Friday, January 12, 4:30 – 6:30 pm, CWAC 152 (Please note the room change from last quarter)
Riverscape Wrapped around Porcelain: A Historical Study of 18th-Century Chinese Export Porcelains in the AIC Collection
Xi Zhang
Department of Art History, University of Chicago
Punch Bowl, c. 1780. Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago
This paper focuses on punch bowls, a particular porcelain form, also known as hong bowls that gained popularity in the 18th-century export market because of its massive size and capability to display on its surface the wrapped-around continuous riverscape of Guangzhou. Focusing on the Chinese export porcelains in the Art Institute of Chicago collection, I will take a close examination of punch bowls in the context of the architectural development in 18th-century Guangzhou, the relationship between the iconography of harbor views and the objects per se, and the experience of cross-cultural encounters in the 18th century China trade. By doing so, I hope this case study will shed some light on studies of the illusive genre of Chinese export objects and how best to understand them in the history of Chinese art.
Friday, January 12, 4:30 – 6:30 pm, CWAC 152
Persons with concerns regarding accessibility please contact Nancy P. Lin (nancyplin@uchicago.edu)
