“This Little Paradise”
British Library (Add.Or.2127).
By Josepha Richard
A study of aviaries offers an intriguing glimpse into cultural exchanges between 18th- and 19th-century China and the world.
I
n A Dissertation on Oriental Gardening published in 1773, Scottish-Swedish architect Sir William Chambers presented designs inspired by buildings he had seen in China, various examples of chinoiserie, and his own imagination. A prime example of an aviary built in the style promoted by Chambers could be found in Dropmore, Buckinghamshire in around 1830. This large building had side and front rooms enclosed by wire walls, topped by a dome-like centrepiece. Research has shown that the ceramic tiles used to decorate the aviary were directly imported from China. From the shape of these tiles, and the period, it seems certain that they came from the southern city of Canton (today Guangzhou). The Dropmore aviary provides us with a convenient comparison with aviaries built in China at the same period, and the tiles used invite us to retrace the origin of Sir William Chambers’s Chinese designs. Chambers visited China during a period known as the ‘Canton System’ (1757-1842), when Western trade was officially restricted to that city. Therefore, the Chinese34
inspired designs in his book must have come from gardens and residences in Canton. The building of gardens in the city was thriving, thanks to the wealth generated by trade with the Western world and East Asian countries. The Hong merchants, the intermediaries that Western traders had to go through, were some of the most prolific garden builders and aviary owners. The Hong merchants were named for the buildings where their trade was conducted: the hong, more commonly referred to as ‘Factories’. These were built in a row along the riverfront of the Pearl River, and Western traders used them as warehouses, residences and offices. Westerners were allowed to visit a limited number of sites in the suburbs on the opposite side of the river, which included the plant nurseries in Fa-tee (Huadi), as well as a temple and the Hong merchants’ residences and gardens in Honam (Henan). Apart from a few streets around the Factories, visitors were kept from most of the city proper on the northern bank, and were forbidden to enter the city walls or to bring their wives to Canton. HISTORIC GARDENS Review
Issue 37
