Publication Date
2009
Categories
European in style and oriental in terms of inspiration, for Alain Gruber chinoiserie represents the most extraordinary manifestation of the European creative capacity of the 17th and 18th centuries, in terms of ornamentation history. Until then, ornamentation vocabulary rarely granted such great importance to fantasy and paid little attention to the imitation of existing models (Gruber, 1992, p.228).
In Europe, the prestige earned by Asian products, which originated from a geographical region whose society, culture and art were paradigms for the Europeans, rapidly stimulated trade between the two continents and its eager acquisition, with demand being far greater than offer. The rareness aura that marked these items, the interest they roused and the prohibitive price associated to them, soon led to the development of an imitation industry in which the imagination played a key role. Based on information published by the visually poor publications of the time, this industry soon developed a growing detachment from the original archetypes on which it was formerly founded. It moved on and further explored the ideal and inaccessible image of the East, product of western imagination. Noteworthy is the fact that this utopic vision, which gradually became the brand image of chinoiserie, embodied the perfect contrast with the existing European lifestyle, thus personifying everything with which the population in general dreamt of.
In terms of historiography, as Alvaro Mota points out, "the problematisation of the study of chinoiserie set place in a fertile ground for controversy, due to the difficulty in establishing both its chronological reference marks and its more specific conceptual delimitations" (Mota, 1997, p.18). In terms of the time limits where this artistic manifestation takes place, authors like Alain Gruber and Hugh Honour present a broader conception of the chinoiserie phenomenon, setting it between the Middle Ages and the 18th century. Other authors such as Madeleine Jarry limit it to the 1720s-1730s. The same discrepancy is also present when it comes to the cultural and artistic references registered by the several experts on the matter. Some refer exclusively to the Chinese influences - from which its denomination results - while others consider, as inspiration, all the elements which in some way are foreign to the western context. This is the case of Oliver Impey which points out not only the Chinese style, but also the Japanese, the Indian or the Persian, while simultaneously alerts for the possibility of the latter being displayed together, without any apparent criteria.
Another point of discussion has to do with the location where its manufacture took place. Whereas some authors advocate a production confined exclusively to Europe, others like John Irwin define chinoiserie as the exercise of the Chinese way or style by another culture, a determining factor which, according to that author, makes it available to all those who are interested in it (Irwin, 1970, p.19).
Not less important is the way in which chinoiserie explores and applies oriental elements. Some authors see it in a perspective of great resemblance and fidelity (even imitation) to a certain oriental model and repertoire, while others associate chinoiserie with a type of production which, regardless from originating from an orientalising sensibility, recreates it following its own criteria.
One of the solutions presented by some specialists to reconcile the previously referred controversies has to do with the time frame of the phenomenon. They recognise a first stage, marked by a greater proximity and fidelity, which normally coincides with the 16th century and the beginnings of the 17th century, and a second stage, governed by fantasy and recreation, compatible not only with the golden era of chinoiserie, but also with the rococo style, of which many authors consider it inseparable. Another reading of chinoiserie alternates between these two concepts: chinoiserie and the Chinese taste, which correspond to two types of manufacture. The first matches a more fanciful production, specific to a particular period in the history of decorative arts; the second is related to the production that always existed, since the first oriental items were known in Europe, and which closely tries to follow the strange, expensive and sought-after models, so dear to the western elite. The latter could also congregate an imitative or influenced-by production, taking into consideration a greater or smaller degree of proximity to the original model.
According to studies in this area, the first western locations to display this trend in terms of creation, consumption and enjoyment were London and Paris, cities from where chinoiserie spread throughout Europe. About the dissemination and development of chinoiserie in this continent, it should be noticed that this trend evolved in reverse proportion to the level of knowledge gathered by each one of the European countries in the East and to its greater or smaller access to imported goods. Chinoiserie knew a greater influence and development in countries with less direct experience of Asian countries and smaller import levels, but which were rich in literature based in foreign experiences. Thus, countries like France, Italy and Germany were the countries where chinoiserie had a greater impact. Maybe due to that, according to A.F. Pimentel, Portugal never paid much attention to chinoiserie, not only because of the knowledge it held based on tangible information, but also because the country dealt with Asian goods in large quantity. Therefore, it did not need chinoiserie to satisfy the innate taste for the exotic (Pimentel, 1988, p.360; 1989, p.118), which had been validated by intense contacts with Asia since the beginning of the 16th century.
Nonetheless, material evidences, some of which of great quality and still existing in Portugal, should not be ignored. Found in such diverse areas like tilework and furniture, they can be seen in the decoration of the Joanina Library (Biblioteca Joanina) of the University of Coimbra, in the choir high-back pews of the Cathedral of Viseu or in the tilework ensemble which brightens up the gardens at Quinta do Sobralinho, in Vila Franca de Xira's municipality. Also not to be ignored is Portugal's contribution for the development of chinoiserie, once the broader meaning of this artistic manifestation is taken into consideration. Although it was not its prerogative to reveal the East to Europe, it was through the Portuguese overseas venture that there was a renewal of the interest for that region of the planet. For the first time, Portuguese carracks brought and distributed vast information and numerous goods from that part of the world. Likewise, in Portugal, and in an earlier stage, took place the preliminary rehearsals to imitate, by proximity, in several areas of decorative and applied arts, which included support work as well as decorative motifs and themes. Examples of the latter are the "counterfeit porcelains from China", a term used by Joao Baptista Lavanha, in 1619, to identify the blue-and-white faience made in Lisbon since the first decade of the second half of the 16th century, and whose average annual production reached 30 000 pieces. This quantity would certainly help to reduce the internal and external demand for such products (namely in Northern Europe), as substantiated by the vast amounts of archaeological findings recently excavated in Amsterdam.
Bibliography:
JACOBSON, Dawn, Chinoiserie, Londres, Phaidon, 1999. GRUBER, Alain, Chinoiseries, in Alain GRUBER, (dir. de), L'Art Décoratif en Europe - Classique et Barroque, vol. 2, Paris, Citadelles & Mazenod, 1992. IMPEY, Oliver, Chinoiserie: The Impact of Oriental Styles on Western Art Decoration, Londres, Oxford University Press, 1977. IRWIN, John and BRETT, Katherine, Origins of Chintz with a Catalogue of Indo-European Painting in the Victoria & Albert Museum, Londres - Toronto, Butler & Tanner, Ltd. - The Royal Ontario Museum, 1970, p. 19. JARRY, Madeleine, Chinoiseries. Le Rayonnement du Gôut Chinois sur les Arts Décoratifs des XVIIe et XVIIIe Siécles, Friburgo, Office du Livre, 1981. MOTA, Álvaro Samuel Guimarães da, Gravuras de Chinoiserie de Jean-Baptiste Pillement, 2 vols., dissertação de mestrado em História da Arte apresentada à Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, Porto, 1997 (Texto policopiado). PIMENTEL, António Filipe, "O Gosto Oriental na Obra das estantes da casa da Livraria da Universidade de Coimbra", in Pedro DIAS, (coord.de), Portugal e a Espanha entre a Europa e Além-Mar. Actas do IV Simpósio Luso-Espanhol de História da Arte, Coimbra, Instituto de História da Arte Universidade de Coimbra, 1988, pp. 347-368. PIMENTEL, António Filipe, "Chinoiserie", in José Fernandes PEREIRA, (dir. de), Dicionário de Arte Barroca em Portugal, Lisboa, Editorial Presença, 1989, p. 118.
Translated by: Marília Pavão
In Europe, the prestige earned by Asian products, which originated from a geographical region whose society, culture and art were paradigms for the Europeans, rapidly stimulated trade between the two continents and its eager acquisition, with demand being far greater than offer. The rareness aura that marked these items, the interest they roused and the prohibitive price associated to them, soon led to the development of an imitation industry in which the imagination played a key role. Based on information published by the visually poor publications of the time, this industry soon developed a growing detachment from the original archetypes on which it was formerly founded. It moved on and further explored the ideal and inaccessible image of the East, product of western imagination. Noteworthy is the fact that this utopic vision, which gradually became the brand image of chinoiserie, embodied the perfect contrast with the existing European lifestyle, thus personifying everything with which the population in general dreamt of.
In terms of historiography, as Alvaro Mota points out, "the problematisation of the study of chinoiserie set place in a fertile ground for controversy, due to the difficulty in establishing both its chronological reference marks and its more specific conceptual delimitations" (Mota, 1997, p.18). In terms of the time limits where this artistic manifestation takes place, authors like Alain Gruber and Hugh Honour present a broader conception of the chinoiserie phenomenon, setting it between the Middle Ages and the 18th century. Other authors such as Madeleine Jarry limit it to the 1720s-1730s. The same discrepancy is also present when it comes to the cultural and artistic references registered by the several experts on the matter. Some refer exclusively to the Chinese influences - from which its denomination results - while others consider, as inspiration, all the elements which in some way are foreign to the western context. This is the case of Oliver Impey which points out not only the Chinese style, but also the Japanese, the Indian or the Persian, while simultaneously alerts for the possibility of the latter being displayed together, without any apparent criteria.
Another point of discussion has to do with the location where its manufacture took place. Whereas some authors advocate a production confined exclusively to Europe, others like John Irwin define chinoiserie as the exercise of the Chinese way or style by another culture, a determining factor which, according to that author, makes it available to all those who are interested in it (Irwin, 1970, p.19).
Not less important is the way in which chinoiserie explores and applies oriental elements. Some authors see it in a perspective of great resemblance and fidelity (even imitation) to a certain oriental model and repertoire, while others associate chinoiserie with a type of production which, regardless from originating from an orientalising sensibility, recreates it following its own criteria.
One of the solutions presented by some specialists to reconcile the previously referred controversies has to do with the time frame of the phenomenon. They recognise a first stage, marked by a greater proximity and fidelity, which normally coincides with the 16th century and the beginnings of the 17th century, and a second stage, governed by fantasy and recreation, compatible not only with the golden era of chinoiserie, but also with the rococo style, of which many authors consider it inseparable. Another reading of chinoiserie alternates between these two concepts: chinoiserie and the Chinese taste, which correspond to two types of manufacture. The first matches a more fanciful production, specific to a particular period in the history of decorative arts; the second is related to the production that always existed, since the first oriental items were known in Europe, and which closely tries to follow the strange, expensive and sought-after models, so dear to the western elite. The latter could also congregate an imitative or influenced-by production, taking into consideration a greater or smaller degree of proximity to the original model.
According to studies in this area, the first western locations to display this trend in terms of creation, consumption and enjoyment were London and Paris, cities from where chinoiserie spread throughout Europe. About the dissemination and development of chinoiserie in this continent, it should be noticed that this trend evolved in reverse proportion to the level of knowledge gathered by each one of the European countries in the East and to its greater or smaller access to imported goods. Chinoiserie knew a greater influence and development in countries with less direct experience of Asian countries and smaller import levels, but which were rich in literature based in foreign experiences. Thus, countries like France, Italy and Germany were the countries where chinoiserie had a greater impact. Maybe due to that, according to A.F. Pimentel, Portugal never paid much attention to chinoiserie, not only because of the knowledge it held based on tangible information, but also because the country dealt with Asian goods in large quantity. Therefore, it did not need chinoiserie to satisfy the innate taste for the exotic (Pimentel, 1988, p.360; 1989, p.118), which had been validated by intense contacts with Asia since the beginning of the 16th century.
Nonetheless, material evidences, some of which of great quality and still existing in Portugal, should not be ignored. Found in such diverse areas like tilework and furniture, they can be seen in the decoration of the Joanina Library (Biblioteca Joanina) of the University of Coimbra, in the choir high-back pews of the Cathedral of Viseu or in the tilework ensemble which brightens up the gardens at Quinta do Sobralinho, in Vila Franca de Xira's municipality. Also not to be ignored is Portugal's contribution for the development of chinoiserie, once the broader meaning of this artistic manifestation is taken into consideration. Although it was not its prerogative to reveal the East to Europe, it was through the Portuguese overseas venture that there was a renewal of the interest for that region of the planet. For the first time, Portuguese carracks brought and distributed vast information and numerous goods from that part of the world. Likewise, in Portugal, and in an earlier stage, took place the preliminary rehearsals to imitate, by proximity, in several areas of decorative and applied arts, which included support work as well as decorative motifs and themes. Examples of the latter are the "counterfeit porcelains from China", a term used by Joao Baptista Lavanha, in 1619, to identify the blue-and-white faience made in Lisbon since the first decade of the second half of the 16th century, and whose average annual production reached 30 000 pieces. This quantity would certainly help to reduce the internal and external demand for such products (namely in Northern Europe), as substantiated by the vast amounts of archaeological findings recently excavated in Amsterdam.
Bibliography:
JACOBSON, Dawn, Chinoiserie, Londres, Phaidon, 1999. GRUBER, Alain, Chinoiseries, in Alain GRUBER, (dir. de), L'Art Décoratif en Europe - Classique et Barroque, vol. 2, Paris, Citadelles & Mazenod, 1992. IMPEY, Oliver, Chinoiserie: The Impact of Oriental Styles on Western Art Decoration, Londres, Oxford University Press, 1977. IRWIN, John and BRETT, Katherine, Origins of Chintz with a Catalogue of Indo-European Painting in the Victoria & Albert Museum, Londres - Toronto, Butler & Tanner, Ltd. - The Royal Ontario Museum, 1970, p. 19. JARRY, Madeleine, Chinoiseries. Le Rayonnement du Gôut Chinois sur les Arts Décoratifs des XVIIe et XVIIIe Siécles, Friburgo, Office du Livre, 1981. MOTA, Álvaro Samuel Guimarães da, Gravuras de Chinoiserie de Jean-Baptiste Pillement, 2 vols., dissertação de mestrado em História da Arte apresentada à Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, Porto, 1997 (Texto policopiado). PIMENTEL, António Filipe, "O Gosto Oriental na Obra das estantes da casa da Livraria da Universidade de Coimbra", in Pedro DIAS, (coord.de), Portugal e a Espanha entre a Europa e Além-Mar. Actas do IV Simpósio Luso-Espanhol de História da Arte, Coimbra, Instituto de História da Arte Universidade de Coimbra, 1988, pp. 347-368. PIMENTEL, António Filipe, "Chinoiserie", in José Fernandes PEREIRA, (dir. de), Dicionário de Arte Barroca em Portugal, Lisboa, Editorial Presença, 1989, p. 118.
Translated by: Marília Pavão