From the 17th century, a most fascinating exchange of ideas occurred between China and the West. Western merchants began designing Chinese porcelain wares, then placing orders for these to be made in China. These Western "Chinese" designs are called "Chinoiserie," and became an important element of the arts and styles of the 18th century. In fact, the rococo style was based on, or at least seriously inspired by, Chinese concepts of form and design.

Famille Verte - The green family

During the Kangxi period in the early part of the 18th Century, the late Ming wucai or "five color" decoration developed into a new "family" called Famille Verte, or the "green family." These were based primarily on different shades of green in combinations with red, blue and yellow.

Pieces from this period and with the decoration executed in Famille Verte enamels sometimes occur with the decoration set against a black or yellow background These are known as Famille Noire and Famille Jaune, respectively.

Simultaneously with the replacement in Europe of the Baroque style by the Rococo, the Famille Rose appeared in the Chinese export porcelain. Significant for this style is a new emphasis on flowers, influenced by the by now established Qing dynasty, a different color scheme based on enamels mixed with white to give a softer impression, and the presence of a new rose enamel based on gold.

In reality the different "families" were not that perfectly separated. Mixtures of styles occur.

The plate and charger to the left are good example of early "Famille Rose", as its best and most typical look.

They have both iron red flowers under the rim, typical for the first decades of the 18th century. Two branches in red or underglaze blue under the rim indicates a date from the early decades of the 18th century and occurs up until the 1740's. During the remaining 18th century the flowers developes towards a more western look and becomes smaller.

During the first half of the 18th century there also occur a decoration called Imari, named from the Japanese Arita district porcelain export harbor - Imari. During the turmoil of the "transitional" period by the end of the Ming dynasty to the beginning of the Qing, the Chinese had lost most of the porcelain trade to the Japanese, who had developed a simplified wucai (Chinese five-color) decoration - to this day called Japanese Imari.

When the political conditions got stabilized in China the Chinese hurriedly copied this Japanese style - hence the name Chinese Imari. From the excavation of the Dutch East Indiaman "Geldermalsen" we know that identical designs executed in underglaze blue and white, Famille Rose and Imari occurred at the same time.

No doubt every western country could be said to have contributed to the development of the Chinese Export Porcelain, so also the US which contribution came late, though, and which most important part must be said to have been the providing of a ready market for the late 18th century standard patterns.

A special family of porcelain is pieces decorated in "black and white". They appeared by the 1740's as "Jesuit china" and seems to have stayed in vogue until the 1780's. This group is also called encre de chine or en grisaille. The sources for the decorations were during it early part black and white engravings or book illustrations with romantic, mythological or religious themes. Pieces with this kind of decoration are rare and most decorations are known under the names of their decoration. The plate here is know under its name of "The Adoration of the Shepherds". The original in this specific case is an engraving by the Amsterdam artist Jan Luyken (1649-1712) which were used in several Dutch Bible editions. This decoration can have been taken from a Bible illustration, brought by some of the Jesuit missionaries visiting China or having been ordered by some Dutch merchants working from Batavia (pesent day's Jakarta). The carefully designed border appears to rely on a European design print of the 1730's, possibly by Francois Boucher (1703-70).

During the 18th century an important design source to the Chinese were the special designs made for wealthy western families. It is more often the rule, rather than the exception that the border designs from the special designs porcelain simultaneously appears on the bulk wares made for the trade.

But, thanks to this general practice most Chinese Export porcelain of the 18th century could be dated with a high degree of accuracy within a few years of it date of production by comparison with the border designs of dated armorial porcelain.

The illustrated plate is maybe not typical for this practice, thought, since this border was specifically designed to allude to the owner's occupation with trade and mining.

By the end of the 18th century and into the 19th century, it became the common practice to have monograms or the family coat-of-arms integrated into a standard pattern instead.

The first standard pattern to appear on Chinese export porcelain is a nowadays loosely held together group called the Willow Pattern.

It seems likely that the patterns as such were designed in England based on earlier Chinese prints or paintings of river scenes. The two main variations of this pattern differs mainly is their borders and are called Spode and Mosquito pattern respectively. The illustration to the left is of the actual printed English Spode pattern.

The Spode factory in England was established in 1770. Its "willow" border is built up by irregular geometric designs clearly distinguishing it from the "mosquito" border, also called the "brocade" border, the latter having more rounded shapes, being as I see it more artistic and containing more of recognizable Chinese symbols.

Other sources have it that the Willow pattern plainly was created by Thomas Turner at Caughley Pottery Works in Shropshire about 1780.

As a proof of the Willow pattern actually being an English design an alleged Chinese story are often used. It was published in an old Victorian magazine "The Family Friend" in 1849 connecting the "Willow pattern" to a romantic love story where a young student falls in love with the daughter of a corrupt Mandarin. The story went:

Long ago, in the days when China was ruled by emperors, a Chinese manderin, Tso Ling, lived in the magnificent pagoda under the branches of the apple tree on the right of the bridge, over which droops the famous willow tree, and in front of which is seen the graceful lines of the fence. Tso Ling was the father of a beautiful girl, Kwang-se, who was the promised bride of an old but weatlthy merchant. The girl, however, fell in love with Chang, her father’s clerk. The lovers eloped across the sea to the cottage on the island. The mandarin persued and caught the lovers and was about to have them killed when the gods transformed them into a pair of turtle doves. These are seen gazing into each other’s eyes at the top of the design. A lengthy and old Staffordshire poem of the pattern concludes with the verse: "In the oft quoted plate two birds are perceived, High in the heaven above: These are the spirits of Chang and Kwang-se, A twin pair of ever in love".

A close relative to the Willow pattern is the Nanking group of pieces, characterized by its higher quality, a specific square cell diaper border outlined with a spearhed border and with a more general landscape setting with houses and water in a river landscape, dating also from the 1780's.

The qualitiy of the porcelain made for export to the West is really often the same or better than what was made for the Chinese regular market, sometimes competing in quality with Imperial wares.

Around the 1780's the next patterns to appear were the mostly monochrome Fitzhugh pattern. It was only made for a few decades up until the 1820 and exclusively for export. The spectacular quality is similar to the best of the above mentioned Nanking and late Willow patterns.

The Fitzhugh pattern bears a close resemblance to the composition of the design on contemporary Chinese textiles, which might have served as an inspiration to the pattern maker. It consists of four groups of flowers or plants spaced evenly around a central panel, which in rare pieces are replaced with a coat-of-arm, initials, or a scenic view.

The FitzhHugh pattern is usually found as an underglaze blue monochrome decoration but is also known in gold, green, blue, yellow, black, orange and sepia enamels as well as in combinations.

Fitzhugh pattern have been and are reproduced. Collectors should get to know the typical shapes. Because Fitzhugh was popular in the late 18th and early 19th century the shapes of pieces should reflect the style of the period - larger dinner plates with a shallow curved rim, drum shaped teapots, helmet or hog snout pitcheers, twisted stalk handles with elaborate leaf terminals. There should be no marks. The serving pieces are quite substantial and heavily potted, often with a noticeable "orange peel" surface. There should be noticeable wear - most prevalent on the fronts of plates where they were stacked together and on platters and dishes where food was scooped with spoons and meat was cut with steel bladed knives. If there is gilt penciling over the enamel it should show some wear somewhere! Look for the typical small black spots and pin holes on the surface typical of Chinese export porcelain of the18th and early 19th century, along with a slight grayish color to the paste itself. There are some obvious fakes around. Some orange and green enameled plates with very heavy and poorly painted decoration on very white sparkling porcelain. Sometimes these are bound in pewter rims. Be wary of green Fitzhugh on which the design is done with decals and filled in with a very watery green enamel. Be especially wary of any eagle decorated green or orange fitzhugh - its coming out of China as we speak.

Rose Medallion is the pattern with the widest variations in forms, pattern, and quality. Four alternating panels around a central gold circle ("medallion") enclosing a bird and a tree peony characterize it. Within the four panels are birds, flowers, butterflies, and people in a house. Separating the panels are scrollwork vines, and flying "Fu" bats, a symbol for good luck and happiness.

Rose Mandarin is a variation on Rose Medallion, which shows only people in the panels; and Rose Canton, which shows only birds, flowers, and butterflies, with no people.

Higher quality Rose Medallion will exhibit the use of gold to highlight details and finer, more realistic details on the birds, vines and butterflies. In comparing different pieces, the pieces of better quality have more exquisite details inside the medallions.

The Bird and Butterfly pattern was produced during the mid-19th century and is so rare it could hardly merit to be labeled a standard pattern, but is anyway easy to distinguish, as it has butterflies throughout the pattern. The shapes on all these are mostly the same as in Canton.

Other "patterns" you may find are Cabbage, Green Dragon, Sacred Carp, Sacred Flower and 100 Antiques.

Around the mid 19th century the Willow pattern seems to have developed into a simplified pattern generally known in the US as Canton. There are no reason really to separate this family from the "Willow" patters other then its date and quality.

Illustrated here is a dinner plate decorated in underglaze blue with the traditional exotic houses, mountains, sailboats and a bridge set against a white porcelain ground.

No account of the various standard patterns developed to cater for the western love of the oriental would be complete without the last stroke of the Chinese genius - the Rice Grain Pattern. By the end of the Ming dynasty, a kind of pieces appeared that was called "Linglung" or "Devils work". It was porcelain pieces with its walls pierced in intricate patterns. These were very expensive and are known to have been fitted in gold and silver when in Europe. By the mid 19th century the "Linglung" design was revived in an inventive new way. By filling the pierced holes with translucent glaze one arrived at an interesting compromise combining as it did both the mysteries of Asia - "how they possibly could have fitted rice grains into the porcelain" - and a somewhat more useful bowl that better could stand the perils of trade and transportation.

Jan-Erik Nilsson