Microstructures of Global Trade. The East Asian Porcelain in the Collection of August the Strong in the Context of the Inventories from the 18th Century

• Applicant: Dr. Julia Weber, since 1/2017
• Subject Area: Art History
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 302250485

During 200 years, from the beginning of the 17th to the end of 18th century, several million pieces of East Asian porcelain were imported to Europe. The Chinese and Japanese export porcelain had an enormous impact on the European societies and can be regarded as an early modern worldwide commodity. The Porcelain Collection Dresden, which dates back to the Royal holdings of Augustus the Strong, possesses one of the most comprehensive and outstanding collection of East Asian porcelain, which allow insights into the structures of global trade. The macro-structures of this trade and the importance of the trading companies have been in focus for several decades. The research is either based on the corpus of the still extant objects, or on historical records, in order to gain information about the extent or the influence of the imports.This project is based on the historical inventories of the Dresden porcelain collection from the 18th century. They allow an analysis of the porcelain trade in concordance of the object and written documentation. Such a combination of this early extensive collection of nearly 8.000 Oriental porcelain pieces and their contemporary descriptions exits nowhere else in the world. The identification of the single object based on the incised or painted inventory number into the porcelain body and the entry in the historical documentation, allows in combination with the former royal holdings a reconstruction of the acquisition. Such a research project offers the unique opportunity to gain empirical information on the scope and importance of the private trade with East Asian porcelain.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Cora Würmell
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Dr. Ulrich Pietsch, until 12/2016