high quality porcelain which was exported all over the world one of the most famous mass-produced designs from the period was the blue willow pattern which was designed by thomas minton in the 1790s perhaps what is most striking about this design considering it was made in england is that the blue willow pattern depicts an asian landscape how is it that thomas minton an english artist who had never been to asia managed to create such a vivid depiction of an asian landscape the secret is that his design the blue willow pattern was a copy of an earlier chinese import this chinese saucer dates from the ten long period in the 18th century and was produced especially for export to europe when this chinese design is placed alongside the english blue willow design the similarities are unmistakable both designs have two birds circling each other at the top and in the background there is a small chinese sampan style boat which were common in southern china at the right side of both designs there is a chinese pine tree next to a small pagoda and at the center of each piece there stands a willow tree we do not know for sure that thomas minton did copy the design of this chinese import but considering that the design is essentially identical we can assume that he did this is just one of many examples of western porcelain imitating the designs of chinese import porcelain using this selection of british dutch and chinese antique porcelain i'm going to tell the story of the history of porcelain from its origins in china its introduction into europe the trade between china and europe of porcelain and how european manufacturers began mass producing mock chinese porcelain which they even began exporting into the asian market [Music] the manufacture of porcelain is a long and complex process that requires skill and high quality resources in imperial china porcelain production consisted of six distinct steps the first stage was the mining of the required ingredients which were clay flint and silica these raw materials were then crushed to create a fine mixture this crushing was achieved by a variety of man-held tools hammer mills and also the stomping of the hooves of an ox this mixture was then filtered to remove impurities next the mixture was formed into the shape of the final product by the hands of the artisans the fourth step was to bisque fire the formed mixture at 1 000 degrees centigrade so that any remaining volatile impurities would be vaporized and so that the mixture would not shrink when fired the second time in the kiln after this the glaze a transparent layer made primarily of silica was added on the surface of the ceramic [Music] once the glaze had been applied the mixture was then fired in a kiln at temperatures of 1 400 centigrade for 8 hours the porcelain was then left to cool for 12 hours after which the porcelain manufacture was complete because the technology that produced porcelain was developed over the course of hundreds of years the precise date of its invention is disputed primitive forms of porcelain had existed in china as far back as the han dynasty 2 000 years ago but what would be considered by today's standards as true porcelain was actually developed in china during the song dynasty in the 10th century song dynasty porcelain is distinctive for its soft green grey color and the light cracks that are visible on the surface [Music] these cracks were a stylistic technique which occurred when the glaze cooled faster than the porcelain base the style of chinese porcelain evolved over the dynasties during the ming dynasty it was blue and white porcelain that was the most popular this colouring was achieved by applying a blue cobalt oxide pigment onto the white porcelain before it was glazed in the ting dynasty it was common for the decoration to include a wider array of colours which were typically applied on top of the glaze after the firing process [Music] the constant evolution in the style of chinese porcelain was the result of several factors the personal preferences of chinese emperors the advancements in the techniques used and materials available in porcelain production and the influences of the art from other civilizations which had been imported into china along the silk road trade route [Music] blue and white islamic ceramics certainly provided inspiration for chinese blue and white porcelain and the blue pigment that the chinese used was imported from persia porcelain was produced at kilns all over china but the best quality porcelain was manufactured at the imperial kilns which had been ordered to produce porcelain by the chinese emperor one of the most famous and most productive imperial kilns was which was established by the third emperor of the song dynasty emperor gen zhong in the year 1004 this location was chosen because of the high quality clay deposits which were available from the nearby mountain the english name for this high quality clay kaolin was derived from the chinese name for this clay gowling over the following centuries the name ding der jen became synonymous with exceptionally high quality porcelain a reputation that the city retains till this day [Music] chinese porcelain was admired throughout asia and had been transported by ship to japan korea and southeast asia since the tongue dynasty in the 7th century the first europeans to have contact with chinese porcelain were the portuguese who began trading in asia in the 16th century in the year 1557 the chinese ming dynasty gave permission for the portuguese to establish a small settlement on the macau peninsula in the south of china from their trading hub in macau the portuguese purchased large quantities of porcelain from the chinese and exported them to the rest of asia for a profit yet porcelain was an unknown substance in 16th century europe meaning that there was no market for porcelain therefore portuguese ships traveling to europe were transporting oriental spices the first large batch of porcelain which made its way to europe was actually loot which had been gained through combat [Applause] in the year 1602 the dutch portuguese war broke out in which the two countries fought for control of trade and colonial possessions in asia africa and the americas in the first year of the war in 1602 dutch battleships attacked and captured a portuguese merchant vessel which was laden with porcelain [Music] the dutch plundered this porcelain and transported it back to the netherlands [Music] back in amsterdam an auction was organized to sell these mysterious oriental ceramics which was attended by representatives of king james the first of england and king henry iv of france this porcelain was unlike anything the europeans had seen before the europeans were mesmerized by porcelain and tried in vain to recreate it but no matter how much time or how much effort they put in they were unable to recreate the smooth gloss and white translucency of chinese porcelain because europeans lacked the ability to create porcelain it was seen as a foreign luxury which signified high status and sophistication almost overnight porcelain became one of the most sought after items of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie of europe between the years 1604 and 1657 over 3 million pieces of chinese porcelain were imported from china into europe due to the high demand from the european market the chinese began creating porcelain especially made for export to europe this export porcelain which was not sold domestically in china featured motifs which were more attuned with the tastes of the european customer typically this included flowers distinctly chinese landscapes and government mandarins this became known as crackware and this is an example of crackware from 1750. this porcelain saucer was manufactured at ding durgen which had begun creating porcelain for the european market in the late ming dynasty as is common with crackware there are a few defects on the surface of the glaze such flaws would have been overlooked on export crackware but on porcelain made for the domestic chinese market such faults would have been unacceptable and the porcelain would have been promptly destroyed this particular piece was salvaged from the wreck of the dutch east india company ship the geldermausden which sunk in the south china sea in 1752 the dutch east india company had dominated trade between asia and europe in the 17th and early 18th centuries this trade preeminence was possible because of the strong dutch navy good relations with asian governments and trade outposts in asia one of these trading settlements was dutch formosa which consists of present day western taiwan from their base on formosa the dutch were able to cross these straits and purchase porcelain directly from the production centers on the east coast of china dutch relations with the ming dynasty deteriorated in the 1660s and they were forced out of formosa in 1662 yet after the ming was replaced by the subsequent tink dynasty in 1664 the dutch returned to give their assistance to the new ting in defeating the old ming loyalists this earned the dutch the trust of the new ting dynasty trust that resulted in preferential trade the story of this porcelain bowl gives us a great insight into the level of the cooperation between the dutch and the chinese in the 17th and 18th centuries in the 1710s the base of this porcelain piece was made in china a blue cobalt pigment was applied to the white porcelain and then it was glazed and fired in the kiln this base was then transported to the netherlands where it was given its multi-coloured overpaint layer through this chinese dutch cooperation chinese porcelain of the highest quality was given decoration by european artists accordingly this chinese porcelain carries distinctly european decoration yet despite the availability of european painted porcelain pieces with oriental designs were still the most popular in europe before it was possible to produce porcelain in europe the dutch were already making tin glazed earthenware with designs which were inspired by chinese import porcelain the manufacturer of this glazed earthenware was centered in the dutch town of delft and in the 17th century they began creating magnificent pieces such as this dutch mock porcelain first gained popularity in the 1660s when the supply of authentic porcelain from china had been interrupted during the collapse of the ming dynasty yet it remained popular in europe even after trade with china was restored as it was not only much cheaper than the imported authentic porcelain but it also looked almost indistinguishable from the real thing the style of this dish with multiple panels radiating around a central image was an imitation of one of the most popular chinese styles of the period over time the word crackware which had originally referred to all types of imported chinese porcelain began to refer only to this particular style of chinese porcelain beginning in the 1680s dutch pottery began to be marked by an insignia that identified both the factory where it was produced and the rough date of its production the marking on the bottom of this piece tells us that it was made in a factory called the porcelain frizz which roughly translates in english to the porcelain bottle this particular marking indicates that it was made around the year 1890 dutch pottery markings contrast with those found on the base of chinese porcelain which typically only recorded the name of the emperor under whose reign the porcelain was produced throughout the 17th century the dutch had dominated both the importation of authentic porcelain from china and the production of imitation chinese porcelain in europe but in the early 18th century two new developments brought about the end of dutch preeminence in these two areas the first was the discovery in 1708 of how to make porcelain in europe by the german alchemist johann friedrich bottiger botiga relied on the deposits of cowling clay which were found in saxony the same high quality clay which was used in ding derjen china two years later in 1710 the elector of saxony augustus the strong opened the royal porcelain factory in maison near present day dresden in germany the maison factory was the first production center of porcelain in europe and in accordance with the tastes of the european consumer of the period its porcelain was also decorated with chinese inspired designs the emergence of real porcelain in europe made the dutch mock porcelain less attractive to the european consumer the second new development in the 18th century was the rise in the power of the british navy from the beginning of the 18th century the british had begun to erode the dutch dominance in the trade of chinese porcelain in the year 1721 four british ships alone had imported eight hundred thousand pieces of chinese porcelain into europe yet it was the fourth angelo dutch war of 1718-84 that finally shattered dutch trade preeminence the british used their overwhelming navy power to crush the dutch and gain control of global trade groups the british were now the main european trading partner with china but they were still unsatisfied with the terms of trade the ting dynasty was isolationist and fearful of the intentions of foreigners inside the country by imperial edict all trade with the outside world had to be channeled through one of 13 merchants based in the southern city of guangzhou alongside the many other stringent regulations on trade the british were also struggling to find a product which could successfully sell in the chinese market this meant that because of the large quantities of porcelain alongside tea and silk that the british were importing they were stricken with a massive trade deficit with china therefore the british sent their first diplomatic mission to china headed by the statesman george mccartney mccartney's delegation met with the ten long emperor and alongside introducing to him potential british products such as brass from birmingham and linen from ireland they also tried to convince the emperor to relax their restrictions on british merchants to open new ports to trade and also to allow the establishment of a british embassy in beijing the chinese emperor was uninterested believing that chinese products like porcelain were far superior to anything the british had to offer mccartney failed to achieve his aims but the trade imbalance with china would eventually be solved by other means it was around the same time in the 1790s that britain too began producing porcelain at home the center of british porcelain production was in the west midlands of england many family-owned porcelain companies had been established in the area with famous examples including minton and spode [Music] the founder of the former thomas minton was the designer of the blue willow pattern whilst the founder of the latter josiah spode is credited with the invention of fine bone china which is where animal bone is added to the porcelain mixture to increase its translucency and strength the other ingredients required for the porcelain mixture were sourced from across britain the clay was excavated from cornwall the flint originated in kent and the coal was mined in yorkshire aided by britain's strong global trading network the west midlands of england quickly became one of the world centers for the production of porcelain early examples of british porcelain are clearly made by hand this spode cup and saucer which dates from the 1810s has a handle that has the hallmarks of one which was put together by hand the colourful flowers on the surface of the porcelain were also painted by hand just like dutch delft porcelain the markings on the base of the british porcelain can reveal to us the company that produced the piece and also through the style of the mark we can ascertain the approximate date of production again this vars which dates from the same period in the early 19th century also carries a company mark on its base although information about this particular company is almost non-existent today presumably because it was made by a relatively small british company which did not produce many pieces of porcelain the decoration on this british vars looks very similar to chinese blue and white porcelain showing us that these asian style designs were still popular in 19th century britain these unique pieces of porcelain are beautiful but they are not what makes british porcelain from the period stand out what makes british porcelain from the 19th century so special is that it was the first type of porcelain which could be called transfer aware transfer wear is essentially mass-produced porcelain the design is engraved into a copper or steel plate so that it can be printed onto multiple pieces of porcelain this method does not only mean that the design can be applied faster but it also ensures that the design will be consistent across every single piece thus by using this new technology british porcelain manufacturers were able to mass produce large quantities of chinese looking porcelain at a very low price this british mock chinese transferware began to be sold worldwide and by the mid 19th century many british manufacturers were producing chinese looking products especially made for export into the asian market one such example was this rice plate which was manufactured by john and matthew p bell and company in the 1890s this plate was produced for sale in the malaysian market and the design carried the name canton another name for the city of guangzhou the southern chinese city where the majority of chinese porcelain was sold from between the years 1887 and 1892 the same company had produced 25 new patterns which were designed specifically to appeal to the local populations of asia the british trade deficit with china was eventually resolved when they discovered a product which was popular within the chinese market opium the british sale of opium in china which was technically outlawed by the ting dynasty eventually led to the outbreak of the first anglo-chinese war also known as the first opium war in 1839 the chinese were defeated in the war and became subservient to british demands the chinese economy entered into a downward spiral and they entered into their century of humiliation lagging behind their industrialized competitors in europe the chinese were no longer the world's most advanced porcelain manufacturer [Music] over time designs that had originated in the imported chinese porcelain were adopted by european manufacturers as their own and now that low-cost high-quality chinese-looking porcelain was being manufactured in europe it was more accessible to the average european [Music] [Music]

Channel: Bygone China

Views: 47,799

Keywords: Chinese, History, Porcelain, Antique, Wedgewood, Kraak, Kraak Ware, Spode, British Empire, Dutch East India Company

Id: FBKxT9Zhtg8

Length: 28min 16sec (1696 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 10 2020