Art Works Analysis and Museum Experience

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that time, Europeans have high demand for tea, and this artwork is probably one of the export pieces to demonstrate the production of tea along with the tea itself. These details enable us to understand the cultural background of when and where the art work is originated. This piece of art work is probably in the midrange price during its time because of the material it used. It is hard-paste porcelain painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze, which is a common technique during the time of its origin. The art work on the plate is not particularly fancy, indicating that this is not a piece of rare hardware.

On the other hand, the Dish with a vase of flowers is very different. Although there is not much historical content we can extract from since it is merely a picture of flowers in a vase, there are still some traits that can look over carefully from the art work. This piece of artwork has an extensive use of gilding, which demonstrates the above-the-average value it has. Compare to the Dish with a scene of tea cultivation, this Dish with a vase of flowers has more variety of color on it. The Dish with a scene of tea cultivation is a white based plate with cobalt blue painted on it. Although this Dish with a vase of flowers also has a white based color, the maker added another layer of blue cobalt on it before adding the red and black color on to the blue paint. Furthermore, the pattern and the drawings on the plate are trickier and fancier compare to the Dish with a scene of tea cultivation, which indicates the production of this piece of artwork as relatively more time consuming thus yield a higher value. Although there is no obvious trait of the timing of its origin, the techniques and materials used have indicates the Qing dynasty characteristic. The gilding along with the red and blue color illustrates the Chinese adoption of the Japanese lmari style, which was very popular in Europe in the mid-seventeenth century (Qing dynasty).

Indeed, both artworks have differences in terms of production process, materials used and value. However, both pieces of artwork are conveying the same message: China was trying to foster cultural contact with other countries, especially with those from the Western culture, through trading and exporting artwork. They would love to make connections with western culture. With the Dish with a scene of tea cultivation, they want to make the connection through tea; with the Dish with vase of flowers, they want to make the connection through the style the Europeans favor. All these attempts are because of transculturation. The Europeans love tea, and Chinese export the hardware with the scene of tea cultivation, wanting the European to see the Chinese in those hardware.