A Commercial System for the Importation of French Porcelain Tableware into Brazil in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

This article proposes to enter the meanderings of the French porcelain tableware trade in nineteenth century Brazil, taking the collection of the Museu Paulista of USP as a documentary axis. Working from the perspective of material culture, it seeks to understand the characteristics and values that governed the production of porcelain in France and to understand the mechanisms that were established through the export-import trade, in the process of introducing a French standard of uses and tastes to the Brazilian elite, who adopted it as part of their way of life and their class image. Documentation related to the porcelain trade between France and Brazil is looked at, in particular consular correspondence and French manufacturing archives. The tableware collection of the Museu Paulista of USP is taken as a documentary axis, as material sources. Finally, the case of a commercial establishment in Rio de Janeiro related to an important tableware service is looked at.

Keywords
material culture; trade; porcelain