Understanding European style Chinese export porcelain through the Ionides Collection: New discoveries and future research

Once described as ‘the most comprehensive collection of its kind ever made’, the Ionides Collection of European style Chinese export porcelain remained largely unknown until recent research revealed the scale of the collection, its breadth and historical significance to the fields of Chinese ceramic history and collections history in Britain. Dating to the long eighteenth century, this collection spans a period of intense commercial and cultural engagement between China and Europe which stimulated artistic and design interactions through the medium of porcelain. Now divided between the British national collections at the V&A and British Museum in London, and the art market, the private collection was formed during the second quarter of the twentieth century by architect and interior designer, Basil Ionides (1884–1950) and his wife, the wealthy Shell heiress, Nellie Ionides (1883–1962). This article will map the history of the collection, presenting the key design typologies and demonstrating the diversity of shape and form, functionality and decorative style. Pictorial decoration and sculptural figurines materialise popular European subjects such as ships and maritime scenes; themes from literature, theatre or historical events; religious images, hunting and agriculture; allegories of love are also well represented. The circulation of design sources within China – between Jingdezhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, Dehua - as well as interactions between European and Chinese porcelain manufacturers is also evident, offering new perspectives on the interplay between multiple nodes of porcelain production and consumption. The scope of the collection allows us to observe shifting fashions and taste in porcelain decoration across time, for the markets of Europe and the colonial world, and the evolution of European style decoration in China. Prominent objects in the Ionides Collection are now well known and have contributed significantly to existing knowledge in this field, but other items remain undiscovered. Focussing on individual objects and micro-collections in the British national collections, this paper will highlight the ongoing process of appraisal – through art historical and scientific research – which has challenged earlier dating systems and attribution by style, raising questions about how we assess European style porcelain in China and distinguish between articles manufactured for overseas markets, the domestic market or even court use.