Imperial “Guang falang” of the Qianlong Period Manufactured by the Guangdong Maritime Customs
Resource
國立臺灣大學美術史研究集刊, 35, 087-184
Journal
國立臺灣大學美術史研究集刊
Journal Issue
35
Pages
87-184+257
Date Issued
2013-09
Date
2013-09
Author(s)
王崇齊
Abstract
This article examines the “Guang falang” manufactured at the Guangdong Maritime Customs, and its relationship to the Qing imperial court, as a case study of the operational interactions between the court’s Office of Ateliers (zaobanchu) and local workshops. To lend precision to the heretofore vaguely categorized painted enamel metalwares of Guangdong, the first objective begins by analyzing imperial archives and registers, as well as the products themselves and packaging preserved in the collection of the National Palace Museum, to determine the scope and appearance of Guangdong enamelware from the Qianlong period. It then proceeds to the Guangdong craftsmen and enamelware brought to court in the Kangxi and Yongzheng eras. The second objective examines the relationship between the Imperial Household Department’s Office of Ateliers and the enamelwares manufactured at the Guangdong Maritime Customs, and situates this relationship within the more general interactions between the court and regional ateliers supervised by textile commissioners, salt censors, superintendents of customs during the High Qing. These interactions not only showcase administrative considerations of the efficient use of economic capital and local resources, but also highlight the nature of artistic exchanges between the styles of court and region, which involved conflict and mixing. The primary contribution of the essay is to reattribute as examples of imperial “Guang falang” a group of metal-bodied painted enamelwares that were previously misunderstood to be the products of the imperial Office of Ateliers itself. Distinguishing the stylistic characteristics of imperial “Guang falang” makes it possible to reconstruct a fuller picture of the role that the Guangdong region played in the manufacture of painted imperial enamelware. This in turn reveals the art historical significance of “Guang falang” as a body of evidence that countervails the notion that imperial and export wares were crafted independently of one another. In addition to clarifying their substantive appearance and process of manufacture, examining these wares from the perspective of court-locale interaction provides a basis and reference point for future inquiries into the relationship between center and periphery in the High Qing. (translated by Jeff Moser)
Subjects
清宮、宮廷、地方、畫琺瑯、粵海關、廣琺瑯、洋琺瑯 (Qing court, Imperial court, painted enamel, Guangdong Maritime Customs, Guang falang, Yang falang)
SDGs
Type
journal article
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