Om avsnittet
Dr. Tim Murray smashes imperial stereotypes of Asia through tastes and trades, in a 19th century Standard Willow Ceramic Plate from Josiah Spode's Staffordshire pottery. Adorning dinner tables across the world, Josiah Spode's Chinese-inspired ‘Standard Willow’ rapidly became the world's most popular ceramic pattern. Produced in Staffordshire from 1790, its blue-and-white pines and pagodas speak to Asia's ascendant economic and cultural status - and imperial European efforts to imitate and overtake China in the 19th century. Excavated from former settler societies as far as Australia, such tea sets are testament to the mutual expansion of the British Empire and the global ceramics market, connecting colonial territories with cultural tastes through new trading tactics, and aggressively advertised chinoiserie. Digging into the rise of mass-produced pottery unearths how European potteries came to provide the global standard and entry-point for England’s rapidly expanding consumer classes, subverting our contemporary stereotypes around low quality, mass-produced Chinese goods. But this particular porcelain also reveals the hairline cracks in imperial control in Asia, and Europe's fragile competitive edge in modern markets. PRESENTER: Dr. Tim Murray, Emeritus Professor in Archaeology at La Trobe University and Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. ART: Standard Willow Ceramic Plate, Josiah Spode (1800-1820). IMAGE: 'Standard Willow Ceramic Plate'. SOUNDS: Christian H. Soetemann. PRODUCER: Jelena Sofronijevic. Follow EMPIRE LINES at: twitter.com/jelsofron/status/1306563558063271936 Support EMPIRE LINES on Patreon: patreon.com/empirelines