Chinese Ceramics In Colonial Mexico Lacm

Dist. by the University of Hawaii Press.

This book follows Chinese porcelain through the commodity chain, from its production in China to trade with Spanish Merchants in Manila, and to its eventual adoption by colonial society in Mexico. As trade connections increased in the early modern period, porcelain became an immensely popular and global product. This study focuses on one of the most exported objects, the guan. It shows how this porcelain jar was produced, made accessible across vast distances and how designs were borrowed and transformed into new creations within different artistic cultures. While people had increased access to global markets and products, this book argues that this new connectivity could engender more local outlooks and even heightened isolation in some places. It looks beyond the guan to the broader context of transpacific trade during this period, highlighting the importance and impact of Asian commodities in Spanish America.

Throughout China's long history ceramic products have been very much a part of people's lives. This book takes the reader through the rich history of Chinese ceramics, from primitive pottery to the delicate porcelain for which China is famed, complemented by full color illustrations throughout.

This sumptuous volume accompanies a traveling exhibition of the same name that opens at Winterthur in February 2005. The full-color volume highlights 117 exquisite export porcelain objects from the extensive Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection at Winterthur. Authors Ron Fuchs and David Howard ground their presentation with an introductory overview of the manufacture of porcelain, the history of the china trade, and the importance of export porcelain in European and American history and material culture. Individual entries are grouped according to function: dining wares, drinking wares, household and personal utensils, and decorative wares. Each grouping is preceded by a short essay that places the objects within a historic context. An illustrated appendix addresses the coats of arms found on many of the objects, and an extensive bibliography offers supplementary readings.