A Primer on Asian Export Porcelain

For those of you who are knowledgeable and familiar with export porcelain from Asia, this blog will be very basic.  However, we hope that readers who have only recently become interested in Chinese and Japanese porcelain find this helpful.

The subject of Export Porcelain is both simple and complicated.  Simple because its broadest definition refers to porcelain made in Asia specifically for the purpose of export to the west.  It becomes complicated because of the varieties of export porcelain made due to the tastes of the markets to which the porcelain was being shipped, the manufacturing sophistication of exporter, and the trading traditions and laws of both the importing and exporting countries.

Early trade between Europe and Far East Asia was restricted to overland travel via the silk-road through the current Middle East and dates from the second century A.D.  Marco Polo is probably the most notable trader.  With the advent of ocean shipping trade grew quickly and was represented by traders of practically each country in Europe.  Initial east/west shipping trade was dominated by Portuguese and Dutch merchants and then rapidly by British traders.  In each case, a single, large company was given monopolies for trade with specific Chinese and/or Japanese cities.  The English East India Company, for example, was organized in 1600 and created to control the commercial activities between England and China.  In Japan, although initiated by Portuguese and Spanish merchants, the Dutch East Indies Company came to dominate the trade through the 1600’s.

It wasn’t until the American Revolution that significant trade occurred between North America and Far East Asia.  The two primary catalysts for the growth of this trade were: a. the advent of the clipper ships that allowed wealthy businessmen to find lucrative markets for products in Asia from America and for Asian products (silk, tea, and porcelain) in the rapidly growing U.S., and b. the expansion of U.S. Navy and its influence on American trading policy.

So much for background.  In many cases the reference name for the type of Export Porcelain comes from the name of the Asian city from which the porcelain came.  For example, “Canton” came from Canton, China and “Imari” came from the port of Imari, Japan.  It would be nice and easy if this were the only designator.  Within some of these broadly named designators there are other names such as Famille Rose, Rose Medallion,  Fitzhugh ware, armorial porcelain etc.  Each one refers to differences in colors, patterns, glaze and firing techniques, and form.