For discussion:

In what ways did Chinese art and material culture have an impact on European art and taste?

What impact did Nieuhof’s book have on the formation of an image of China in Europe?

What does Porter mean with ‘the aesthetics of illegitimacy’?

Core Readings:

Porter, David. Ideographia: The Chinese Cipher in Early Modern Europe Stanford University Press, 2001), especially chapter 3: ‘Chinoiserie and the Aesthetics of Illegitimacy’ pp. 133-192.

Nieuhof, Johannes, Pieter de Goyer, Jacob de Keizer, Athanasius Kircher, John Ogilby, Schall von Bell, Johann Adam, and Nederlandsche Oost-Indische Compagnie. An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperor of China [Gezantschap der Neerlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, den tegenwoordigen keizer van China.]. The 2nd ed. London: Printed by the author ..., 1673.

Further Readings:

Arnold, Lauren Princely Gifts and Papal Treasures : The Franciscan Mission to China and its Influence on the Art of the West (San Francisco: Desiderata Press, 1999) especially pp. 143-151

Impey, Oliver. Chinoiserie: The Impact of Oriental Styles on Western Art and Decoration (Oxford University Press, 1977).

Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe volume 4: East Asia. CB251.L2

Pierson, Stacey. Collectors, Collections, and Museums: the Field of Chinese Ceramics in Britain, 1560-1960 (P. Lang, 2007).

Standaert, Nicolas. 'Seventeenth-century European Images of China' review article in China Review International 12.1 (2005): 254-259.

Watson, William, ed. The Westward Influence of the Chinese Arts from the 14^th to the 18^th Century (1973)