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chinoiserie

chinoiserie

1 9.9
A decorative style or object that uses Chinese designs, popular in Europe in the 1700s
  • noun
  • /ʃɪˈnɔɪzəri/
  • Specialized
translation icon : chinoiserie
  • Chinoiserie was already assimilated into stagings of Englishness since the seventeenth century, but signaled a specific sense of imperial mobility for European residents in East Africa since it intersected European, East African, and South Asian cultural worlds.
  • chinoiserie decoration
  • chinoiserie style
  • chinoiserie wallpaper

Examples

  • Paired with some orange chinoiserie on the walls, we're aiming for a little something like this...

    Blog text (1)
  • Miss Draycott collected chinoiserie.

  • Imported objects, such as chinoiserie porcelain, English clocks, French mirrors, and Islamic mass-produced chromolithographs, were central to coastal architectural design programs.

    Academic text (2009)
  • A modern Chinoiserie breakfront, a Dunbar, Japanese-influenced sofa, silk Dupioni drapes, Murano vases, and a classic Drexel end table.

  • The walls of the salon were covered with ceramic panels ornamented with painted and relief chinoiserie decoration.

  • Ornate brass lamps sat against the red chinoiserie wallpaper.

  • The canopy bed, made in France in the chinoiserie style, is walnut with mother-of-pearl inlay and tasseled silk hangings from Scalamandr.

Surface Forms

chinoiserie singular
chinoiseries plural

Etymology

The word chinoiserie comes from the French chinois meaning 'Chinese' and the ending -erie meaning 'a type of thing or style'. So chinoiserie simply means 'Chinese style' and is used for European art and decoration that copies Chinese designs.