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'The colours of each piece' : production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

The innovation of enamels and enamel painting techniques on porcelain during the 1720s marked the establishment of a new type of porcelain product which soon played a significant role in Chinese porcelain consumption, both domestically and globally. Yet, the impact of this innovation on production and consumption has rarely been studied. This thesis addresses this gap by offering a historical perspective on eighteenth century Chinese enamelled porcelain, its production and consumption, both in domestic and export markets. It is demonstrated that both the Qing court and the local manufactures responded actively to new technological developments. Following the discussion on how the court and local manufactures interacted and the technology was transferred, my thesis continues to demonstrate the impact of technological innovation on the domestic and export markets. It has shown in domestic market, enamelled porcelain was not only consumed by the imperial court, as current scholarship assumed, rather it had reached a wider set of consumers. In terms of export porcelain trade, my detailed examinations and analyses of the English East India Company Records demonstrate that enamelled porcelain played significant roles over different periods. Overall, this research contributes to knowledge about enamelled porcelain consumption in eighteenth-century China and beyond, and also sheds light on the study of Chinese porcelain and the Chinese porcelain trade. The discussion on the enamelled porcelain trade between China and the English East India Company during the eighteenth century provides a detailed insight into how the Chinese porcelain trade developed and changed over time.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:723152
Date January 2017
CreatorsTang, Hui
PublisherUniversity of Warwick
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttp://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/91791/

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