Chinese export porcelain
Porcelain made in China for the European market, often ordered with a coat of arms or monogram.
The Swedish East India Company, active from 1731 to 1813, brought large quantities of Chinese porcelain home to Gothenburg. It was expensive but cheaper than Europe's own factories, and was soon found in many Swedish homes.
The porcelain shows an early global design: Chinese workshops adapted shapes and motifs to European orders, and sometimes copied European engravings.
Materials: Chinese porcelain with painted decoration
Manufacture: Shaped and fired in Jingdezhen, often decorated in Canton and shipped to Europe.
An unglazed foot ring under the base, often slightly brownish.
The decoration: blue under the glaze, or colours painted on top – famille rose with pink tones.
Commissioned coats of arms and monograms, showing who owned the service.