Backus, Irene (Author)
University of Chicago
Zorach, Rebecca
Hung, Wu
Cohen, Charles
Purtle, Jenny
Hung, Wu
Cohen, Charles L.
Purtle, Jenny
Edition Details: Advisor: Zorach, Rebecca; Committee Members: Cohen, Charles, Purtle, Jenny, Hung, Wu.
Physical Details: 221 pp.
Language: English
Although Ming China was largely inaccessible to outsiders during the sixteenth century, myriad goods washed into the European market via newly established maritime trade routes. China was of particular interest to Europeans as a country that had attained quasi-mythical status through travel narratives such as Marco Polo's tenacious account; it was believed to have superior technological prowess in manufacturing materials such as ceramics and silk, and to be a land of vast natural abundance. Yet, despite the panoply of commodities, there was a remarkable absence of images illustrating China in cinquecento Italy, which was a period that valued accurately naturalistic visual rendering of the natural world. This dissertation argues that imported Chinese goods augmented travel accounts, acting as surrogate ambassadors by representing a place that fascinated Europeans; moreover, they served as catalysts for scientific, artistic, and medical innovation. The project is broken down by material, each chapter addressing the use and reception of one prominent import category: maps and travel narratives, porcelain, silk, and medicinals (or more colloquially "spices"). Interest in and imitation of Ming dynasty commodities was not restricted to Tuscany, but Florence provides a particularly keen lens through which to examine a larger phenomenon because interest in Chinese imports left a most material residue: Francesco de' Medici, the second Grand Duke of Tuscany demonstrated a dedication to replicating china by founding a porcelain factory at tremendous expense. Taking the Medici Porcelain works factory as a starting point, this research ultimately shows that it was frequently the blanks or 'gaps' in knowledge that opened space for the most creative responses. As a place that at once provided material inspiration while at the same time remaining elusive, China engendered an assiduous inquisitiveness: curiosity in the modern sense.
...MoreDescription Cited in Dissertation Abstracts International-A 75/11(E), May 2015. Proquest Document ID: 1560685350.
Similar Citations
Book
Martijn Storms;
Mario Cams;
Imre Josef Demhardt;
Ferjan Ormelinge;
(2019)
Mapping Asia: Cartographic encounters between East and West. Regional symposium of the ICA Commission on the History of Cartography, 2017
(/isis/citation/CBB614430194/)
Article
Robert J. King;
(2018)
Finding Marco Polo’s Locach
(/isis/citation/CBB639294729/)
Article
Davies, Surekha;
(2012)
The Wondrous East in the Renaissance Geographical Imagination: Marco Polo, Fra Mauro and Giovanni Battista Ramusio
(/isis/citation/CBB001212976/)
Article
Francesca Trivellato;
(2020)
Renaissance Florence and the Origins of Capitalism: A Business History Perspective
(/isis/citation/CBB568225181/)
Book
Marco Spallanzani;
(2023)
I fiorentini e il vetro veneziano (ca. 1450-1550). Fonti
(/isis/citation/CBB428429611/)
Book
Dyke, Paul Arthur Van;
(2011)
Merchants of Canton and Macao: Politics and Strategies in Eighteenth-Century Chinese Trade
(/isis/citation/CBB001421570/)
Chapter
Ling-Yeong, Chin;
(2012)
Zeng He: Navigator, Discover, and Diplomat
(/isis/citation/CBB001320715/)
Article
Hellyer, Robert;
(2013)
The West, the East, and the Insular Middle: Trading Systems, Demand, and Labour in the Integration of the Pacific, 1750--1875
(/isis/citation/CBB001421539/)
Book
Campbell, Gwyn;
Stanziani, Alessando;
(2013)
Bonded Labour and Debt in the Indian Ocean World
(/isis/citation/CBB001421572/)
Book
Markman Ellis;
Richard Coulton;
Matthew Mauger;
(2015)
Empire of Tea: The Asian Leaf that Conquered the World
(/isis/citation/CBB120346513/)
Book
Carey, Daniel;
(2012)
Richard Hakluyt and Travel Writing in Early Modern Europe
(/isis/citation/CBB001421379/)
Book
Belting, Hans;
(2011)
Florence and Baghdad: Renaissance Art and Arab Science
(/isis/citation/CBB001251417/)
Article
Sánchez Martínez, Antonio;
(2011)
Representación por imitación: el renacimiento de la Geographia de Ptolomeo y las pinturas del mundo conocido
(/isis/citation/CBB001220815/)
Book
Unger, Richard W.;
(2011)
Shipping and Economic Growth 1350--1850
(/isis/citation/CBB001421459/)
Chapter
Ts'un-Yan, Liu;
(2012)
East Meets West: The Impact on China and Her Response
(/isis/citation/CBB001320714/)
Article
Fiskesjö, Magnus;
(2010)
Mining, History, and the Anti-State Wa: The Politics of Autonomy between Burma and China
(/isis/citation/CBB001421524/)
Article
Anna Guarducci;
(2019)
Egnazio Danti e le carte del Theatrum Mundi della Guardaroba nuova in Palazzo Vecchio (Firenze). Le fonti geocartografiche
(/isis/citation/CBB164010887/)
Book
Mario Cams;
(2017)
Companions in Geography: East-West Collaboration in the Mapping of Qing China (c.1685-1735)
(/isis/citation/CBB321187384/)
Book
Qiong Zhang;
(2015)
Making the New World Their Own: Chinese Encounters with Jesuit Science in the Age of Discovery
(/isis/citation/CBB003867166/)
Article
Pedro Luengo;
(2017)
The Agote Map of Hainan Island, China: A Case Study for Cultural Dialogue in Eighteenth-Century Cartography
(/isis/citation/CBB395618276/)
Be the first to comment!