By Hong Kong Maritime Museum
Hong Kong Maritime Museum
An edict from the Qianlong emperor in 1757, decreeing that all trade with foreigners should be confined to Canton, was the foundation stone of a specific commercial system known as the Canton Trade, which prevailed until 1841.
Canton Trade
An edict from the Qianlong emperor in 1757, decreeing that all trade with foreigners should be confined to Canton, was the foundation stone of a specific commercial system known as the Canton Trade, which prevailed until 1841.
Tea trading
The story of the China Trade is mostly about tea and especially about the story of the western world's - and particularly the British - addiction to tea.
Tea canisters decorated with a view of hongs in Canton, showing French, Amercian and Swedish flags (1830)Hong Kong Maritime Museum
The front of the English tea caddy on the right is decorated with a view of Canton hongs which are commercial houses of foreign trade in China. Over the buildings fly French and American flags.
The tea caddy on the left features also an image of a Chinese trade vessel bearing a French flag.
Porcelain trading
From quite early days, some European porcelain makers realized that it was the 'China brand' that was so popular, hence the English collective noun 'china' for household crockery.
Canton enamelled dish with an English sailing ship, 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Porcelain dish decorated with image of British cargo vessel, c. 1700.
How porcelain is made
Jingdezhen was known as the 'Town of porcelain' where most of the ceramic products were manufactured here. This series of paintings show the process of how porcelain was made and coloured in Jingdezhen, and then transported to Canton for export in the 18th century.
Mining the clay and carrying it down the mountain, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Kaolin clay is the crucial material for making porcelain and it could be mined in Qimen, Anhui Province and transported to Jingdezhen.
Buffalo trampling the clay, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Sieving the clay, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Rinsing the clay, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Moulding the clay into bricks, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Transporting clay bricks, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Pounding the clay malleable, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Shaping the body on a wheel, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Perfecting the body, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Glazing the wares, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Cutting firewood for the kilns, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Filling the kiln, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Removing the porcelain from the kiln, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Decorating the wares in colours, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Inspecting wares in an open stove, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Making barrels in which to transport the porcelain, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Wrapping bowls in woven straw, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Crossing the Poyang Lake, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
The ceramic product is now going to leave Jingdezhen. The loaded boats would firstly go through Poyang Lake.
Descending from the mountain pass, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Painting wares in foreign colours, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Jingdezhen produced porcelain both to the imperial order and export commissions from Canton. White porcelain was carried to Canton for enamel colouring.
Refiring in a closed stove, late 18th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Embroidered waistcoat with paddle steamer motifs, mid-19th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Luxury goods
Silks, decorated paper, furniture, paintings, gemstones, souvenir items - the list of goods is vast. These goods catered to a taste for the 'exotic' with Chinese motifs and materials.
This waistcoat was made for a western client. The design uses the paddle steamer motifs often found on traditional Chinese robes and snuff bottles after 1830, when the first such vessel reached China.
A 8-panel Coromandel screen showing the city scene of Canton (1690)Hong Kong Maritime Museum
This large and elaborately decorated coromandel screen of eight panels features mother-of-pearl and colored inlays. On this side it shows Canton (Guangzhou) as it was during the Qing dynasty before foreign factories were built outside the walls on the southeast of the city.
Shímén Fǎnzhào detail showing one
of the ‘Eight Sights of Guangzhou’.
Hǎizhū, detail showing one of the ‘Eight Sights of Guangzhou’, known to westerners as the Dutch Folly Fort.
Souvenir model of a small police or war junk, early 20th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Folding fan with ‘The Hongs in Canton’ (1815/1821)Hong Kong Maritime Museum
The painted scene shows Danish, French, Swedish, British and Dutch factories. The sticks are decorated with European musicians playing wind instruments, putti, two birds and gold coins. The French style of the sticks is an example of the Canton craftsmen's ability to imitate foreign styles to suit a customer's demand.
Pleasure boat with painted figures, Qing dynasty (1644/1911)Hong Kong Maritime Museum
Carved mother-of-pearl shell decorated with dragon boats, 19th centuryHong Kong Maritime Museum
Small gaming counters were the most common products, though entire shells carved with 'exotic' scenes like this one were popular decorative items. The foreground is dominated by two dragon boats - not racing but moving towards each other being watched by people on shore, on two sampans and on the bridge over the river.
Exhibit was curated by Phoebe Tong at Hong Kong Maritime Museum
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