#east asian art

Rough Sea at Naruto in Awa Province (no. 55 from the series Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces), Hiroshige, 1855

Fishing by Torchlight in Kai Province, Hokusai, ca. 1832-34

Konseimao Hanzui Beset by Demons, Kuniyoshi (1798-1861)

Noh mask representing a warlord named Minamoto-no-Yorimasa. Artist unknown; 18th century. Now in the Tokyo National Museum. Photo credit:  ColBase: 国立博物館所蔵品統合検索システム (Integrated Collections Database of the National Museums, Japan)

So a few weeks back I heard a blurb on one of the podcasts I listen to that … Okay… to be super honest I don’t remember what day it was but I’m going to guestimate it was late July -early August and I thought : ROLL THE DICE YOU SILLY OTTER!!!

And sure enough, the stars, planets, and, supermassive quarks (don’t quote me on that. Might I refer you to NGT) there was a chance to apply for a docent position at the delightfully eclectic and just-my-kind-of quirky Pacific Asia Museum. So I did.  AND SQUUEEEEEE!!!  I GOT IT AND I AM NOW PART OF THE MUSEUM PIT CREW!!

Anyhow long story short I got equipped with a giant binder of stuff (Knowledge +10) and I go in once a week for training and learning cool insider info that I will get to trade with you guys…A kind of ‘insider trading’ if you will.

Any how that’s all for now. Stay tuned!!! Same nerd place. But technically new nerd channel…

As some of you may be aware the Met Gala was last week. Those of you who are not: the Met Gala happened last week. And if your in a third group of people who are completely confused by what I’m talking about and need the perfectly reasonable follow up question of : But what is the Met Gala though?  

Allow me to explain. 

The Met Gala is  a pretty cool party that happens around this time every year. It's basically a huge fundraiser for the museum. But to nail it down precisely, it is a party that is thrown by Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art's Costume Institute. And to answer the next logical question in that chain: What is the costume institute? The Costume institute is the department of the museum that’s dedicated to historical frocks from all places and spaces. It is also named after Anna Wintour. And all you need to know about Anna Wintour is: 

Wintourbasically rules over fashion, sits on the board of directors for the Costume Institute, and, American Vogue. Wintour is like all the Avengers in one person.  That’s basically it.

Now let’s complicate things a little bit now that we're is caught up. Every year the Met Gala has a theme inspired by the institute’s exhibit of that year.This means people who are fortunate enough to cop an invite get to coordinate there duds to fit in with the year’s theme. So just to give you a quick example some past themes have been punk, superheroes, and Cubism. This year theme is China because the exhibit is called China Through the Looking Glass .

Needless to say, I have a raging brainer and a facial expression that can only be described as pure glee.

Well truthfully, half of me is totally like that. There’s the happy-go-lucky nerd that is totally happy that Chinese fashion is getting museum exposure. Cause if I call up the quick wit part of my brain, and this is just my opinion, there have been plenty of things,like Japanese fashion, that have had a serious amount of museum coverage. For Example: The V&A’s exhibits about Yohji YamamotoandJapanese Street Style and the Seattle Art Museum’s travelling exhibit called Future Beauty . So my inner voice is going: This is ground-breaking!  This is diversity! This is cool!

Then there is that that other half. The serious nerd that refuses and forgive me I’m going at this blind-

Okay fine…. But if you’ll let me build up an extravagant metaphor here: I’m going at this blind because it’s not an exhibit I’ve seen in person yet. But kind of like Mr. Murdock I have super hearing in the way of a smattering of knowledge in my academic disciplines that can give me some decent echoes to see where the obstacles are. 

Phew! That was a bit of a long walk around. And I’m sorry Daredevil franchise. 

Now with a bit of tactical website image re-con reveal these bad femmes:

From the outside this squad looks on point. They pretty skilful showcase for more than a few Chinese historical things like ceramics, traditional patterns and symbols, and, embroidery, which is always cool. But then it there it is. Look at where these dresses from: All these frocks are from Western fashion houses. We’ve already seen this before. It's Chinoiserie. While this time around it may not be as bad as it’s earlier phases- you know with a bunch of people who’ve never even been to China trying to China,  it is not exactly a thoughtful use of Chinese culture.

If you follow the internal logical of the exhibit, in their own way, the answer to that complaint is the exhibit's incorporation of Chinese film.  For example, they’re using one of my favourite films, Wong Kar Wai’s  In the Mood For Love. It’s definitely not a missed opportunity.In the Mood for Love has amazing fashion moments in it much like your Breakfast at Tiffany’s. This is done through the main female character film wearing a bunch of awesome 1950’s qipao’s. That's what Maggie Cheung is wearing in the photo in case you’re unfamiliar. A bit more to know about this, is those dresses were meticulously researched by Wong’s art director William Chang.  Chang designed those dresses using old films stills from the 30’s and 40’s and skilled old-school tailors to fashion 50 or so dresses for the film.  And they are impeccable and amazing. But let’s be clear they are not what’s happening now. What your seeing is lovingly, painfully reconstructed historical fashion but that’s not the same as designing fashion. If that doesn’t seem very clear think about it this way: those dresses are what’s already been designed and not what is being designed right now. 

Now I get how this looks. It must look like this:

And I don’t want you to think I’m on a high horse cherry picking easy arguments to tear down. Like I said I haven’t seen the exhibit yet. This is just my first impression. I’m all about finding positive solutions.So how would I improve it if my first impression is right?  Well I definately think the missing thread in this exhibit is Chinese designers. There are established designers such as Vivienne Tam or Jimmy Choo whose current work could be featured.  Just check out what Vivienne Tam designed for Spring 2015 which could fit seamlessly into the exhibit:

What to think about this exhibit? Go see it for sure. The only way even better Chinese fashion exhibits in museums get made is if you go and support them. But definitely keep these things mind.  

Now let’s get to the who, what, wear of the Met Gala. Like I mentioned before people are supposed to coordinate with the theme and I waited super anxiously to see who didn't get it and more interestingly who did! So this is kind of going to be like the Fashion Police  if that show wasn’t pointlessly cruel and guided by an East Asian art nerd world-view.  Also please know that this is not about judging the person through their fashion choices. There is far too much of that. I’m not this. I’m not doing this. I got all these images from the New York Time’s page on the Met Gala. You should totally check it out for  a total run down.

UNBELIEVABLE: 

Karolina Kurkova in Tommy Hilfiger. This looks like a Halloween costume you never ever ever wear. Please refer to this handy list from Gawker if you’re ever confused  as to why not.  

Chloe Sevigny in JW Anderson.  This dress is no good for ore or less the same reason: It’s a costume-y pastiche. I see the idea she was going for because Chinese embroidery is a traditional art form.

But then it turns into a Shroedinger’s cat of a dress: It’s simultaneously dead and alive at the same time. No seriously. White is the colour of death and green is the colour of health in Chinese culture. Literally, the dress reads dead and alive. Now if you want to get more metaphorical with it: The dress is alive and a great idea because it showcases Chinese embroidery traditions. It’s also dead because it’s clearly two different dresses that the designer decided to cram together because: Hey Chinese embroidery! Just look: The top half has these bold floral emblems and the bottom half has a cool landscape scene. Both things are things that you could find outside but still. Two different dresses do not make one good one.  A good idea poor execution. I like her shoes  though. 

FAIL:

These two unclear in their reference: Lady Gaga in Balenciaga and Bee Schaffer in Alexander McQueen.  Both managed to evoke Japan with their choices and it's  insensitive just to turn up with that because it happens to come from the general geographic region. So let’s just say they didn’t understand the assignment. Lady Gaga has that distinct kimono vibe (and my impression is it kind of Spanish too?). Bee is also giving off a kind of a Kimono vibe but leans into the wrong turn even further by also wearing a Japanese inspired pattern of cherry blossoms and cranes. Cherry Blossoms and cranes symbolise the fleeting nature of life so  with out question kind of a bummer at a party. 

PASS WITH COLOURS:

All right so this is a bunch of stuff from left to right: 

1. Katie Holmes in  Zac Posen. The dress has a really cool cloud design and it’s glittery so it’s a night sky dress.
2. Helen Mirren in Dolce Gabbana. Mirren’s choice it a totally tasteful tribute. This references Chinese culture in terms of colour choice rather than the dress itself. Red is of course being the colour of happiness, fortune and joy. 
3. Gong Li in Roberto Cavalli. It’s also a pretty safe and tame choice. There were a lot of dresses at the gala that would been at home on the set of In the Mood for Love. Gong Li’s is one of them but with a little bit of extra drama by adding a long train. 
4. Dao Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne. I’ll admit I had no clue who these two are but Bless Google! I do now. From what I managed to see of the Met Gala, they were the only two male examples of Chinese fashion! Awesome right? They’re wearing hanfu.

WINNING:

 Kim Kardashian 

Kim Kardashian in Roberto Cavalli. As a quasi-ceramics nerd: Bless. This. Dress. Even though Kim’s own choice of theme was to emulate a thing Cher wore to the Met Gala in the 1970’s

Mission accomplished there. I’d say its practically a ringer. Kim’s own agenda aside and back to why I love this dress: Look at those details on the bodice. First of all we see that awesome Greek key detail and what look to be some cloud like flourishes at the top so kinda like this :

Some of the other more obvious details are those circular emblems you see at that empire waistline bit. Those are a really cool design element that happen to mean wealth  (禄). Perfect for Kim. Now this dress does get points off for being white because, as I mentioned,  it is the colour of mourning. But let’s get back to where this dress excels and discuss how it’s totally a tribute to Ding ware ceramics. 

ing Ware is kind of a big deal. Ding ware is one of those great wares that everybody talked about and Emperor’s dined on. It also considered one of the first porcelains China ever made. That means it was made by mixing Kaolin clay and another kind of stone, called petuntse, used to make all this stuff so white. In fact, Ding ware is like the whitest thing ever. It’s always white. I’m not saying it’s the only white ware in Chinese ceramics but if you see a bowl or a plate 9 times out 10 it’s probably Ding ware. If you want to make the odds ever more in your favour: look for either flowers or fish and sometimes babies.

So if you notice both these dishes kind of have different looks. And good for you if you did! The top one is older than the one just above here. The top one used an incised method to draw on the designs. This would have meant some one would have sat there with a stylus ( a fancy word for a sharp pointy stick) and free handed it. This one here was done with pushing a mould with the design on it to the raw  clay. But I’m going to stop myself there before it turns into a ceramics gush fest.  But this is why Kim’s dress rocked.  You can see that most of the dress has these really cool floral flourishes all done in white, much like the Ding ware I’m showing you here. Thus: On theme and quite clever. Now it is fair to point out that it does fall under the general heading of Chinoiserie, but, in my nerdy opinion it was the best of this type of dress and hey awesome accidental ceramics reference!

Rhianna:

This dress is just inspiring. Though unfortunately it did inspire the internet to come up with some pretty-let’s say opinionated-memes:

Which had me like:

Then it occurred to me that it was no one’s fault really. There’s no reference here for it after all. Let me fill it in for you if you happen to think: But it looks like scrambled eggs though.  

First thing you need to know about this flight of fantastic is it one of the few things worn by A list celebrity at the Met Gala that was actually designed by a Chinese designer,  Ms. Guo Pei, to be exact.

That’s her on the end in green. And how did Rhianna end up finding out about her in the first place? She simply internetted hard and came across Pei’s designs. And in an interesting quirk, Pei actually didn’t know much about who Rhianna was either, and did a few internet searches herself and figured it out.

Though this does leaves me wondering why didn’t other glam squads have the same internet adventure? Those results would be very worthwhile to see on the red carpet and we could have seen more Chinese designers. However, I think with Pei’s breakthrough performance here it won’t be long.

The itself dress took around 2 years to construct. It weighs around 55 pounds and is made of yellow silk, gold thread, and, fox fur. The original outfit actually included a corset and some shoes but Rhianna chose just to wear the cape as a stand alone statement piece. It is also interesting to know that no one had worn the dress since it’s runway début in 2010. So basically, besides the model,  Rhianna is the second person ever to wear the dress! Though what I like most about all of this is Pei is on the record as saying no one but someone with the confidence of a queen could wear that dress.

HECK YES! I could not have said it better myself.

This is why this dress rocks. The dress is literally fit for a queen because it is yellow, a colour that is associated with the Emperor. So in case I lost you there: Yellow in Chinese culture is exactly like Purple is in the West: It’s Regal. That’s why all the snide asides about looking like eggs just don’t fit guys.  It would be like saying Kate Middleton looked like a smear of cream cheese in her wedding gown. Nope.

Meet the Dragon Robe or Jifu: … Or to be more precise: The Back view of  a Dragon Robe: 

These  robes are kind of complicated thing to understand with out a back story. But rest assured the back-story has dragons!  Dragons are an important part of what makes the Emperor a dapper dude. Long Story short: Since the emperor is supposed to have descended from heaven and needs something from called the mandate of heaven to rule, the dragon, and specifically the five clawed dragon is like a visual representation of the Emperor’s royal assent or right to rule.  And only the emperor got to rock the 5 clawed dragon. So it was pretty exclusive. If you were just an important government guy you’d only ever be allowed to rock 3 claws. Another thing that was reserved for the Emperor club was the colour Yellow. It’s considered to be colour of the earth and the colour representing the centre of the universe. It’s treated in Chinese mythology the same way the colour white actually works: It reflects all other colours and because of that  it’s kind of considered above all other colours. All you need to remember though, is that these things are important visual clues that would have added to the court vibe to show who is more important than who and who.

Now it’ll be super-easy for everyone to understand these fresh threads as a whole thing. If you’ve been super-paying attention you’ll probably notice the same - ish kind of cloud pattern that was at the bottom of Katie Holmes’s dress. Add that the yellow earth background with the whole 5 clawed dragons: You’re getting an aerial view of the boss 5 clawed dragons are literally frolicking in the clouds. Pretty neat huh? Now if we check out that hem line: You’ll notice blues and kind of a wavy pattern representing water. So earth, sky  and water. Wearing this meant the Emperor rules over both sky and sea. Master and commander. Of Everything. Ever.

So if that’s what he wore what did she get to?

Actually there are not a lot of surviving court robes that were designed for women. Why? because old China was of hugely, enormously, especially by our modern standards, sexist and didn’t normally include women in important courtly things. It was basically a bro-fest. I would have said sausage-fest but that’s not entirely accurate either because eunuchs. But check it: the Met actually has one in it’s collection.

Apart from it being a different colour and all, you can see it has much the same tailoring with the addition of a collar. I’m including it because it gives an idea of what the complete outfit would have looked like. What you need to notice here is the same pattern: as triumph over nature.  Now here’s what it would have looked liked in Yellow.  The V&A actually has one in their collection but it’s missing the collar.

Then through that bit of history I hope you can see how Chinese history decided to visually communicate who was alpha. And  because it was literally worn by the Chinese equivalent of  Kings and Queens why these clothes are important landmarks in Chinese fashion history. So then it only makes sense that such important landmarks would want to be worn by modern kings and queens: The famous, but with a mod. twists for the new century.  So while Pei’s tribute is a subtle play on these bad boys, there have been bolder tributes done for the new Emperors new clothes. Just take a peep at fellow Chinese designer Laurence Xu’s new imperial groove: 

This his guy is in the V&A’s storage right now but was worn by none other than Fan Bingbing at Cannes Film Festival in 2010:

While this is a more direct tribute to the Dragon robe, than Pei’s dress, you can totally see where Xu gets all his inspiration from.  It’s yellow: check. It’s got the dragon references:check. It’s being worn during a celebration and kind of a big deal event: Check. It’s being worn by someone important: Check.

Bottom line is :Yellow is Regal and those internet memes just show a knowledge gap turning towards a thing they didn’t fully understand. 

Basically: Guo Pei’s dress is the dress that the Met Gala deserves and needs right now. But didn’t fully understand. So they hunted it. Because it can take it. Because it’s not a hero. It is a trendsetter, a silent guardian of Chinese fashion. A dark knight.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Fan Bing Bing’s cape:

She is officially the caped crusader! This dramatic cape reminds me of the super elaborate roofs you find in palaces or temples and if you’ll forgive me my non-professional photographer skillz:

Those two guys are photos I took of the Po Lin Monastery. I happen to be quite in love with architectural flourishes.  Also when you think about how these buildings are constructed, without nails, and, are a complicated series of cross-beams resting on each other, it's just impressive. They are also pretty darn earthquake resistant. Though My favourite part of these roofs are the corner bits are called dougang-literally cap and block in Chinese. They can take on animal shapes like butterflies or dragons like in the above photos.

Sarah Jessica Parker’s Headdress:

Accidental Beijing Olympics mascot Cosplay. But  I can dig it. To be fair those guys were partly based on Chinese Opera costumes which are an important part of Chinese fashion history. 

Chinese opera is pretty cool. It can tell a story so many different ways cause it uses so many different art forms like martial arts for example. This means you could watch a Kung Fu movie as a play. Totally. Immersive. Entertainment. Experience. Also much like Shakespeare, all the roles were played by male actors. Though that’s different now.  But when you sit there and think about it: it’s half-way cool that by wearing it your wearing something only men got to wear. Points. Also I applaud the colour choice. Red in Chinese opera is brave and loyal. But let’s however ignore she also wearing a bad kind of red. You know those flowers on her cape are poppies. I mean really? If there was a more troublesome plant in Chinese history I cannot think of one. Seriously.

So that’s my met run down from an East Asian art nerd’s perspective. From the outside looking in. And desperately wishing she someday get’s to wear elegant couture.  #sigh. In the mean time I’ll just have to satisfied that I got maximum wear value outta my degrees doing this.

POP QUIZ AND GO!

No it’s really not a trick question.

They are all the same pot.

Congratulate you and your brain on a job well done! 

They really do look all look the same don’t they?

I mean apart from not being matchy-matchy  in colour. You probably couldn’t really tell when these bad boys and girls were fired.

Citations Away! :

1. British Museum Online Collection Qing Dynasty mid 19th Century-Early 20th. Pierson, Stacey, Illustrated catalogue of Ru, Guan, Jun, Guangdong and Yixing wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, University of London, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1999 

2. British Museum Online collection  Ming Dynasty 1368-1485 Pierson, Stacey, Illustrated catalogue of Ru, Guan, Jun, Guangdong and Yixing wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, University of London, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1999 

3. Victoria and Albert  Online collection, Yuan Dynasty 1278-1368Kerr, Rose. Song Dynasty Ceramics. London: V&A Publications, 2004. p. 39, nos. 30 and 30a  

Did I just give you a boregasm?  Sorry I promise there’s a point to all of this.

You probably don’t need to know the other bits particularly. It just telling you what museum it’s in and what book it’s in.  It’s just doing your basic due diligence. What I did do for you was bold  the important information.  So just doing some quick math for you you’ll notice a 622 year time lapse from No.3 to No. 1. WHOA. WAIT. WHAT ??!! Yes that’s right. That’s legit same pot was made over and over again not changing for 600 years. 

But I’m getting ahead of myself here. 

These are Jun ware flower pots. Well technically this is the bowl that you would put the flower pot in.  Does that make sense? Maybe not. This is a Jun ware flower pot. This is the thing that you put in the stand. 

Jun ware is what you will hear from those in the know called a ‘Great' ware of the Song Dynasty(960-1279). The text version of air-quotes is there because 'great’ just comes from the bazillion of history texts that call them great because Song Emperor’s used them at one point. This means they have a bunch of people telling you they’re great. So they’re great and that’s that really. The other ones that you’ll hear called great will be Ding, Ru, Jun, Guan and Ge.  

Oh and okay- why we should be kind of resentful towards the Mongols here: Song dynasty (960-1278/9) great ware are kind of rare because of History’s O.G’s. Though to be fair the Song dynasty towards the end was a bit of fuster cluck-so 50/50. But because they kind of kicked butt at making things organised (probably quite literally), China got to the mass production of things! Yay! Not limited to but including paper and ceramics.

SO HANDSHAKE A MONGOL DAY! -Now with less Swording and Marauding. 

To Recap and add a bunch of Chinese ceramics history in short: Great wares are ones that were used by the Song Imperial court at some point. So basically they were all #blessed for Song.  So because they were official wares, they had seriously regimented #ootd: Same patterns, colours, and shapes. Basically:

Then all other Dynasties trying to fit in and prove they were legit really got into #tbt and basically be cause older=better=same same stuff being made over and over again. 

Or Even shorter: 

ZOMBIE CERAMICS!! THEY ONCE HAD A SOUL BUT NOW THEY ARE JUST AN EMPTY SHELL OF THEIR FORMER SELVES!!!

And truth be told, I pretty much  hated on and everything to do with them.

I really did. I did not even give a ounce of bother. I was Diet Bother not even the full calorie bother. I really didn’t see what was so so special about stuff that was endlessly standardised and repeated with very little new influence. It was like congrats on making a cup that does what its supposed to.

Then I had a total epiphany.  

This right here is called the 'Willow’ pattern and what you would also get called Chinoiserie. 

First things first though, the Art Histo. crew likes to call these guys 'Blue and White wares’ because obviously because you’ve got your blue and your white.  Though what will really impress  is if you call them 'Underglaze Blue’ ceramics. This mean that the images of birds and people frolics are either hand-drawn on or transfer printed on then glazed in. And the other top three facts you need know:

1. Blue colour is caused by cobalt oxide. 

2. The Chinese were a Mister-Steal-Yo-Motif yoinked it from the Middle East along with a few shapes and designs including the cobalt. They did this around the 14th century and quickly got busy. So much so that by the 16th century they even managed to source their own blues, gave a serious makeover to its earlier form called Qingbai, and, decided what designs it was going to put where.                                                                                              ENHANCE: This is called an Ewer. They are normally a metal thing but ceramics like to borrow from meta things. 

 3.    They are made in Jingdezhen. You can even call Blue and White ware: Jingdezhen                       ware. Cause that’s all they do. Ever. The city’s official theme song should be Can’t Stop                  Won’t Stop. Check it:                                                              

Now that’s all caught up with, historical tour of duty two can begin: So along with tea, Europe was super big in love with Blue and White wares too. But they were mucho mucho dinero.  So European ceramic factories decided they would take a crack at it which is how the whole Chinoiserie thing happened.  Basically, a bunch of people who had never China’d trying to China. 

What can you say really? And to make matters worse-and I promise I’m almost done throwing Chinoiserie under the bus- Do you remember really artsy types call Blue and White wares Underglaze Blue? Because it has all that baked in goodness of blue being under the glaze? Yeah. The European guys weren’t doing that. They were busy either hand drawing on or transferring the design on with a stencil which coined the term transfer ware. This means your design is pretty prone to wear and tear and chips off kinda easy. So not only are the aesthetics all off but the quality was worse.  It gets better though. Sure, it’s so easy to rag on Chinoiserie for being a really bad Euro trip, but you gotta remember: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Europe took this pattern and ran with it made it in browns and reds, then even ripping off of ceramics and putting it on walls and bed sheets. ALL WILLOW EVERYTHANG! 

Look at what’s going on here though :Europe took a totally Chinese idea and decked themselves out in it. 

This is where and why I’d like to introduce you to : 

JO NYE THE POLI SCI GUY!!!

Personally, I think he deserves his own catchy early nineties theme song:JO JO JO JO JO NYE THE POLI SCI GUY! 

Joseph Nye coined the idea of soft power. Power in political science is all about the ability to influence the behaviours of others to get the outcomes you want. Nye thinks that great and all but wants to add something: The swag factor. What I mean by that is, Nye wants to include relative coolness into the definition of power. What that means is this: How many people around the world totally want to win an Oscar/care about the Oscars? A. Whole. Lot. Like, really a lot. I mean Cannes is cool and all but I’ll take that man gold statue.Please and Thank you. And what I want to do here is show you is that Blue and White ceramics are like ceramic’s Oscar. Yes.

Now if we take the  the 'Willow’ pattern along with Blue and White wares make them follow along Jo Nye’s Poli Sci soft power footsteps China is the one of the first soft powers along with exercising its own brand of decorative nationalism. What I mean by all that is that even though Blue and White ceramics were technically a Middle Eastern idea, China was the first one to literally export it to the world and:

The first example of this before the whole Europe thing, China was kind of a big deal in Asia. They and set a trend in Korea (because China kinda conquered them but whatevs.) inspiring them to make their own form of Blue and White wares in the  14th century (Joseon Dynasty 1392-1897). 

Then well  this. We’ve already seen this here  talked about this but this is Europe’s tribute to  Blue and White game. 

Then all of a sudden, Chinese ceramics became super duper affordable (read: Colonialism), which made Japan decide they too wanted to make fetch happen. Japan also decided the whole Western Colonialism thing wasn’t for them and decided that they too would become a Colonial power too but do their own thing.  Tough, to do things, you need money. Japan needed to make money and long story short, Japan realised there was money to be made in imitating Chinese ceramics and came up with it’s own Chinoiserie thing called Imari.

And there you have it: Three different examples from three different places and spaces that show how infectious the ideas of Chinese ceramics truly are. What you see in Blue and White ceramics are a Chinese idea idea that took the world by storm. It is the ultimate trend set by the ultimate trendsetter. When China was a regional boss by the 13th and 14th centuries I spread its design ideas to it’s tributary spaces like Korea. Then by the time Blue ware were really taking off in the mid 19th to early 20th centuries, China wasn’t even at the top of it’s political game any more and soon it was a colony. Yet, China accommodated no one artistically. In fact, you see the opposite. Japan reorganised its ceramic industry to produce Chinese-style ceramics, kind of favouring that over its own designs. Then there was Europe, some of the most powerful nations in the international system bending over backwards to imitate and possess something from one of their colonies. Now that’ pretty amazing.

All in all, I hope you get why I changed my opinion on ceramics generally and why I think you can find ceramics or at least Chinese ceramics pretty cool.  They can be quite the bad asses of history and kind of an endearing underdog story. And you know, failing that, you know they can totally pour and hold your drinks, store your stuff, or keep your flowers tidy. But I rather think of them like this: