Chinese Art vs. Chinoiserie

By: Grace Schmidt

Research Questions:

What does Chinoiserie get right and wrong in its imitation of Chinese art?

How does Chinoiserie reflect problematic Western ideas about China?

Since the midterm, I have learned more about Chinoiserie and the cultural exchanges between China and the West, especially the influence of Western art on Chinese art, especially as seen through qinghua ware. Despite this, I have retained my view that Chinoiserie appropriates motifs of Chinese art and reflects a harmful Orientalist view of China as “other” and “exotic.”

My project examines the ways in which Western art and Chinese art influenced each other, and the implications of these cultural exchanges. I center my project around the comparisons of Chinese art with Chinoiserie, singling out the differences between specific works of art, and discussing what Chinoiserie got right and wrong about Chinese art. However, my final project was more nuanced, including the influences that Western art had on Chinese art, and focusing on cultural interactions and exchanges as well as Orientalism and colonialism.

I compared and contrasted these two images in my midterm, and found that they had a similar color scheme and depicted people in nature. However, I found more differences than similarities, noting that vase chinois was more ornate, containing gold that was not found in the guan ware wine jar, and depicting dragons. My goal in including these images in my midterm was to focus solely on the inaccuracies of Chinoiserie, and while this goal remained the same in my final, I included images of Chinoiserie that was more similar to Chinese art, including a discussion of cultural interactions and artistic influence.

I selected these two works to compare and contrast in order to showcase the beginnings of a blending between Chinese art and Western art. The Chinese “Small Vase” is an example of qinghua ware, a form of Chinese porcelain characterized by blue and white patterns and ornate designs. Both of these vases depict nature scenes and people in nature, however, the German “Vase With Cover” remains more ornate and depicts people in a slightly more caricaturized fashion.

I continued showcasing qinghua ware by comparing and contrasting the Chinese “Water Coupe” with the French “Vase.” These images are extremely similar to each other, both depicting nature scenes and containing a blue and white color scheme. The Chinese “Water Coupe” is more ornate than the French “Vase.” Comparing these images provided me with an understanding of how Western art influenced Chinese art.

I originally compared and contrasted the Chinese “Tazza” with the German “Tankard” in my midterm, with the goal of showcasing two works of art that were slightly more similar than works that I had included. In my final, these two images serve as evidence of Western influence on Chinese art beyond qinghua ware. The Chinese “Tazza” is an example of wucai, or five-color ware. These works share a similar color scheme and motifs of nature. However, the German “Tankard” is slightly more ornate, containing a gold lid, and depicting a scene rather than a pattern: people in a garden.

I originally compared and contrasted these two images in my midterm in order to diversify my selection of works beyond vessels, and to showcase the problematic notions of Chinoiserie. In my final, the purpose of comparing these two images is to remind the audience of the problematic notions of Chinoiserie. The Chinese Banner with Bodhisattva and the French Chinoiserie Ornament both depict people surrounded by nature, however, the similarities end there. The French Chinoiserie Ornament depicts a caricature of a Chinese man, in stereotypical dress with slanted eyes and a long mustache.

I ordered these images intentionally: I wanted to open by showcasing the problematic colonial views of China as “exotic” and “other” that Chinoiserie reflected. As I learned more about Chinoiserie, though, I learned about the influence of Western art on Chinese art, and selected my examples of qinghua ware in order to provide insight into these cultural exchanges. The wucai (five-color) ware is included to discuss the influence of Western art beyond qinghua ware. It is less similar to its Chinoiserie counterpart than the qinghua ware examples to remind the audience of the problematic notions of Chinoiserie. My final two images diversify my selection of works beyond vessels, and emphasize the ways in which Chinoiserie appropriated Chinese art and reflected problematic colonial ideas about China and Chinese art.

Chinoiserie reflected problematic colonial ideas of China as “exotic” and “other.” It often stereotyped Chinese people and could be inaccurate. Chinese art was influenced by Western art through qinghua ware and wucai (five-color) ware, and this was caused by cultural interactions since Marco Polo’s journey to China during the Yuan dynasty and the presence of Jesuit missionaries. Both of these statements can be true at the same time, and the influence of European art on Chinese art does not negate the appropriation of Chinese art and problematic ideas about China present in Chinoiserie. The selected works present in my midterm and final were based on these ideas.

I have chosen to analyze Chinese Art by Stephen Bushell and an article about Chinoiserie in Europe from the Top Academic Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. Both of these references have provided me with key information about my question and valuable information about my topic. I selected both of these texts after a thorough search on Connecticut College’s OneSearch, and reading summaries of multiple texts to determine which ones would be the most helpful in the pursuit of the questions I sought to answer. These questions discussed the aspects of Chinese art that Chinoiserie interpreted accurately and inaccurately, and how Chinoiserie reflected problematic ideas about China, Chinese art, and Chinese culture. Bushell’s Chinese Art discusses the history of Chinese art, from the Shang Dynasty to the present day, and the historical context of the art. The article about Chinoiserie in Europe from the Top Academic Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities provides an overview of Chinoiserie in Europe, and showcases multiple examples of Chinoiserie owned by European nobility. My project differs from these texts because I discussed the similarities and differences between specific works of Chinese art and Chinoiserie. I used the knowledge from these texts to inform the selection of my pieces and compare and contrast them.

Bushell, Stephen. Chinese Art. New York, New York: Parkstone International, 2008.

Top Academic Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 7, no. 6 (2022).