Jean-François Paillard (12 April 1928 – 15 April 2013) was a French conductor.
65-466: Ba-ta-clan is a " chinoiserie musicale" (or operetta ) in one act with music by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Ludovic Halévy . It was first performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens , Paris, on 29 December 1855. The operetta uses set numbers and spoken dialogue and runs for under an hour. Ba-ta-clan was Offenbach's first big success, and opened his new winter theatre,
130-492: A book – La Laitière de Montfermeil by Paul de Kock ; she notices that Ké-ki-ka-ko is leafing through a copy of La Patrie . They realize that each of them is not Chinese, but French. Ké-ki-ka-ko is the Viscount Alfred Cérisy, once shipwrecked on the coast of China and captured, tortured and brought to the palace and condemned to only repeat the rebels' song Ba-ta-clan. Fé-an-nich-ton confesses in song that she
195-560: A further decline of interest in the Oriental. China closed its doors to exports and imports and for many people chinoiserie became a fashion of the past. As British-Chinese relations stabilized towards the end of the 19th century, there was a revival of interest in chinoiserie. Prince Albert , for example, reallocated many chinoiserie works from George IV's Royal Pavilion at Brighton to the more accessible Buckingham Palace. Chinoiserie served to remind Britain of its former colonial glory that
260-564: A general sense of capriciousness. William Alexander (1767–1816), a British painter, illustrator and engraver who travelled to the East Asia and China in the 18th century, was directly influenced by the culture and landscape he saw in the East. He presented an idealized, romanticized depiction of Chinese culture, but he was influenced by "pre-established visual signs." While the chinoiserie landscapes that Alexander depicted accurately reflected
325-416: A major representative, but the meaning of the term could change according to different contexts. Sir William Chambers for example, in his oeuvre A Dissertation on Oriental Gardening of 1772, generically addresses China as the 'Orient'. In the financial records of Louis XIV during the 17th and 18th centuries were already registered expressions like 'façon de la Chine', Chinese manner, or 'à la chinoise', made in
390-402: A range of grades and prices. The patterns on chinoiserie wallpaper are similar to the pagodas, floral designs, and exotic imaginary scenes found on chinoiserie furniture and porcelain. Like chinoiserie furniture and other decorative art forms, chinoiserie wallpaper was typically placed in bedrooms, closets, and other private rooms of a house. The patterns on wallpaper were expected to complement
455-909: A silver platter, revealing that he, Ko-ko-ri-ko, is also of French origin (born rue Mouffetard) and he is ready to provide the means for their escape in return for being allowed himself to become Emperor. All ends happily with a reprise of the Ba-ta-clan anthem, and Fé-an-nich-ton, Ké-ki-ka-ko and Fé-ni-han prepare to depart for France. Jacques Offenbach: Ba-Ta-Clan , Orchestre Jean-François Paillard , Choir Philippe Caillard Jacques Offenbach: Ba-Ta-Clan , L'Ensemble de Basse-Normandie Chinoiserie Chinoiserie ( English: / ʃ ɪ n ˈ w ɑː z ər i / , French: [ʃinwazʁi] ; loanword from French chinoiserie , from chinois , "Chinese"; traditional Chinese : 中國風 ; simplified Chinese : 中国风 ; pinyin : Zhōngguófēng ; lit. 'China style')
520-534: Is Mademoiselle Virginie Durand, a light soprano who was on a Far East tour to initiate the locals into the great French repertoire: Les Huguenots and La Dame aux Camélias , La Juive and Les Rendez-vous bourgeois , Phèdre and Passé minuit , when she was captured by the soldiers of Fé-ni-han. The two Parisians reflect wistfully of home, and Fé-an-nich-ton sings the 'Ronde de Florette'. They both decide to run away, dancing as they go. The conspirators return, but when alone, Fè-ni-han laments on his lot; he
585-489: Is actually Anastase Nourrisson, a native of Brive-la-Gaillarde and his only wish is to see France again. Ko-ko-ri-ko comes back threateningly and he and Fè-ni-han sing a duo in made-up Italian in the style of Bellini . In fact Fé-an-nich-ton and Ké-ki-ka-ko have been caught by Ko-ko-ri-ko while trying to flee, and the emperor has been asked for the death penalty, which he cannot refuse. In their distress, Virginia and Alfred sing one last time La Ronde de Florette, and Fè-ni-han
650-518: Is amazed to hear them speaking French, likewise Fé-an-nich-ton and Ké-ki-ka-ko are surprised to hear the Emperor talking their language. Fè-ni-han dismisses the conspirators and explains how eight years previously he was dragged in front of the real prince Fè-ni-han and told that the only way he would avoid execution was by assuming the habits and role of emperor. He now makes the same offer to Ké-ki-ka-ko who naturally refuses, and asks why an insurrection
715-472: Is being plotted. Fè-ni-han, it seems, through not speaking Chinese had accidentally impaled the five most virtuous people in the land, and now faces a conspiracy against his rule. Ké-ki-ka-ko threatens to join the conspiracy so both summon the conspirators with the Ba-ta-clan anthem (mixed with the Chorale 'Ein feste Burg' from Les Huguenots ). Finally, Fè-ni-han is handed a letter from the chief conspirator on
SECTION 10
#1732780897808780-558: Is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other Sinosphere artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts , garden design , architecture , literature , theatre , and music . The aesthetic of chinoiserie has been expressed in different ways depending on the region. It is related to the broader current of Orientalism , which studied Far East cultures from a historical, philological, anthropological, philosophical, and religious point of view. First appearing in
845-602: The Dictionnaire de l'Académie . After the spread of Marco Polo's narrations , the knowledge of China held by the Europeans continued to derive essentially from reports made by merchants and diplomatic envoys. Dating from the latter half of the 17th century a relevant role in this exchange of information was then taken up by the Jesuits, whose continual gathering of missionary intelligence and language transcription gave
910-592: The Baroque repertoire for Erato Records and has toured throughout Europe and the United States. It has also recorded with many leading French instrumentalists, including Maurice André , Jean-Pierre Rampal , Pierre Pierlot , Lily Laskine , Jacques Lancelot , Michel Arrignon . A 1968 recording by the orchestra of the "Canon and Gigue for 3 violins and basso continuo" by Johann Pachelbel , familiarly known as Pachelbel's Canon , nearly single-handedly brought
975-670: The Callot Soeurs , and Jean Paquin . In the early 20th century, European and fashion designers would use China and other countries outside of the Eurocentric-fashion world to seek inspiration; Vogue magazine also acknowledged that China had contributed to the aesthetic inspiration to global fashion. Chinese motifs grew popular in European fashion during this period. China and the Chinese people also supplied
1040-538: The Chinese Symphony (1914) by Bernard van Dieren , and the light music orchestral fantasy In a Chinese Temple Garden by Albert Ketelbey (1923). In Britain, many 20th century song composers set English translations of Chinese poetry (by orientalists such as Launcelot Cranmer-Byng , Herbert Giles , Edward Powys Mathers and Arthur Waley ) to music, including Benjamin Britten in his cycle Songs from
1105-695: The Salle Choiseul . The witty piece satirised everything from contemporary politics to grand opera conventions. It was frequently revived in Paris, London and New York for decades, and Offenbach eventually expanded it as a full-length piece with a cast of eleven. Offenbach's early operettas were small-scale one-act works, since the law in France limited the licence for musical theatre works (other than most operas) to one-act pieces with no more than three singers and, perhaps, some mute characters. In 1858, this law
1170-561: The United States , particularly in San Francisco , during the early 1970s. By the late 1970s various renditions of it were topping classical music charts in the U.S., including Paillard's own. The Paillard Chamber Orchestra's recording was also prominently featured in the soundtrack of the 1980 film Ordinary People . Paillard released 307 records. He also appeared frequently as a guest conductor with other orchestras and
1235-600: The oriental riff , making use of the pentatonic scale , often harmonized with open parallel fourths. The term is also used in literary criticism. The so-called 'Mandarin style' "is beloved by literary pundits, by those who would make the written word as unlike as possible to the spoken one". Critics also 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. Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois Paillard He
1300-483: 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. Central European palaces like the Castle of Wörlitz or the Castle of Pillnitz all include rooms decorated with Chinese features, while in the palace of Sanssouci at Potsdam features a Dragon House (Das Drachenhaus) and
1365-475: 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 engravings by Jean-Baptiste Pillement , and ceramic figurines and table ornaments. In
SECTION 20
#17327808978081430-513: The 17th and 18th centuries Europeans began to manufacture furniture that imitated Chinese lacquer furniture. It was frequently decorated with ebony and ivory or Chinese motifs such as pagodas. Thomas Chippendale helped to popularize the production of chinoiserie furniture with the publication of his design book The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker's Director: Being a large Collection of the Most Elegant and Useful Designs of Household Furniture, In
1495-536: The 17th century, Chinese arts and aesthetic were sources of inspiration to artists and creators, and fashion designers when goods from oriental countries were widely seen for the first time in Western Europe. In the 18th century and throughout the 19th century, chinoiserie fashion was especially celebrated in France, and the origin of most Chinese-inspired fashion was French during this period. Chinoiserie had also inspired designers such as Mariano Fortuny ,
1560-643: The 17th century, this trend was popularized in the 18th century due to the rise in trade with China (during the High Qing era ) and the rest of East Asia. As a style, chinoiserie is related to the Rococo style. Both styles are characterized by exuberant decoration, asymmetry, a focus on materials, and stylized nature and subject matter that focuses on leisure and pleasure. Chinoiserie focuses on subjects that were thought by Europeans to be typical of Chinese culture . Chinoiserie entered European art and decoration in
1625-477: The 18th century. Europeans had a fascination with Asia due to their increased, but still restricted, access to new cultures through expanded trade with East Asia, especially China. The 'China' indicated in the term 'chinoiserie' represented in European people's mind a wider region of the globe that could embrace China itself, but also Japan, Korea, South-East Asia, India or even Persia. In art, the style of "the Orient"
1690-825: The Chinese for high voice and guitar (1957). More recent operatic examples include A Night at the Chinese Opera ( Judith Weir , 1987) and Nixon in China ( John Adams , 1987). The influence of Chinese and East Asian music has also been evident in popular music, from musical comedy ( A Chinese Honeymoon , 1899), Tin Pan Alley ( Limehouse Nights by George Gershwin , 1920), Broadway musicals and jazz ( Chinoiserie by Duke Ellington , 1971) through to modern rock music ( China Girl by David Bowie , 1976 and many more). These pieces often incorporate Western cultural shorthand clichés of Chinese musical style, such as
1755-719: The Chinese House (Das Chinesische Haus). 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 . Chinese Villages were built in the mountainous park of Wilhelmshöhe near Kassel, Germany; in Drottningholm , Sweden and Tsarskoe Selo , Russia . Thomas Chippendale 's mahogany tea tables and china cabinets, especially, were embellished with fretwork glazing and railings, c. 1753–70, but sober homages to early Qing scholars' furnishings were also naturalized, as
1820-562: The Chinese way. In the 19th century the term 'chinoiserie' appeared for the first time in French literature. In the novel L'Interdiction published in 1836, Honoré de Balzac used chinoiserie to refer to the craftworks made in the Chinese style. From this moment on the term gained momentum and started being used more frequently to mean objects produced in the Chinese style but sometimes also to indicate graceful objects of small dimension or of scarce account. In 1878 'chinoiserie' entered formally in
1885-686: The European public a new deeper insight of the Chinese empire and its culture. While Europeans frequently held inaccurate ideas about East Asia, this did not necessarily preclude their fascination and respect. In particular, the Chinese who had "exquisitely finished art... [and] whose court ceremonial was even more elaborate than that of Versailles" were viewed as highly civilized. According to Voltaire in his Art de la Chine , "The fact remains that four thousand years ago, when we did not know how to read, they [the Chinese] knew everything essentially useful of which we boast today." Moreover, Indian philosophy
1950-511: The Most Fashionable Taste. His designs provided a guide for intricate chinoiserie furniture and its decoration. His chairs and cabinets were often decorated with scenes of colorful birds, flowers, or images of exotic imaginary places. The compositions of this decoration were often asymmetrical. The increased use of wallpaper in European homes in the 18th century also reflects the general fascination with chinoiserie motifs. With
2015-562: The West's then utopian, nostalgic view of Chinese landscape and culture in pieces such as Pagodas ( Debussy, 1903 ). There followed three major 20th century examples of musical chinoiserie: Mahler 's Das Lied von der Erde (1908), Stravinsky 's The Nightingale (1914), and Puccini 's Turandot (1926). Other notable pieces include Tchaikovsky 's 'Chinese Dance' (from Act Two of The Nutcracker 1892), Ravel 's 'Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes' (from Ma mère l'Oye , 1910),
Ba-ta-clan - Misplaced Pages Continue
2080-549: The actual Chinese art and architecture. Finally, still others believed that an interest in chinoiserie indicated a pervading "cultural confusion" in European society. Chinoiserie persisted into the 19th and 20th centuries but declined in popularity. There was a notable loss of interest in Chinese-inspired décor after the death in 1830 of King George IV , a great proponent of the style. The First Opium War of 1839–1842 between Britain and China disrupted trade and caused
2145-473: The bufu), the jiaoling ruqun , kanjia , mamianqun , yunjian , yaoqun (short waist-skirt), piling (collar), as well as traditional Chinese embroideries , and traditional Chinese Lào zi , pankou , high collars , etc. According to the Ladies' Home Journal of June 1913, volume 30, issue 6: Interest in the political and civic activities of the new China, which is more or less world-wide at this time, led
2210-639: The centre of the gardens, designed and built by William Chambers , exhibits strong English architectural elements, resulting in a product of combined cultures (Bald, 290). A replica of it was built in Munich 's Englischer Garten , while the Chinese Garden of Oranienbaum includes another pagoda and also a Chinese teahouse. Though the rise of a more serious approach in Neoclassicism from the 1770s onward tended to replace Oriental inspired designs, at
2275-435: The chinoiserie style, complete with Chinese-styled bed, phoenix -themed wallpaper, and china . Later exoticism added imaginary Turkish themes, where a "diwan" became a sofa . One of the things that contributed to the popularity of chinoiserie was the 18th-century vogue for tea drinking. The feminine and domestic culture of drinking tea required an appropriate chinoiserie mise en scène . According to Beevers, "Tea drinking
2340-576: The composer brought the Bouffes company including orchestra and offered 19 different pieces, 11 by him. In 1867 the work was produced on a triple bill at St George's Opera House in London (as Ching-Chow-Hi ) alongside La Chatte métamorphosée en femme (as Puss in Petticoats ) and the premiere of Sullivan's The Contrabandista . While the historical butt of the satire, Napoléon III , has passed,
2405-421: The decorative and pictorial arts of the East permeated the European and American arts and craft scene. For example, in the United States, "by the mid-18th century, Charleston had imported an impressive array of Asian export luxury goods [such as]...paintings." The aspects of Chinese painting that were integrated into European and American visual arts include asymmetrical compositions, lighthearted subject matter and
2470-402: The decorative objects and furniture in a room, creating a complementary backdrop. European understanding of Chinese and East Asian garden design is exemplified by the use of the word Sharawadgi , understood as beauty, without order that takes the form of an aesthetically pleasing irregularity in landscape design. The word traveled together with imported lacquer ware from Japan where shara'aji
2535-468: The designers of this page [p.26] and the succeeding one [p.27] to look to that country for inspiration for clothes that would be unique and new and yet fit in with present-day modes and the needs and environments of American women [...] Western approximations of Chinese music first began to be used in the mid-17th century in operas such as Purcell 's The Fairy-Queen (1692) and Gluck 's Le cinesi (1754). Jean-Jacques Rousseau included what he claimed
2600-615: The 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 (c. 1740–1770). Earliest hints of chinoiserie appear in the early 17th century, in the arts of the nations with active East India Companies, Holland and England , then by the mid-17th century, in Portugal as well. Tin-glazed pottery (see delftware ) made at Delft and other Dutch towns adopted genuine blue-and-white Ming decoration from
2665-505: 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 in Meissen porcelain and other factories naturally imitated Chinese designs, though the shapes for "useful wares", table and tea wares, typically remained Western, often based on shapes in silver. Decorative wares such as vases followed Chinese shapes. The ideas of
Ba-ta-clan - Misplaced Pages Continue
2730-508: The gardens of the East. These gardens often contain various fragrant plants, flowers and trees, decorative rocks, ponds or lake with fish, and twisting pathways. They are frequently enclosed by a wall. Architectural features placed in these gardens often include pagodas, ceremonial halls used for celebrations or holidays, pavilions with flowers and seasonal elements. Landscapes such as London's Kew Gardens show distinct Chinese influence in architecture. The monumental 163-foot Great Pagoda in
2795-577: The height of Regency "Grecian" furnishings, the Prince Regent came down with a case of Brighton Pavilion , and Chamberlain's Worcester china manufactory imitated " Imari " wares. While classical styles reigned in the parade rooms, upscale houses, from Badminton House (where the "Chinese Bedroom" was furnished by William and John Linnell , ca 1754) and Nostell Priory to Casa Loma in Toronto, sometimes featured an entire guest room decorated in
2860-520: The landscape of China, "paradoxically, it is this imitation and repetition of the iconic signs of China that negate the very possibility of authenticity, and render them into stereotypes." The depiction of China and East Asia in European and American painting was dependent on the understanding of the East by Western preconceptions, rather than representations of Eastern culture as it actually was. Various European monarchs, such as Louis XV of France , gave special favor to chinoiserie, as it blended well with
2925-513: The late-16th century, as the Casino of San Marco remained open from 1575 to 1587. Despite never being commercial in nature, the next major attempt to replicate Chinese porcelain was the soft-paste manufactory at Rouen in 1673, with Edme Poterat, widely reputed as creator of the French soft-paste pottery tradition, opening his own factory in 1647. Efforts were eventually made to imitate hard-paste porcelain , which were held in high regard. As such,
2990-524: The materials and aesthetics to American fashion. Original Chinese fashion also influenced various designs and styles of deshabille . There was also a fashion trend for day-wear jackets and coats to be cut in styles which would suggest various Chinese items as was published the Ladies' Home Journal in June 1913, where the garments displayed showed influences of the Qing dynasty mandarin court gown (especially
3055-485: The mid-to-late 17th century; the work of Athanasius Kircher influenced the study of Orientalism . The popularity of chinoiserie peaked around the middle of the 18th century when it was associated with the Rococo style and with works by François Boucher , Thomas Chippendale , and Jean-Baptist Pillement. It was also popularized by the influx of Chinese and Indian goods brought annually to Europe aboard English , Dutch , French , and Swedish East India Companies . There
3120-470: The piece from obscurity to great renown. The recording was done in a more Romantic style, at a significantly slower tempo than it had been played at before, and contained obligato parts, written by Paillard, that are now closely associated with the piece. It was released on an Erato Records album, and was also included on a widely distributed album by mail-order label Musical Heritage Society album in 1968. The recording began to get significant attention in
3185-427: The rise of the villa and a growing taste for sunlit interiors, the popularity of wallpaper grew. The demand for wallpaper created by Chinese artists began first with European aristocrats between 1740 and 1790. The luxurious wallpaper available to them would have been unique, handmade, and expensive. Later wallpaper with chinoiserie motifs became accessible to the middle class when it could be printed and thus produced in
3250-674: The situation mocked is timeless, the emperor Fé-ni-han being able to represent any great ruler on earth. Three years after the coup that replaced the Republic with the Empire and as France celebrated a victory in Crimea, the fake Chinese poke fun at the chauvinism of the time; in Second French Empire France, everything is under state surveillance, little different from the imaginary China depicted on stage. Kracauer summed up
3315-413: The style of chinoiserie was assimilated under the generic definition of exoticism . Even though the root of the word 'chinoiserie' is 'Chine' (China), the Europeans of the 17th and 18th centuries did not have a clear conceptualization of how China was in reality. Often terms like 'Orient', 'Far East' or 'China' were all equally used to signify the region of Eastern Asia that had proper Chinese culture as
SECTION 50
#17327808978083380-584: The target of the piece as; "Power is a joke and court life mere mummery ". The action takes place in Ché-i-no-or, in the gardens of the palace of the Emperor Fè-ni-han, with kiosks and pagodas. Ko-ko-ri-ko, chief of the guard is the head of a conspiracy to dethrone the Emperor; the opera opens with the conspirators setting the scene in Chinese . They leave, and the princess Fé-an-nich-ton reads
3445-563: Was Western styled goods produced in 18th century China for Chinese consumers. Although this was a notable interest of the Kangxi Emperor and Qianlong Emperor , as shown by the architecture of Xiyang Lou , it was not restricted only to the court. "Occidenterie" artifacts and art were accessible to a wider variety of consumers, as they were domestically produced. There were many reasons why chinoiserie gained such popularity in Europe in
3510-436: Was a "keen competition between Margaret, 2nd Duchess of Portland , and Elizabeth, Countess of Ilchester , for a Japanese blue and white plate," shows how wealthy female consumers asserted their purchasing power and their need to play a role in creating the prevailing vogue. The term is also used in the fashion industry to describe "designs in textiles, fashion, and the decorative arts that derive from Chinese styles". Since
3575-408: Was a fundamental part of polite society; much of the interest in both Chinese export wares and chinoiserie rose from the desire to create appropriate settings for the ritual of tea drinking." After 1750, England was importing 10 million pounds of tea annually, demonstrating how widespread this practice was. The taste for chinoiserie porcelain, both export wares and European imitations, and tea drinking
3640-979: Was a revival of popularity for chinoiserie in Europe and the United States from the mid-19th century through the 1920s, and today in elite interior design and fashion. Though usually understood as a European style, chinoiserie was a global phenomenon. Local versions of chinoiserie were developed in India, Japan, Iran, and particularly Latin America. Through the Manila galleon trade , Spanish traders brought large amounts of Chinese porcelain, lacquer, textiles, and spices from Chinese merchants based in Manila to New Spanish markets in Acapulco, Panama, and Lima . Those products then inspired local artists and artisans such as ceramicists making Talavera pottery at Puebla de Los Angeles. Chinoiserie had some parallel in "occidenterie", which
3705-423: Was an authentic Chinese melody, the air chinois , in his 1768 Dictionary of Music , and it was re-used by Weber in his Overtura cinesa (1804). Offenbach 's satirical one-act operetta Ba-ta-clan (1855) was a big success in Paris. The 1889 Paris World Fair played a significant role in bringing world music to the attention of modern Western composers. In the early 20th century French composers responded to
3770-474: Was an idiom in appraisal of design in decorative arts. Sir William Temple (1628–1699), referring to such artwork, introduces the term sharawadgi in his essay Upon the Gardens of Epicurus written in 1685 and published in 1690. Under Temple's influence European gardeners and landscape designers used the concept of sharawadgi to create gardens that were believed to reflect the asymmetry and naturalism present in
3835-822: Was born in Vitry-le-François and received his musical training at the Conservatoire de Paris , where he won first prize in music history, and the Salzburg Mozarteum . He also earned a degree in mathematics at the Sorbonne . In 1953, he founded the Jean-Marie Leclair Instrumental Ensemble, which in 1959 became the Orchestre de Chambre Jean-François Paillard . The ensemble has made recordings of much of
3900-517: Was changed, and Offenbach was able to offer full-length works, beginning with Orpheus in the Underworld . In 1864, a music-hall called Bataclan opened in Paris, named after the operetta, and is still functioning today. Ba-ta-clan was first performed in England on 20 May 1857 at St James's Theatre during Offenbach's second visit to London, arranged by his father-in-law John Mitchell, when
3965-412: Was considered a source of inspiration; the atmosphere rich in images and the harmonic designs of the oriental style reflected the picture of an ideal world, from which to draw ideas in order to reshape one's own culture. For this reason the style of chinoiserie is to be regarded as an important result of the exchange between the West and the East. During the 19th century, and especially in its latter period,
SECTION 60
#17327808978084030-511: Was increasingly admired by philosophers such as Arthur Schopenhauer, who regarded the Upanishads as the "production of the highest human wisdom" and "the most profitable and elevating reading which...is possible in the world." Chinoiserie was not universally popular. Some critics saw the style as "…a retreat from reason and taste and a descent into a morally ambiguous world based on hedonism, sensation and values perceived to be feminine." It
4095-454: Was more associated with women than men. A number of aristocratic and socially important women were famous collectors of chinoiserie porcelain, among them Queen Mary II , Queen Anne , Henrietta Howard, and the Duchess of Queensbury, all socially important women. This is significant because their homes served as examples of good taste and sociability. A single historical incident in which there
4160-611: Was rapidly fading with the modern era. From the Renaissance to the 18th century Western designers attempted to imitate the technical sophistication of Chinese export porcelain (and for that matter Japanese export porcelain – Europeans were generally vague as the origin of "oriental" imports), with only partial success. One of the earliest successful attempts, for instance, was the Medici porcelain manufactured in Florence during
4225-408: Was viewed as lacking the logic and reason upon which Antique art had been founded. Architect and author Robert Morris claimed that it "…consisted of mere whims and chimera, without rules or order, it requires no fertility of genius to put into execution." Those with a more archaeological view of the East, considered the chinoiserie style, with its distortions and whimsical approach, to be a mockery of
#807192