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This is my research topic that was required as part of my volunteer efforts at Bayou Bend, the American decorative arts wing of the MFA, Houston. Since the collection has significant Chinese Export ware, my topic (chosen by the curator) was in this area. I figure it might be of some interest to the forum. Unfortunately, the footnotes got stripped out in the transfer.
Hidden in Plain Sight; Chinese Symbolism in a Neoclassical Design
Introduction
In the West, garnitures can be defined as a set of decorative objects with a common theme that tend to come in odd numbered sets of three, five, and rarely seven. In the East, a similar concept is found with Chinese altar sets that typically consist of a central incense burner, two beaker vases, and two candlesticks. In both the East and the West, these sets of objects can be made with a variety of materials such as stone, metal, or porcelain.
The origin of the word garniture is most likely derived from a 17th century French term “garniture de cheminee” which refers to the decorative arrangement of ceramic vases or urns above a chimneypiece. As a definition the concept can be further simplified to the phase “to garnish” or decorate.
Garnitures remained popular for centuries in Europe and colonial Americans that kept abreast of the latest fashion trends from overseas soon added garniture sets to their household decorations. American merchants trading directly with the Chinese shortly after the founding of our new nation imported ceramic export wares including garniture sets that were popular with stylish Americans.
In 1969, Miss Ima Hogg gifted the Bayou Bend Collection a five piece porcelain Chinese Export Garniture Set that she had purchased earlier from antique dealer David Stockwell in Delaware. This research paper is a closer examination of this particular Garniture Set in relation to the American market for Chinese goods and how the Chinese specifically targeted the design & decoration of these goods to American tastes. This paper will also include an explanation of the somewhat hidden Chinese symbolism to be found in the border decoration on each of the five garniture vases. See illustration 1.
Chinese Export Ware for Americans
The Bayou Bend Garniture Set was most likely imported directly into the new Federal Republic sometime between 1790 and 1805 by American merchants trading with China in Canton. American merchants arrived in China during the 1780s and found that foreigners could only enter one designated port (Canton) and they would be governed under strict Chinese regulations and restrictions previously established for dealing with “Western barbarians”. Coming from a newly established nation with little to no worldwide powers to influence or compel other foreign nations, the isolated American traders in Canton saw good economic reasons for obedience to Imperial laws. Chinese officials and Chinese merchants began to look with favor on the Americans and the new comers achieved increasing success over the years with their trading endeavors.
The great majority of export ware coming into Canton from Chinese merchants trading with Westerners was mass produced blue and white table ware from the Jingdezhen porcelain center in Jiangxi province. The opportunity for Westerners, including the Americans to direct or influence decoration of export wares was mainly with those items (along with custom orders) receiving overglaze enameling which was typically done in Canton. The majority of Neoclassical design elements used by the Chinese craftsman that were so popular with early 19th Americans are usually in overglaze enamel colors. I am sure that American merchants made it clear to their Chinese counterparts that the eagle was held in great regard by the residents of the young Republic. Other scenes of American interest show up on export ware including Mount Vernon and Monticello. See Illustration 2. Portraits of patriotic figures such as George Washington also found their way onto export ware for the American market.
Bayou Bend Garniture Design
An examination of the decoration on the Bayou Bend Garniture Set shows the typical Neoclassical design elements popular with the American market in the Federal period. There are floral swags and borders, shaped cartouches, western based landscape medallions, and other small floral motifs can be found on the five vases. The M. and M. Karolik Collection at the Boston MFA has a partial Garniture Set in its collection with very similar design elements.
The landscape medallion on the Bayou Bend set seems to be a fairly generic Western scene of a man walking across a bridge over a body of water towards a house with some trees in the foreground and background. I cannot determine if the scene can be specifically tied to America or Europe.
The colors used in Bayou Bend Garniture are also fairly typical for examples of Chinese imports to Federal America. The main enamel color used on the vase set is a sepia brown shade that against the white porcelain body gives the effect of a drawing on paper. There are also highlights using a darker brown enamel and gilt gold accents on the vase bodies along with gilt on the dog finals on the vase lids. There is finally an orange-red enamel used on some non-western designs incorporated into the floral borders found on the front and back of each vase.
Up to this point the Chinese craftsman has incorporated just about every Neoclassical design element required and expected by a fashionable early 19th century American consumer of imported porcelain wares. Hidden in plain sight in the floral borders are four bats among stylized clouds that are very much in the Chinese taste. See Illustration 3.
Meaning of Chinese Bat Symbolism vs. Western Bat Mythology
The Chinese for centuries have associated bats with many virtues and good wishes so Chinese art abounds with bat motifs on fabrics, jewelry, paintings, and porcelain. These bats are often bright red which to the Chinese is the color of joy. Five bats have a very auspicious meaning that is known as the Five Blessings—health, prosperity, love of virtue, long life, and a natural, tranquil death. While the western motifs that the Chinese artisan used on the Bayou Bend Garniture most likely had little or no meaning to him, the cloud & bat motif was a clear message known to any educated Chinese person. Their subtle message to an unknown customer across the sea was “May your longevity and happiness be as great as heaven is high.”
Another aspect of the Chinese symbolism on these five vases that has puzzled me during my research was why there are only four bats instead of five (Five Blessings) shown on each cartouche. Numbers have traditionally been important in Chinese symbolism and four associated with death is the most unlucky number in China. As an engineer, I love playing with numbers so I am advancing the following theory about these bats. If one considers the number of bats on the entire set of five vases, then the total count is 40 bats. If these bats are grouped into sets of 5, then there are 8 sets of these grouped bats. Would the reader care to guess what is considered the luckiest number in China? Of course, the answer is eight which is traditionally associated with wealth.
I believe most early 19th century American customers would have been rather horrified to find bats on their fashionable Neoclassical garniture set. Traditionally, the West has associated bats with the night, the devil, and also witchcraft. Many religious texts such as the Talmud have presented bats in a negative manner. The bats and clouds on the Bayou Bend Garniture Set are so well integrated into the floral borders that I don’t think the original owners would have recognized them.
The Use of Western Print Sources in Chinese Export Porcelain
Within the categories of Chinese export porcelain goods available to Western merchants in Canton was a more custom, on-demand type of porcelain called “Chine de commande”. This type of porcelain included armorial dinner & tea services, cups and mugs with handles, and also garniture sets. As early as the 1680s, European merchants supplied the Chinese with European prints to copy various subjects onto porcelain such as religious scenes, classical mythology, landscapes, portraits, etc. There was even a painting style that was developed by the Chinese to imitate the effect of printed lines on paper called “encre de Chine”. With the arrival of Americans in Canton, they soon made use of the “Chine de commande” system to start customizing Chinese export porcelain for the American market. A notable example in the Bayou Bend collection that relates to this system of custom enameled porcelain is the sauceboat stand from the Washington Cincinnati service.
I have not found very much information in regard to print sources for specific American landscapes that are typically identified by recognizable buildings. Jean M. Mudge in Chinese Export Porcelain in North America states “keyhole like vignettes of local landscapes, more often taken from prints in contemporary periodicals than sketched by those who ordered them.” The Houston MFA has a Chinese Export Punch Bowl in its collection with several scenes in enamel sepia that have been traced back to a Philadelphia periodical called The Port Folio.
Howard & Ayers in China for the West notes that an oil painting of the Washington residence along with a small contemporary watercolor copy in the collection of Mount Vernon Ladies Association could be the source for an oval scene in sepia of the house that is found on a Chinese export plate c. 1802-1805. The authors speculate that another watercolor copy of the painting could have been taken to China as part of a custom order. See Illustration 4.
Conclusion
I have spent several months looking for similar examples of Chinese export ware in the early 19th century Neoclassical taste that also incorporate specific Chinese symbolism. I have also reached out to others with an interest in this field for their input regarding similar examples. In conclusion, I believe the Bayou Bend Garniture Set is a rare thing in regard to its unique decoration. The only other item that I found that came close was a Chinese export plate, c. 1820-30, with a French Empire type of border and a central sepia decoration of “auspicious figures & hundred antiques”. It was originally made for Nathaniel Perez Hamlen of Boston. See Illustration 5. After the early 19th century Neoclassical style went out of fashion in America, tastes mostly shifted to export wares wholly in the Chinese stylistic taste.
I would like to thank my fellow collector, John Guerrero whose sharp eye first saw those little, red bats. His enthusiastic support sent me off in several productive directions.
Bibliography
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Thank you for sharing your work, William. I enjoyed reading it very much. The research must have been interesting. Will you be doing some more?
Interesting, thank you.
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