19th Century Chinese export blue and white porcelain plate. Depicting a small shrine beneath a flowering bush. Unmarked. 

Condition: Faint crack on front and back. 

Size: 8 3/4 x 8 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. 

#2551 . 

Chinese export porcelain includes a wide range of Chinese porcelain that was made almost exclusively for export to Europe (and later to North America) between the 16th and 20th Century. It is typically not used as a descriptive term for the much earlier wares that were produced to reflect Islamic taste and exported to the Middle East and Central Asia, apparently driving the development of Chinese blue and white porcelain in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Wares made for export, especially in the early periods, were usually stronger and more roughly-finished compared to those for the elite domestic market, to allow for the stresses of transport and for less sophisticated customers. It took some time for feedback from export markets to influence the shapes and decoration of the Chinese product, especially in earlier periods, and with distant markets such as Europe. Initially markets were sent what the Chinese themselves liked. With the increasing reach of European trading companies, especially the Dutch and English East India Trading Companies, unique and specific designs could be ordered from Europe. Chinese export porcelain was generally decorative, but without the symbolic significance of wares produced for the Chinese home market. In the later 18th Century, as European porcelain factories became established, there was more competition, and the quality of export wares declined, sometimes even imitating European shapes and designs. As trade with China evolved, blue and white wares in the Kangxi style were produced in large quantities and almost every earlier style and type was copied into the 20th century. The Tariff Act of 1890 by the United States raised the average duty on imports to almost 50%, an increase designed to protect domestic industries and workers from foreign competition, and was responsible for the requirement that the name of the country of origin be present on any incoming goods, meaning unmarked chinaware comes from before this period. In recent decades, modern porcelain production for export, mainly of basic household wares in contemporary styles, has increased enormously and once again become an important industry for China.

Faint crack on front and back. Pock marks due to firing process.