Chinoiserie
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225544325
2008-07-14T06:30:25Z
Taksen
1836221
this article on something nice and beautiful also needs a nice lay-out, i still dont like the pic of Nymphenburg
[[Image:Kew Gardens Pagoda.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The Kew Gardens Pagoda at the [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|Royal Botanic Gardens]] at [[Kew]], [[London]]]]
[[Image:Museo delle porcellane di Firenze, porcellane viennesi a cineserie, 1799, 02.JPG|thumb|200px|right|A Vienna porcelain jug, 1799, decorated to imitate another rare Chinese product, [[lacquer]]]]
[[Image:Potsdam_chinesisches_haus_1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Chinese House (Potsdam)]]]]
[[Image:Chinesisches Kabinett, Nymphenburg.jpg|thumb|200px|The "Chinese" cabinet at [[Nymphenburg Palace]] is panelled in Chinese lacquer removed from screens]]
[[Image:Behang.chinoiserie.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Wallpaper on canvas, handpainted with chinoiserie ornaments, from the museum [[Geelvinck-Hinlopen Huis]]]]
[[Image:Chineese Village.JPG|thumb|200px|The "[[Chinese Village (Tsarskoe Selo)|Chinese Village]]" at [[Tsarskoe Selo]] commissioned by [[Catharine the Great]]]]
'''Chinoiserie''', a French term, signifying "Chinese-esque", refers to a recurring theme in European [[Art styles, periods and movements|artistic style]]s since the seventeenth century, which reflects [[Chinese art]]. It is characterized by the use of fanciful imagery of an imaginary China, by [[asymmetry]] in format and whimsical contrasts of scale, and by the attempts to imitate [[Chinese porcelain]] and the use of lacquerlike materials and decoration.
Chinoiserie entered the European repertory in the mid-to-late seventeenth century; its popularity peaked around the middle of the eighteenth century, when it was easily assimilated into [[rococo]], then declined somewhat, for it seemed to European eyes the very antithesis of [[neoclassicism]]. Chinoiserie is expressed entirely in the [[decorative arts]] of Europe, and its expression in architecture was entirely in the field of whimsical [[Folly|follies]]. By contrast, the serious transformations that Chinese models effected in the eighteenth century, on the plain style of Early Georgian English furniture, notable in the [[cabriole leg]], or on the "naturalistic" style of [[English landscape garden]]ing, are not considered instances of "Chinoiserie".
==Chinese porcelain==
From the [[Renaissance]] to the 18th century Western designers attempted to imitate the technical sophistication of [[Chinese porcelain|Chinese ceramics]] with only partial success. Direct imitation of Chinese designs in [[faience]] began in the late 17th century, was carried into European [[porcelain]] production, most naturally in tea wares, and peaked in the wave of rococo Chinoiserie (ca. 1740-1770).
Earliest hints of Chinoiserie appear in the early 17th century, in the arts of the nations with active [[British East India Company|East India Companies]], Holland and England, then by mid-17th century, in Portugal as well. [[Tin-glazed pottery]] made at [[Delft]] and other Dutch towns adopted genuine blue-and-white [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] decoration from the early 17th century. After a book by [[Johan Nieuhof]] was published the 150 pictures encouraged chinoiserie, and became especially popular in the 18th century. Early ceramic wares at [[Meissen]] and other centers of true [[porcelain]] naturally imitated Chinese shapes for dishes, vases and tea wares. But in the true Chinoiserie décor fairyland, mandarins lived in fanciful mountainous landscapes with cobweb bridges, carried flower parasols, lolled in flimsy bamboo pavilions haunted by dragons and phoenixes, while monkeys swung from scrolling borders.
==Interior decoration==
Various European monarchs, such as [[Louis XV of France]], gave special favor to Chinoiserie, as it blended well with the [[rococo]] style. Entire rooms, such as those at [[Château de Chantilly]], were painted with Chinoiserie compositions, and artists such as [[Antoine Watteau]] and others brought expert craftsmanship to the style.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gotheborg.com/glossary/glossaryindex.htm?http://www.gotheborg.com/glossary/data/chinoiserie.shtml|title=chinoiserie|author=Jan-Erik Nilsson|publisher=Gothenborg.com|accessdate=2007-09-17}}</ref> Pleasure pavilions in "Chinese taste" appeared in the formal parterres of late Baroque and Rococo German and Russian palaces, and in tile panels at [[Aranjuez]] near [[Madrid]]. The whole [[Chinese Village]]s were built in [[Drottningholm Palace|Drottningholm]], [[Sweden]] and [[Tsarskoe Selo]], [[Russia]]. [[Thomas Chippendale]]'s mahogany tea tables and china cabinets, especially, were embellished with fretwork glazing and railings, ''ca'' 1753 - 70, but sober ''homages'' to early [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] scholars' furnishings were also naturalized, as the ''tang'' evolved into a mid-Georgian side table and squared slat-back armchairs suited English gentlemen as well as Chinese scholars. Not every adaptation of Chinese design principles falls within mainstream "chinoiserie." Chinoiserie media included "japanned" ware imitations of lacquer and painted tin (tôle) ware that imitated [[japanning]], early painted wallpapers in sheets, after [[engraving]]s by [[Jean-Baptiste Pillement]], and ceramic figurines and table ornaments.
==Architecture and gardens==
Small [[pagoda]]s appeared on chimneypieces and full-sized ones in gardens. [[Kew]] has a magnificent garden pagoda designed by Sir [[William Chambers (architect)|William Chambers]], a replica of which was built in [[Munich]]'s [[Englischer Garten]]. Though the rise of a more serious approach in [[Neoclassicism]] from the 1770s onward tended to squelch such Oriental folly, at the height of Regency "Grecian" furnishings, the [[George IV of the United Kingdom|Prince Regent]] came down with a case of [[Brighton Pavilion]], and Chamberlain's Worcester [[China (pottery)|china]] manufactory imitated gaudy "[[Imari porcelain|Imari]]" wares. While classical styles reigned in the parade rooms, upscale houses, from [[Badminton House]] (where the "Chinese Bedroom" was furnished by [[John Linnell|William and John Linnell]], ca 1754) and [[Nostell Priory]] to [[Casa Loma]] in Toronto, sometimes feature an entire guest room decorated in the chinoiserie style, complete with Chinese-styled bed, [[fenghuang|phoenix]]-themed wallpaper, and [[porcelain|china]]. Later exoticisms added imaginary Turkish themes, where a [[divan|"diwan"]] became a [[sofa]].
==Literary criticism==
The term is also used in literary criticism to describe a mannered "Chinese-esque" style of writing, such as that employed by [[Ernest Bramah]] in his [[Kai Lung]] stories, [[Barry Hughart]] in his Master Li & Number Ten Ox novels and [[Stephen Marley]] in his [[Chia Black Dragon]] series.<ref>Marley rejects the chinoiserie label in favour of his own term, "Chinese Gothic".</ref>
==Fashion==
The term is also used in fashion, such as with [[The Beatles]]' [[Mao]] jackets.{{fact|date=May 2008}}
==See also==
* [[Orientalism]]
* [[Japonism]]
==Notes and References==
===Notes===
{{reflist}}
===Sources===
* {{cite book |last=Eerdmans |first=Emily |title=Classic English Design and Antiques: Period Styles and Furniture; The Hyde Park Antiques Collection |chapter=The International Court Style: William & Mary and Queen Anne: 1689-1714, The Call of the Orient |year=2006 |publisher=Rizzoli International Publications |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8478-2863-0 |pages=pp. 22-25}}
* Honour, Hugh. 1961. ''Chinoiserie: The Vision of Cathay'' (London: John Murray)
==External links==
{{Commonscat|Chinoiserie}}
*[http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/c1/chinoise.asp Chinoiserie] at Highbeam Encyclopedia
*[http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/orient/ (Getty Museum) "Imagining the Orient"] exhibition, 2004-05.
*{{cite web |publisher= [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]
|url= http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/british_galleries/bg_styles/Style04c/index.html
|title= Chinoiserie Style Guide
|work=British Galleries
|accessdate= 2007-07-17}}
*[http://harpsichordphoto.org/myers/ Example of Chinoiserie in French Style Harpsichord]
[[Category:Art movements]]
[[Category:Chinese art]]
[[Category:Rococo architecture]]
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