Chinese Porcelains and their Early European Competitors

Abstract

AbstractAn account of the present knowledge regarding the earliest porcelain manufacture in China and its development into the hard paste porcelain which was exported into Europe during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and was so desired by a wealthy clientele. The logistics of the maritime trade between China and Europe in Chinese porcelains via the Honourable East India Company (British) and the Dutch VOC through the ports of Canton and Nanking, respectively. The role of the Portuguese in this trade. The growth and the rise of the Chinese Hongs as brokers and executors of commissions between the European traders and the Imperial porcelain manufactory at Jingdezhen. The creation of polychrome decoration on Chinese porcelain and of an alternative soft paste body variation from about 1730. The existence of Straits porcelain (Nonyaware) for Chinese emigres in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaya. Exploration of the knowledge transfer that existed between European factories prior to the advent of chemical analysis in efforts to compete with the Chinese imports in the production of porcelain, especially in the early Italian, English and French soft paste porcelain factories.KeywordsChinese porcelainsYuanMingQingEast India CompanyDutch VOCNonyawareStraits porcelainSoft paste porcelain composition