A royal obsession: how Europe went mad for Chinoiserie

CGTN Europe

Enamoured by stories of China’s porcelain tower in Nanjing, France’s Louis XIV commissioned his own tower in Versailles - the Trianon de Porcelaine.   But it fell apart in just 15 years, because Europe didn’t know how to produce true porcelain, and used fragile terracotta instead.  Nevertheless, it’s hailed as Europe’s very first example of Chinoiserie.   #tracesofchina #Versailles

Transcript

00:00Louis XIV is possibly the most important king in French history.

00:10He was appointed by God, as we know most kings are appointed by God.

00:14His interest for China came very early.

00:17Many books were published at this time, written by merchants or missionaries who went to China,

00:24and it gave an idea of the main monuments of Beijing and other places.

00:29The knowledge about China was changing really at this time.

00:33As knowledge continues to spread, the king hears word of a great porcelain temple in the Chinese city of Nanjing.

00:41I think when you're appointed by God, you're immediately going to be a bit flamboyant and believe in yourself.

00:49I think in English you call it an egocentric.

00:52So if the Chinese can make a Chinese pagoda, let's make a porcelain building in Versailles.

00:58But the biggest problem is we couldn't make porcelain.

01:02Everybody was working on the trade secret, everybody was trying to make porcelain.

01:07They decided instead of making it in porcelain, to make it in ordinary terracotta and glazed in white.

01:14And that's when the Trianon de Porcelaine was born.

01:17The Trianon de Porcelaine is hailed as the very first example of chinoiserie,

01:22inspired by China, made in France.

01:26Unfortunately, because it was made of European ceramic and not porcelain, it didn't last very long.

01:34The first frost came in and suddenly it started cracking.

01:38So that building was eventually destroyed in less than 15 years.

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