Plate c. 1770

This plate was created by the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company. It is decorated with blue underglaze. The imagery on the plate recalls the visual language of Chinese porcelain, but it was made in England, reflecting the 18th and 19th-century craze for what Europeans termed "chinoiserie." The style was a mixture of impressions and fantasies about China. The Worcester Royal Porcelain Company was an institution rooted in the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of European empires. The blue-and-white color scheme imitates the look of porcelain imported from China, and the design elements are also loosely based on Chinese precedents. But here, the images are jumbled together without the visual logic one would find in authentic Chinese porcelain. The story of this plate tells us about global trade, cultural appropriation, and the rise of museums that display such objects. Through the material culture of this period, we can learn a lot about the complex social dynamics of the past.