Bord, met op het plat een Chinees landschap c. 1853 - 1867

This plate depicting a Chinese landscape was made by N.A. Bosch, using an unknown medium. The blue and white aesthetic is a clear visual code connecting it to Chinese porcelain, but the scene depicted is a Westerner's fantasy of an oriental landscape, rather than a true likeness. This type of imagery became popular at a time of increased trade between Europe and China, driven by the demand for tea. Such porcelain ware provided status to consumers, while also conjuring an image of the far east as a romantic, even eroticized, fantasy. This plate, in its own way, tells a story of social aspiration and colonial trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Understanding the social history of art is a complex undertaking. We rely on resources, such as trade records, old newspapers, and even literature, to reconstruct the cultural context. This helps us to better understand how objects like this plate reflect the society in which they were made and consumed.