A Global Consumption: Chinese Porcelain In Lisbon In The First Half Of The 16th Century

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Globalisation of Sino-foreign Maritime Exchange: Ocean Cultures", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

During European Middle Ages, Chinese porcelain was already a known and appreciated commodity, being transported to Europe by land routes, but the influx to Europe experienced a particular increase when the Portuguese navigators managed to connect the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans. By sea it was possible to bring larger amounts of pottery.

Even though the Portuguese were unable to establish themselves in China in the first decades of the 16th century, they started to assume a prominent role in the acquisition and redistribution of Chinese porcelain in Europe after establishing themselves in Macao (1557).

The analysis of archaeological work carried out in Lisbon, especially on the riverside, finds allows us to assess the porcelain consumption pattern in Lisbon in the first half of the 16th century, but also denote the penetration of the Portuguese in the inter-Asian commercial circuits of this commodity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Globalisation of Sino-foreign Maritime Exchange: Ocean Cultures   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow