Robin Best in Jingdezhen Studio, China
Artist Statement
It is in Jingdezhen China, the home of the legendary blue and white porcelain that I maintain a studio and where I spend most of my time making and painting porcelain vases. I am a history painter and in particular I like to paint stories of famous travelers who moved along the great trading routes of the world. In this way a garniture of vases can carry a story, vase-by-vase, culture-by-culture, detailed in cobalt blue. Sometimes to keep in Character with the painting I seek out residencies in Europe, the other end of the fabled Silk Route. And from Europe from 15th century, the great Voyages of Discovery to the New World set out returning with cultural icons, foods, spices and medicines that initiated new lucrative trade routes.
During The Second Age of Discovery scientist accompanied these voyages making detailed studies of the fauna and flora found in of the New World and supplying specimens of plants and animals for the gardens and zoos of Europe. Through the ports of Canton and Madras many of these exotic animals and plants passed and The East India Company that controlled these ports, commissioned local artists to make renderings that have been preserved in the Natural History Museum, London. It is these paintings, together with the paintings of the scientists who accompanied these voyages of discovery that offer up another subject for my work and here I use coloured on-glaze or Xin Cai or oil painting also originating in China during the Qing Dynasty and perfected by the Meissen Factory in 18th century Saxony.
Robin Best, 2018
The Blue and White works
The imagery for The Blue and White Vases, originally drawn in pencil, (see The Oriental Kangaroo) are specifically concerned with that of China and more specifically that of Ming porcelain and export ware – hence the blue drawing. Among the more impressive trading companies that operated in China and India was The British East India Company and its archive has provided me with a rich source of imagery including the so-called New World of the Americas and Australia.
The Oriental Kangaroo – White porcelain with cobalt pencil, 28.5cmc x 32cms, 2007, private collection Perth, West Australia
The Oriental Kangaroo was one of the first vases to carry a drawing about the idea of export ware, a form of blue and white porcelain made by the Chinese for the European market. By its nature the imagery was foreign to the Chinese artist who composed the pictures out of his own imagination much as European artists imagined Chinese culture. The first natural history scientists who traveled to the New World and who made drawings of the animals and plants were also influenced by their own knowledge when making field drawings –hence the charming images held in the collections of Natural History Museums throughout the world.
‘There is a strange, slightly surreal confusion of images colliding on the surface of this smooth white porcelain vase. A fantasy Chinese lady, straight out of a European depiction of a Chinese garden, meets a kangaroo drawn in 1799 by George Raper, one of the artists of the First Fleet sent from England to establish a colony in Australia in 1787. Their meeting occurs in a dreamlike landscape, with a swirl of cloud scrolls above as well as some bats circling the central figures. Magnificently composed, this impossible grouping sits effortlessly on the porcelain surface, a meditation on the vast history of migration and ceramic decoration.’ Edmund De Waal, The Pot Book, Phaidon, 2011.
The British East India Company – trade and war, side A – Cast white porcelain with on-glaze blue painting and silver foil on lids, 2014. Private Collection, London
The British East India Company – trade and war, side B – Cast white porcelain with on-glaze blue painting and silver foil on lids, 2014. Private Collection, London
In 1600, by royal decree, ‘The British East India Company’ came into being and with its enormous private army it remained one of the most successful trading companies for over two hundred and fifty years. France, Britain’s great trading rival, also formed its own East India Company and the two great maritime powers fought over territory and the lucrative commodity markets of India, China and America.
The 18th and 19th centuries saw a rise in trade as Britain formed a three-way import/export network with India and China. Tea from China went to India, and India tea and printed cottons to Britain and from China silk, porcelain, lacquer ware to Britain. China was not interested in buying British products and wanted payment in Sterling Silver. Britain, fearful of its depleted silver reserves encouraged the use of opium smoking in China and the practice quickly caught on and later leading to the Opium Wars.
Over in America dissatisfaction was growing among the locals with the heavy tax levied by the British on the landing of tea into the colony. In protest British tea was dumped into the sea – the most famous incident was that of ‘The Boston Tea Party’. In the brutal events that followed – Paul Revere became a national hero and the French sided with the Americans against the English in the War of Independence, nearly bankrupting the French economy.
The Garniture
Ming Blue and White translucent porcelain from Jingdezhen, China was much admired and sought after commodity in the West and part of the ‘East India’ trade. This garniture of 5 vases was made and painted in Jingdezhen. The blue and white painting tells the story of ‘The British East Company’ and its influence over 250 years of trade.
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View from new studio in Jingdezhen.
Robin Best Porcelain 