Chinoiserie

Chinoiserie covers a wide range of decorative art forms in a deliberate Asian fashion.  A bit of a misnomer, the word "chinoiserie" originates from the French "chinois" meaning Chinese.  Its literal definition refers to the European interpretation of Chinese culture and other Asian art traditions in European architecture, furniture, ceramics, landscaping, music, and theater.  In the home decor realm, chinoiserie is the European imitation of a stylized Asian aesthetic in furniture, china, wallpaper, window treatments, and objets d'art.

European fascination with all things Asian began when trade routes between Europe and Asia opened in the 14th century.  Italian explorer Marco Polo described a visit to Kublai Khan's palace in 1275 as exotic, mysterious, and beautiful, thereby planting the seed for European interest in Chinese architecture, gardens, furniture, textiles, clothing, cuisine, and tea.

Chinoiserie advanced in the 17th century in tandem with Europe's flourishing trade with China, Japan, and India.  As European merchants returned from the East with tea, silk, spices, textiles, and porcelain, intrigue in all things Asian grew exponentially.  Europeans were particularly in awe of the exquisite workmanship and aesthetic beauty of Chinese objets d'art as well as their silk, porcelain, lacquerware, calligraphy, and furniture.  Because a limited number of Asian objects made their way to the West, only the rich and powerful could acquire them.  Monarchs and the aristocracy, in particular, were especially fond of Asian decorative arts and cultural goods, quickly incorporating them into palace life, and thereby creating a high demand for Asian goods.

Because Asian items were too expensive for the middle-classes to acquire, European artists and craftspeople began producing cheaper versions of Asian inspired decorative arts, furniture, and apparel to satisfy the growing demand for Eastern imports.  The new Asian-inspired products that emerged became known as "Chinoiserie", a European interpretation of Asian aesthetics in ceramics and furniture.  The English and French especially sought to capitalize on the trend by mass producing wallpaper, pottery, tea sets, furniture, and other home decor items in the popular "Chinese" style.  

European perspectives of the time were based on fanciful ideas of the life and culture of China and India as informed by the stories of traders and merchants, as well as The Travels of Marco Polo, a travelogue written in the 14th century.  As few Europeans had traveled to Asia, a lack of knowledge compelled them to create their own interpretations of Asian art forms.  Rather than drawing upon the history of Chinese cultural traditions, chinoiserie reflected a European imitation of the customs and lifeways of a distant continent few Western peoples had access to or intimate knowledge of.  

For the 17th century European, the East was viewed as an exotic land with the best of everything.  Yet the average European was unable to distinguish Chinese from Japanese, Indian, or Korean imagery in their production of chinoiserie because attraction to all things Asian was rooted in its exoticism.  While this inability to separate Asian cultural traditions, ethnicities, and lifeways led to misunderstandings and stereotyping of Asian peoples, the intention was never to ridicule, degrade, or appropriate Asian culture.  Instead, admiration for Eastern culture and its material objects -- and the subsequent chinoiserie that developed from it -- was intended to appreciate and celebrate Asian culture.  As a result, European fascination with Asia allowed for both ancient and new ideas to cross-pollinate and create new styles, designs, and trends in European fashion, furniture, and decorative art forms.

During the early period of chinoiserie, 17th century English and Dutch artisans manufactured "blue and white" porcelain vases, bowls, and tea sets in the Ming style.  The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), which European explorers first encountered in the 13th century, was famous for its fine ceramics and cobalt blue-and-white porcelain.  Authentic pieces entering European markets electrified the masses, who created a robust demand for blue-and-white ceramics which led to the production of chinoiserie.  

Artists also produced black lacquered furniture that mimicked Asian lacquerware pieces, true works of art that required immense skill and techniques honed over thousands of years.  The European version was applied to cabinets, chests, boxes, chairs, tables, and screen dividers, items that were difficult to acquire from China.

Almost all chinoiserie incorporated such Asian motifs as lotus flowers, foo dogs, dragons, birds, exotic gardens, and pagodas into their designs.  To Europeans, the images found in Chinese pottery appeared decorative, yet each symbol had meaning and significance.  For example, to the Chinese, the dragon represented the emperor, while the phoenix represented the empress, which was why these two images were almost always depicted in tandem in Chinese ceramics.  Fish represented happiness, fruit reflected fertility, mountains and landscapes were emblematic of long life.  Only when Europeans began producing chinoiserie, did the meaning of these symbols become obscured or lost.

By the mid to late 17th century, the French and English began specializing in chinoiserie tapestry and wallpaper festooned with Chinese themes.  More expensive than locally made textiles, chinoiserie wallpaper was bought and used by the affluent classes to decorate their homes.  The trend then filtered down to more modest abodes as mass produced wallpaper with "oriental type" themes became increasingly affordable to the middle classes.

Similarly, by the 1680's, the ubiquitous tea caddy and sugar canisters found in most European homes began to be produced with depictions of Chinese cultural themes and symbols, featuring the ubiquitous dragon, lotus flower, mountain scenes, and exotic birds.

Chinoiserie reached its height in the 18th century when European trade with China was at its apex, and Chinese, Japanese, and Indian goods were available to a wider Western audience via the British and Dutch East India Companies.  

European fascination with China, coupled with the academic study of the Far East (known as Orientalism), and the proliferation of Asian products entering the European marketplace, inspired European artists to further enhance their ideas considered to be typical of Chinese culture.  The broad appeal of Chinese history, culture, and philosophy led French, Dutch, British, and Italian designers and manufacturers to depict dragon, pagoda, Foo dogs, lotus blossoms, and bamboo motifs in the production of their pottery, textiles, furniture, and wallpaper.  

Chinoiserie designs of the 18th century were even more fanciful than those of the 17th century.  Images printed on wall screens, porcelain, and furniture resembled little that a traveler to Asia would actually find on a visit to China, Japan, or India.  

Because the Orient was a mysterious, far-away place for most Europeans, a lack of first-hand knowledge or travel experiences with the East only added to the Asian mystique.  As a result, chinoiserie of the 18th century reflected Western imaginary ideas of life in the Orient and not necessarily a true depiction of Asian life, art, or culture.

The Monarchs and aristocracy of Europe were especially fond of chinoiserie.  As trade with China grew, kings and queens paid special attention to acquiring items from China, Japan, and India.  They built chinoiserie inspired palaces, gardens, landscapes, furniture, ceramics, and special rooms that housed their Asian possessions.  

In 1670, for example, the Sun King, Louis XIV of France, built the Trianon de Porcelaine near the Palace of Versailles as a meeting room for trysts with his mistress, Madame de Montespan.  Covered in blue and white Delft ceramic tiles, the residence was the first Chinoiserie structure in France.  The building was demolished shortly after their affair ended in 1687 and replaced with the Grand Trianon to house the king’s next mistress, Madame de Maintenon.  

Ever the trendsetter, King Louis’ fondness for chinoiserie—which included Chinese-style fashion—quickly spread throughout European royal courts, becoming a popular design style throughout the 18th century.  The craze for chinoiserie spread quickly among the nobility.  No royal palace or park was complete without a "China Room", tea pavilion, or Asian garden with a pagoda structure.

For example, among the aristocratic Esterhazy family of Hungary, Prince Paul II Anton Esterhazy had a "Chinese Salon" room constructed in the Esterhazy Palace.  The Italian special-made chinoiserie wallpaper that covered the salon walls depicted the life of Chinese burgher families during New Year festivities.  The wallpaper further included such Asian motifs as fireworks, cricket fights, and lotus flowers.  The spaces between the wallpapered panels were adorned with Asian bird and butterfly images.  

In 1762, upon the orders of Princess Augusta, widow of Frederick, Prince of Wales, several Asian inspired features were installed in London’s Kew Gardens.  The most prominent of them was a 10-story Chinese Pagoda with gilded dragons in the Royal Botanic Gardens.    

Not to be outdone, Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, built a Chinese Tea Pavilion near his Sanssouci Summer Palace in Germany in 1764.  The pavilion not only served as a decorative structure in the palace’s gardens but was the setting for royal social events where tea was served on Chinoiserie china.

Besides an interest in all things Asian, a core reason for chinoiserie's popularity was its parallel with the Rococo style of the 18th century, an exceptionally ornamental trend in European architecture, art, music, and dress originating in France.  

Whether in architecture, paintings, or music, Rococo was theatrical, over the top, and designed to impress.  The style was used particularly in salons, a new style of room that monarchs used to entertain guests.  In designing a salon, for example, the Rococo trend would incorporate landscape painting, stucco, marble, wood carvings, and rocaille, an ornamental form resembling the irregular edges of rocks and shells, to adorn the salon's walls, ceilings, mantles, hallway, staircase, and furniture.  The intent was to create an impression of awe and wonder upon first view.

Chinoiserie and Rococo were similar in that both were characterized by exuberant decorative embellishments, a focus on gold and bronze gilding, pastel colors, and porcelain ornamentation.  Since faux bamboo, silk, lacquered wood, paint, and porcelain were the most popular materials used for chinoiserie, they complemented the curves, undulations, asymmetry, and organic elements (leaves, seashells, waves, flowers, etc.) used in Rococo design.  

Because Rococo and chinoiserie styles tended to overlap, Rococo stimulated the further proliferation of Chinese motifs in chinoiserie to include exotic birds and flowers, pagodas, dragons, monkeys, elephants, and depictions of Chinese people.  Typical household items like clocks, tables, vases, chests, and wallpaper were soon festooned with this chinoiserie/rococo hybrid.  English Furniture artists such as John Linnell and Thomas Chippendale introduced expert craftmanship to the style. 

Chippendale, in particular, popularized Chinoiserie furniture.  His design book, "The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director", provided a guide for chinoiserie furniture making and its decoration.  Chinoiserie inspired furniture featured intricate fretwork and graceful lines that mimicked the tiers of pagodas.  Most pieces were intricately decorated with ebony and ivory motifs of pagodas and dragons.  German artists excelled at porcelain chinoiserie, while French ceramists specialized in vases and clocks.  French Rococo artists like Jean-Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher frequently incorporated Chinese themes into their oil paintings.

After the introduction of Chinoiserie to Versailles in the 17th century, the fad achieved its greatest appeal at the court of Louis XV, around 1750-70.  It quickly spread to other European monarchies, who gave special favor to chinoiserie because it blended well with their Rococo sensibilities.  This new Rococo-Chinoiserie hybrid transformed entire rooms, such as those at Chateau de Chantilly in France, the Nymphenburg Palace, in Germany, the Royal Palace at Aranjuez, Spain, and the Palace at Capodimonte, Italy.  

Further afield, Catherine the Great commissioned a "Chinese Village" on the royal estate of Tsarskoe Selo, Russia, complete with a Chinese opera Theater.  It was not a stretch to confirm that every imperial mansion in Europe had a "Chinese Room" decorated with chinoiserie wallpaper, rococo furniture, and ornate display cabinets stacked high with gleaming Chinese porcelain and objets d'art.  

By the mid 19th century, chinoiserie fell out of favor due to the Opium Wars (1839-1842) between China and Great Britain.  China closed its doors to the West and there was a notable loss of interest in Chinese inspired decor, particularly in England.  During this period, critics saw chinoiserie as lacking logic and reason, while others considered the style a mockery of Chinese art.  Europeans soon fixed their gaze on other Asian aesthetics in the way of Japonism, Egyptian Revival, and Islamic art.

As relations between the East and West stabilized in the early 20th century, a renewed interest in Asia and Chinoiserie was revived.  European colonists, having taken their Chinoiserie addiction to the Americas in the 17th century, created an active American market for Asian decorative products.  George Washington, for example, had a collection of fine Chinese porcelain and took to wearing a wig with a long pigtail in deference to the Chinese hairstyle of the Qing Dynasty (1632-1912).  While chinoiserie reminded England of its negative colonial past with the East, affluent Americans, along with antique collectors, interior designers, and intellectuals of the 20th century revived Asian aesthetics as the height of fashion and good taste.

The Art Deco Period (1920's-30's) marked a renewed interest in chinoiserie products.  Fashion and furniture designers combined the Art Deco style with Chinoiserie patterns to create new fusions of exoticism in dress and decor.  The loose fitting cut of women's garments of the 1920's, for example, reflected the influence of Chinese clothing, and there was a fashion trend for embroidered day-wear jackets and coats that reflected design elements of Qing Dynasty mandarin court gowns.  Chinoiserie fashion was especially celebrated in France, and the origin of most Chinese-inspired fashion came from such designers as Mariano Fortuny, Jean Paquin, and the fashion house, Callot Soeurs.

By the mid-20th century, chinoiserie influenced the fashion designs of such world-renown couturiers as Christian Dior and Yves Saint-Laurent.  For Saint-Laurent, China served as a source of inspiration.  Its folklore fed his imagination, even leading him to launch a new fragrance line titled "Opium" in 1977.  Lacquerware also made a comeback.  Jean Dunand, the Swiss artist, made lacquer the focus of his work, incorporating traditional Asian production methods with Art Deco patterns and colors in his sculpture and furniture pieces.  The French glass designer Lalique revolutionized the style of bottles, vases, and drinkware by introducing Japanese art references into his designs.

Today, chinoiserie is ubiquitous as a popular style of home decor.  Because of its beginnings in European art and furniture design, chinoiserie lends itself to a multitude of interior design styles.  You'd be hard-pressed to find a top interior furniture designer, decorator, or couturier who hasn't employed it in some way in their design choices as chinoiserie continues to be a perennial favorite of American and European fashion, art, and interior designers, past and present. 

Today, chinoiserie can be seen as the ability of the East and the West to integrate ideas that create new cultural forms and landscapes.  It enables the ancient (China, Japan, India) and the modern (Europe, North America, and Latin America) to create new concepts of art and design.

If you are interested in incorporating chinoiserie items into your decorating style, the most popular and least expensive chinoiserie items to acquire are Blue and White pottery, wallpaper, fabrics, textiles, ceramics, art, and lamps.  

Much of the affordable chinoiserie decor on the market is vintage, produced in the 1930's, 1950's, 1960's, and 1980's, when Asian culture and decorative arts made a resurgence in American and European interior design.  It is interesting to note that the decades in which 20th century chinoiserie flourished tends to correspond with such real-world East-West historical events as the decolonization of India, the Indochine Wars, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and Western manufacturing outsourcing to China, Japan, and India. 

In the 21st century, the fusion of global events and technology continues to inspire and produce new forms of chinoiserie.  You can find a mix of vintage and modern mass-produced chinoiserie from retailers like World Market, Crate and Barrel, and Pottery Barn, and e-commerce sites like Etsy and Chairish.  As a social media trend, chinoiserie is gaining popularity as an Instagram-friendly "grand millennial" lifestyle that is based around the aesthetic mix of shabby-chic decor that harkens back to the chinoiserie craze of the 1930's.

Chinoiserie has had a long illustrious history spanning over 300 years.  As a decorative staple, it will continue to be an integral part of traditional interior design.  So, whether you incorporate wallpaper, lacquered furniture or blue-and-white ceramics to a room, chinoiserie will always bring versatility and a fresh timeless look to your home's decor scheme.