The Jesuits’ influence on the imagery decoration of porcelain during the Yongzheng reign

TheJesuits’ influence on the imagery decoration of porcelain during theYongzhengreign

In the eighteenth century during the Yongzheng reign (1723–1735) of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) European Jesuits became part of Beijing’s court life and contributed to the imperial Chinese art scene. Their Western style influenced Chinese contemporaries and initiated changes in the decoration of porcelain produced for the emperor and his court. While the Jesuits who worked as artists at the court often picked up on Chinese narratives their artistic approach differed from their Chinese colleagues and resulted in new artistic manners and themes.¹ Meanwhile, the trade with Europe flourished and contributed to the Chinese’s growing interest in European objects. This Occidentalism was the Chinese counterpart to Europe’s affinity with the Far East and likewise influenced the Chinese decoration on porcelain.² This essay aims to examine the extent to which the Jesuits’ work at the court and their European training influenced the imagery decoration on imperial porcelain and to which extent the stylistic changes resulted from the Jesuits’ presence or from the side effect of the trade with Europe in the eighteenth century. First, it is important to understand the decorative manner of imagery themes before the Jesuits’ pronounced presence in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Further, the essay attempts an overview on the artistic characteristics of the Jesuit art produced for the Qing court compared to the decoration on export ware for Europe. This section is followed by a stylistic analysis of four imperial porcelain wares of the Yongzheng period from the Percival David Collection and an examination of the visual influences that are found in their decoration. Finally, the essay summarises the analytical study and concludes with the consequential response to the essay’s question.

Compared to the preceding imagery decoration of porcelain the style during the Yongzheng period is more realistic and reminiscent of Western approaches. Earlier forms of decoration closely followed the Chinese taste and tradition of multiple vanishing points, imbalanced and non-centralised compositions, and rather stylised figures and forms. Although objects are sometimes cut-off on the edges of the motif the theme and the symbolic meaning of the decoration was unambiguous and explicit for the Chinese audience. These characteristics are demonstrated on dishes of the Kangxi period, such as the Dish with a lady and a man on a terrace (Jingdezhen porcelain with underglaze blue, Kangxi mark and period (1662–1722), d. 19.3 cm, Percival David Collection, London) and the Dish with figures in a garden (Jingdezhen porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue and copper red, 1671, Kangxi mark, d. 35.8 cm, Percival David Collection, London). Here, the scenery is asymmetrically arranged over the dish, objects are partly cut-off and neither figures nor forms appear naturalistic. Eighteenth century artisans started to enrich their drawn objects with more details and introduced a linear perspective to their more balanced compositions. A greater variety of colours including the refined palette of famille rose allowed a better modelling of forms as well as the application of shading and chiaroscuro, which characterised the more naturalistic style of the Yongzheng period. The appearing three-dimensionality of figures and the emulating realism of objects echoed contemporary Western approaches as visualised in the Dutch Jan Van Huysum’s Flowers in a Terracotta Vase (1736–37, oil on canvas, 133.5 x 91.5 cm, National Gallery, London). Chinese paintings started to embrace actual sceneries as well as personalised faces as visible in the Portrait of the Yongzheng Emperor Reading a Book (Anonymous court artist, Yongzheng period (1723–1735), hanging scroll, ink and colour on silk, 171.3 x 156.7 cm, Palace Museum, Beijing) and influenced porcelain decoration.³ Furthermore, European motifs as on the export Bowl with Western couple (Jingdezhen porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilt, c.1730–35, d. 15.2 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London) of blonde haired figures dressed in what was perceived as the contemporary European fashion entered the Chinese decorative palette and fuelled the imperial interest in the West.⁴ The realistic depictions and the linear perspective of the more balanced composition differ from the asymmetrical structure and the stylised forms of the preceding decorations on Chinese porcelain. The naturalistic style and the European motifs echo the Western approach in porcelain decoration of the Yongzheng period.

Jesuits from Europe contributed to the artistic output of the Qing dynasty. Jesuits were present at the court since the sixteenth century; however, they enriched its art scene not significantly until the eighteenth century. The Yongzheng emperor, his predecessor Kangxi (r. 1662–1722), and his successor Qianlong (r. 1736–1795) welcomed the artistic and technical advances brought to the court by the European missionaries. Especially during the Yongzheng period porcelain decoration reached a greater variety of sophisticated colours, which was partly a result of the Jesuits’ innovations.⁵ Furthermore, skilful artisans like the Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766) were encouraged to teach their European approaches and to supervise their Chinese colleagues.⁶ Yet, the art produced by the Jesuits at the court is rather adapted and adopted the Chinese style than it is entirely “Western” as visible in Castiglione’s Immortal Blossoms of an Eternal Spring (1715–1766, album leaf, ink and colours on silk, 33.3 x 27.8 cm, National Palace Museum, Taipei).⁷ Here, the highly modelled and naturalistic birds, flowers, and branches all obey a linear perspective and their colourful depiction follows a Western approach. This European style is contrasted with a typical Chinese motif, a rather imbalanced composition, and the oriental idea of cut-off forms, where the objects are not centralised but go beyond the frame. Thus, the Jesuits’ influence mainly affected the approach of depiction while the preferred subject matter of decorations remained Chinese.⁸ This fusion of the tamed but evident Western approach with Chinese styles became a hallmark of the art produced during the Qing rule in the eighteenth century.⁹ Acknowledged and encouraged by the Yongzheng emperor Jesuits worked as artists for the court and executed artworks that mingled Western approaches with Chinese styles and thus created a new and distinct style itself that was taken up by Chinese contemporaries.

The flourishing trade with Europe impacted the decoration of porcelain produced during the Yongzheng period. With the beginning of the Qing dynasty trade with Europe was opened up again and caused a mutual exchange of wares between China and Europe. The demand for foreign objects and the curiosity for alien decorations grew steadily; yet, the European market and taste asked for more and more customised patterns and motifs, which differed from typical Chinese subject matters. While the Chinese endeavoured to accommodate these requests the Europeans started to send paintings and engravings to China to be copied on export porcelain. Although the resulting imitations were catered to the export market the Chinese court started to ask for similar “Western” decorations. Export ware and its distinct European decoration further fuelled the Western style on Chinese porcelain as initiated by Jesuit trainings. Further, the Western decoration for the European market introduced new subject matters to China and enriched the variety of motifs of Chinese porcelain decoration.¹⁰

The Dish with fruiting peaches and bats (Jingdezhen porcelain with overglaze enamels, Yongzheng mark and period (1723–1735), d. 20.6 cm, Percival David Collection, London) shows a Chinese motif depicted in a Western approach. It was made for the imperial court as it bears the Yongzheng reign mark.¹¹ The finely potted circular body of the hard paste porcelain dish has a wide and shallow well, rounded sides with an everted rim, and a low foot. The elaborate but unfilled still life decoration is placed on an evenly white, glazed body. Both, the inside and the outside of the dish are overglaze enamelled in the famille rose palette of pink, green, blue, brown, yellow, white, black and iron-red. The decoration goes beyond the inside of the dish and continues on its outer sides, which reminds of the Chinese manner to cut-off forms instead of centralising the composition. Further, the motif is constructed rather imbalanced and seems to tilt towards the bottom part of the dish. This stylistically aligns with the Chinese motif of peaches and bats that both have a symbolic connotation rooted in Chinese culture.¹² While the composition and the subject matter follow a Chinese approach the execution of the forms reflects a Western style. The different tones of the large colour palette act as highlights and shadows as well as they emulate the texture of the peaches, leaves, and branches. Hence, the imagery appears three dimensional and naturalistic. The modelling of the forms unveils the linear perspective of the composition, which further reminds of Western approaches. This dish shows the fusion of styles as the Chinese motif and asymmetrical composition are combined with realistically modelled, three-dimensional forms that are arranged according to a linear perspective. This melding of styles echoes the manner established by the art produced by European Jesuits.

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¹ China: The Three Emperors, 1662–1795 (exhibition catalogue: Royal Academy of Arts, London 12 November 2005 – 17 April 2006), eds. Evelyn Rawski and Jessica Rawson (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2005), pp. 35-36.

² For the Imperial Court: Qing porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art (exhibition catalogue, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 7 December 1997 – 1 March 1998; The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, 20 March – 19 April, 1998; The Frick Art Museum, 3 May – 24 July, 1998), ed. Rosemary E. Scott (New York: The American Federation of Arts, 1997), pp. 29-30.

³ China: The Three Emperors, 1662–1795, pp. 80-83.

⁴ For the Imperial Court: Qing porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, pp. 38-39.

⁵ Daniel Nadler, China to Order: Focusing on the XIXth Century and Surveying Polychrome Export Porcelain Produced during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1908) (Paris: Vilo International, 2001), pp. 24-25.

Li Jixian, ‘Qing Dynasty Ceramics’, in: Chinese Ceramics: From the Paleolithic Period through the Qing Dynasty, eds. Li Zhiyan, Virginia L. Bower, and He Li (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2010), pp. 459-534 (pp. 495-496).

⁶ Ching-fei Shih, ‘A Record of the Establishment of a New Art Form: The Unique Collection of “Painted Enamels” at the Qing Court’, Collections and Concepts, 7 (September 2005), pp. 1-18 (p. 6).

⁷ For the Imperial Court: Qing porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, p. 30.

⁸ George Robert Loehr, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766): Pittore di Corte di Ch’ien-Lung, Imperatore della Cina (Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1940), pp. 45-46.

⁹ Ibid., pp. 45-48. China: The Three Emperors, 1662–1795, pp. 80-81. Shih, pp. 7-8.

¹⁰ For the Imperial Court: Qing porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, p. 30.

Nadler, pp. 50-53.

¹¹ Stacey Pierson, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art: a Guide to the Collection (London: Percival David Foundation, 2002), p. 27.

¹² For the Imperial Court: Qing porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, pp. 27-28, 124.