Sebastian Lopez

The Chinese pottery flooding the Dutch and the European markets from the eighteenth century onwards represented early Dutch capitalism at its height. The Dutch profited from cheap manual labor, a rich and millenary tradition in the marketing of these “Made in China” products for European consumption. The Dutch relayed strict instructions to the Chinese crafters, in precise language, stipulating the colors and the patterns that covered the ceramics. The well-known designs of Cornelis Pronk, “painter and drawing master of Amsterdam,” formed part of the models sent to compliant Chinese hands to fill orders from Holland. The most expensive pottery for this European market was crafted and decorated especially to match…