the maritime silk road j blossoming of the france - china silk …€¦ · les indes, model made...

海上絲路 THE MARITIME SILK ROAD

THE MARITIME

SILKROAD

澳門博物館MACAO MUSEUM !"#$

中法絲綢貿易的興起Blossoming of the France - China Silk Trade海上

絲路

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A refined Chinese product, silk has fascinated the world for over 3000 years. The exhibition aims to highlight trade and cultural exchanges between China and France through the history of silk.

It is often said that more trade has flowed through Macao than through Venice. An obligatory port of call for several centuries, Macao turned out to be a hub at the beginning of world trade in the 18th century.

Following two previous successful exhibitions, featu-ring Sino-French cultural exchanges, respectively From Versailles to the Forbidden Ci! in 2007 and Fantasy World – Chinoiserie in 2013, this could be a third consistent and coherent project for Macao Museum. Paintings, furnishing and clothing fabrics, models, objets d’art, graphics, all exhibits would come from four French museums including Versailles. The exhibition could be enhanced with video, maps, interactive elements and photos about silk and maritime trade. The exhibition would be suitable for the French May.


Discovered in China several thousand years ago, silk fascinated the ancient Greeks and Romans, who sought to unlock the closely guarded secrets behind its production. The quality of Chinese silk gave rise to more than just worldwide trade by road and sea: it stimulated technical progress, mutual exchange and influence.

In Western Europe, during the 13th

century, the silk industry developed mainly in the northern part of Italy but the French towns of Lyon and Tours were later to become serious rivals to their Italian neighbours.

But all changed at the end of the 15th

century, with the achievements of Portuguese traders and sailors. They became familiar with the main trade routes of the Asian seas and thus assu-med a privileged position as key par-tners with the Chinese in what would soon become an immensely lucrative enterprise

1. France, 1402 2. Italy, 14th century3. France, 1507

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Francis Xavier, co-founder of the Society of Jesus, reached Asia on board a Portu-guese vessel, but died on Shangchuan Island in 1552, before he could reach the Chinese mainland.

The Portuguese disembarked at Macao. The Jesuits arrived with them. In addi-tion to serving as a key trading post and gateway to China, Macao quickly assu-med strategic importance for religious organizations who se!led there.

Renowned middle man between China and Europe, the Jesuits sent to the French court many Chinese books, among them works on sericulture.

1. Joseph-Marie VienSaint François-Xavier qui débarque à la Chine, 1753Painting commissioned by Marie Leszczynska, Queen of France, wife of Louis XV

2. 1666-1675 3. Song Yingxing Tian Gong Kai Wu

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Jesuit and author of "Portrait historique de l’empereur de Chine", Joachim Bouvet persuaded Louis XIV to send a joint diplomatic and trade mission to China.

This was the famous journey of the Amphitrite which set sail in 1698 from La Rochelle to Canton and returned to Port-Louis in the Bay of Lorient less than two years later.

The cargo, sold in Nantes, consisted mainly of silk, tea and porcelain. Some of the goods were already made for the European market, there were also lacquered cabinets, birds and other exotic animals.

1. Foundation of the Observatory (1667): Colbert introducing to the King Louis XIVmembers of the Academy of Sciences.

2. Jean Guérard, Drawing for a fan: Sale of goods from the Amphitrite, ca. 1700

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In 1701 a second French expedition set sail under the name of Compagnie de la Chine. France was trying to compete with other European countries and established a trading company a#er the Portuguese, Dutch and English had established their own. Trade exchanges continued to increase and flourished between the years 1730 and 1780.

1. François René Dumigny.Le Dromadaire, navire pour les Indes, model made between 1759 and 1776

2. Jean-Baptiste Lefèvre. Portrait of Jacques Duval d’Epremesnil, director of la Compagnie des Indes and Lorient Harbour, 1738

3. View of Lorient Harbour,1776

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1. Macao, Praia Grande 2. Factories of Canton3. Pékin peint

(gouache on silk ta$eta), China, ca. 1770

In Canton, the one and only trading place open to foreigners in China, the French Company acquired raw silk for the French manufactures, as well as ready-made silk fabrics such as pékins.

Even if pékins and other Chinese fabrics were prohibited in France for several decades in order to protect the local manufacturers, smuggled Chinese luxury goods a!uned to European taste continued to arrive.

Queen Marie-Antoine!e had decorated the salon des jeux in Versailles and her residence at Saint-Cloud with pékins.


In the mid 18th century Lyon became the silk capital, and the French city dealt with all the European royal fami-lies. Chinese style influenced design, textile and fashion.

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1. Jean-Marc Na!ier. Portrait de Madame Adélaïde à l’éventail, 1749.Fourth daughter of King Louis XV and Queen Marie Leszcynska in a silk dress, holding a fan may be imported from China


The Church, one of the main buyers of luxurious textiles to serve as vestments for priests and furnishing for altars, contributed to the development of global networks for both raw materials and finished goods.

Wallpaper, fans, various fabrics, whether Chinese or French, became ever more popular and accessible to a wider range of society.

The Manufacture de Jouy also reflected the taste for Chinoiserie, so much in fashion at the time. Well located between Paris and the court in Versailles, it gained the status of Royal Manufacture and an international reputation.


℠啷↢嗽ġCOLLECTIONS

↉䇦岥⭖ġChâteau de Versailles湶㗪墅䳉䷼⑩⌂䈑棐ġLes Arts Décoratifs, musée de la Mode et du textile, Paris 㱽⚳㳃慴㖪ⶪ㜙⌘⹎℔⎠⌂䈑棐ġMusée de la Compagnie des Indes, Lorient㱽⚳₺Ẳ⌘剙ⶫ⌂䈑棐ġMusée de la Toile de Jouy

⬠埻栏⓷ġ SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

François Gipouloux ⎱㴎伭ĭġ㱽⚳⚳⭞䥹⬠䞼䨞昊䞼䨞⒉ġDirecteur de recherche, CNRS Marie-Laure de Rochebrune, ↉䇦岥⭖䞼䨞⒉ġConservateur au château de VersaillesDenis Bruna, 湶㗪墅䳉䷼⑩⌂䈑棐䞼䨞⒉ġConservateur au musée de la Mode et du textileBrigi!e Nicolas, 㳃慴㖪ⶪ㜙⌘⹎℔⎠⌂䈑棐棐攟ġDirectrice du musée de la Compagnie des Indes, LorientġEsclarmonde Monteil, 㱽⚳₺Ẳ⌘剙ⶫ⌂䈑棐棐攟ġDirectrice du musée de la Toile de Jouy

© Cécile Léon Art Projects, 2014

the maritime silk road j blossoming of the france - china silk …€¦ · les indes, model made...

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