Chinoiserie is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other East Asian artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, literature, theatre, and music. The aesthetic of chinoiserie has been expressed in different ways depending on the region. It is related to the broader current of Orientalism, which studied Far East cultures from a historical, philological, anthropological, philosophical, and religious point of view. First appearing in the 17th century, this trend was popularized in the 18th century due to the rise in trade with China and the rest of East Asia.
A Vienna porcelain jug, 1799, decorated to imitate another rare Chinese product, lacquerware
The Chinese Garden, a chinoiserie painting by François Boucher; 1742; oil on canvas; 40.5 x 48 cm
Sir William Chambers' Great Pagoda at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London
Man seated on plinth, holding monkey and ball. Meissen porcelain. Dated circa 1735. British Museum.
In art history, literature and cultural studies, orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle East, was one of the many specialties of 19th-century academic art, and Western literature was influenced by a similar interest in Oriental themes.
Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Snake Charmer, c. 1879. Clark Art Institute.
Eugène Delacroix, The Women of Algiers, 1834, the Louvre, Paris
Unknown Venetian artist, The Reception of the Ambassadors in Damascus, 1511, Louvre. The deer with antlers in the foreground is not known ever to have existed in the wild in Syria.
Professor G. A. Wallin (1811–1852), a Finnish explorer and orientalist, who was remembered for being one of the first Europeans to study and travel in the Middle East during the 1840s. Portrait of Wallin by R. W. Ekman, 1853.
