chinoiserie
European pseudo-Asian style
Chinoiserie is a European decorative style that imitates or evokes Chinese artistic motifs.
Popular from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, it appeared in furniture, porcelain, textiles, and architecture—often featuring pagodas, dragons, and stylized landscapes.
The style reflects Western fantasies about the East more than authentic Chinese art: The room was decorated in elaborate chinoiserie, with lacquered cabinets and hand-painted wallpaper.
Legendary fire-breathing reptile
- lotusSacred aquatic flower
- peonyFragrant, many-petaled ornamental
- willowNarrow-leaved waterside tree
- chrysanthemumOrnamental daisy relative
pagoda · koi · bamboo · phoenix · lattice · bird · butterfly · blossom
Translucent fired clay
- lacquerGlossy protective coating
- toileTest garment material
- wallpaperOrnamental wall covering
- silkFine woven insect fiber
jardiniere · screen · gilt · embroidery · motif · bamboo · fan · vase
Imitative artistic tribute
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- fauxArtificial or imitation
- whimsicalPlayfully fanciful or erratic
- imaginedFormed in the mind
romanticized · stylized · theatrical · orientalism · exoticism · adaptation · interpretation · appropriation
dragon
Legendary fire-breathing reptile
chrysanthemum · pagoda · koi · bamboo · phoenix · lattice · bird · butterfly · blossom · landscape
porcelain
Translucent fired clay
silk · jardiniere · screen · gilt · embroidery · motif · bamboo · fan · vase · pavilion
pastiche
Imitative artistic tribute
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- fauxArtificial or imitation
- whimsicalPlayfully fanciful or erratic
imagined · romanticized · stylized · theatrical · orientalism · exoticism · adaptation · interpretation · appropriation · misrepresentation
baroque
Excessively ornate or elaborate
- gildingApplying decorative gold coating
- scrollworkSpiral ornamental design
- cartoucheOval framing royal hieroglyphs
asymmetry · ornament · pastel · putti · festoon · goldleaf · boiserie · curves · whimsy · fantasy
cabinet
Enclosed storage furniture
- screenDisplay or barrier
- commodeToilet or storage chest
- lacquerworkResin-finished decorative craft
japanning · secretary · console · armoire · bracket · gilded
- textilescotton, wool, silk, fabric, thread
- ChinaBeijing, Shanghai, Great Wall, Yellow River, Forbidden City
- Victorianaseances, Dickens, spiritualism, Sherlock Holmes, phrenology
- luxury decorchandelier, gilded mirrors, crystal vase, crystal chandeliers, silk curtains
- Motifsarabesque, flower, damask, leaf, vine
- ornateornate, elaborate, embellished, decorative, ornamental
chinoiserieneoclassicism
Movement emulating antiquity's forms
classicism · Gothic Revival · Palladian · Federal style · Gothic style
chinoiserieminimalism
Aesthetic of reduction
functionalism · Bauhaus · modernism · austerity · plainness