From Ordinary to Extraordinary: the Stylistic Transformation of Zhangzhou Export Porcelain in Late Ming Era

Abstract The sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries witnessed European-Asian encounters and the establishment of long-distance maritime trade routes crossing the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, which ultimately led to the rapid expansion of the world market for Chinese commodities and the continual flow of American and Japanese silver into the Ming empire. The development of lucrative maritime trade significantly contributed to the prosperity of Southern Fujian on China’s coast, especially in the port city of Zhangzhou. Using material evidence, this article explores the artistic and technological exchange between the kilns in Zhangzhou and Jingdezhen, two prominent production centres of export porcelain during the late Ming Era (1573–1644). It suggests that the rapid economic development in Zhangzhou guaranteed success and employment opportunities, which attracted skilled Jingdezhen artisans with promising advanced techniques to migrate to the region, leading to the innovations and remarkable technological advancement of Zhangzhou kilns during the early seventeenth century.