In general Chinese porcelain can be divided in three different groups. Min yao which is peoples wares made at private kilns, and guan yao which were 'official wares' that would be designed and ordered by the Imperial court, and made at an imperial kiln, respectively. The third is a sub group of the min yao (peoples wares) that were made and decorated according to specification of a particular export market. Chinese ceramics were most likely part of the merchandise that was exchanged between China and its neighbors from as early as there were trade at all. A special category of those, were ceramics that was exchanged as parts within the tribute system between Asian tribes and countries to which China had a relation. From what can be seen from early collections found abroad these tribute wares most likely consisted of a mixture of imperial wares like huge dishes and modest peoples wares as in food bowls. The term 'export porcelain' thus covers a wide range of ceramics. It could be noted that the Chinese ceramics industry as well as world art, food and culture benefited immensely over the centuries from this exchange of artistic as well as cultural and technological exchange.
In Europe it developed a great demand for Chinese porcelain alongside the development on glazed faiance pottery like 'delft', at the end of the 17th century, which led to the production of a wide variety of shapes and decorations. Competition among private merchants contributed to this diversity, ensuring a highly varied supply of porcelain. Besides the well-known underglaze blue porcelain, other significant styles emerged, such as famille verte and Chinese Imari, as well as many more types decorated with overglaze enamels, often combined with underglaze blue.
The later wares include Kraak porcelain, stoneware from the Yixing potteries, blanc-de-Chine, blue-and-white, the jaune, noire, rose and verte families, Chinese Imari, Chine de commande including but not limited to armorial wares, Canton porcelain and Straits Chinese enameled wares. They differ from porcelain made for use within China by their shapes as well as their decorations, which were adapted to suit the taste of the foreign market. In many cases the porcelain was made from samples and specifications provided by the foreign merchants.
The trade between the west and China was initiated by the Portuguese in the mid 16th century and continued by the Dutch until the mid-17th century when civil wars caused by the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644 disrupted but did not completely cut off the supplies. A special position in export wares are the Transitional wares made in China, that were of high quality and special designs catering to the Japanese refined taste and the taste of the Chinese literati. To meet the demand the western attention was turned towards Japan, stimulating the country's ceramic industry and developing its export trade in porcelain.
After the establishing of the Qing dynasty and under the patronage of the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722) the Chinese porcelain industry at Jingdezhen was re-organized and the export trade was soon flourishing again.
Objects produced included imposing garnitures of vases, dishes, tea wares, ewers and other useful wares, figure models, animals, and birds. Blanc-de-Chine porcelain and Yixing stoneware arrived in Europe, giving inspiration to many of the European potters. A wide variety of shapes were made, some of Chinese or Islamic origin, others copying faience or metalwork. All manner of figures in the Oriental style were popular, including Chinese gods and goddesses such as Guanyin - the Goddess of Mercy, and Budai - the god of contentment, figures with nodding heads, seated monks and laughing boys. Also popular but rare were European-inspired figures of Dutch men and women. From the mid-18th century, even copies of Meissen figures such as Tyrolean dancers were made for export to Europe. Birds and animals were popular throughout the 18th century, sometimes made as sauce tureens and covers or as life-sized goose tureens and covers. Cows, cranes, dogs, eagles, elephants, pheasants, monkeys, parrots, and puppies were all produced to meet the seemingly insatiable European demand for the oriental.
From c.1720, the new Famille rose palette was adopted and quickly supplanted the earlier famille verte porcelains of the Kangxi period (1662-1722).
The most important development during this period, however, was the introduction of pink-red enamel around 1725, which marked the birth of famille rose. This innovation quickly supplanted famille verte and became the dominant choice for export porcelain. The use of rose enamel in combination with white enamel allowed for the creation of subtle gradations of color, giving the porcelain a sense of depth and volume. This style came to be highly prized for its delicate and nuanced palette, and its influence on export porcelain was profound.
Famille rose encompasses a broad range of qualities and decorative motifs, and while the name was coined in the 19th century, prior to that it was simply referred to as "enameled." The pink enamel itself was initially developed in the Imperial workshops in Beijing in the early 18th century, where it was first applied to enameled copper and bronze objects. The Jesuits at the imperial court, bringing Western chemical knowledge around 1700, likely played a role in its development. By around 1725, famille rose was being applied to porcelain produced in Jingdezhen. Initially, the pink enamel had a lilac shade, but by the early 1730s, it had developed into a true pink color based on gold. The enamel was applied thickly and could easily be felt on top of the glaze, unlike the very thin iron-red enamels.
While famille rose quickly gained popularity, it did not erase the diversity of early 18th-century Chinese export porcelain. Famille verte, in particular, remained important as a prominent style until the latter half of the 18th century. This type of decoration was part of a larger tradition that blended Chinese aesthetic sensibilities with Western demand, producing a range of porcelains that were not only ornamental but also deeply influenced by the emerging global trade networks.
The finer quality wares seems mostly to have been ordered by private traders among the ship's officials. The bulk export wares of the 18th century were typically tea wares and dinner services, often blue-and-white decorated with flowers, pine, prunus and bamboo or with pagoda landscapes. These were ordered year after year in a steady stream slowly changing by the developing taste of the market. By the late 18th century, imports of Chinese porcelain were in decline. The competition from new European factories using mass-production techniques and printed decorations finally made the hand painted products from China obsolete until it were re-discovered as "antiques" by the late 19th century.
It is finally not always easy to define whether certain pieces were made for domestic use or export since many pieces have found their way to many locales in the world in the 20th C they most likely were not originally intended for.
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