88 These words from an article by Oliver Impey in the 1994 exhibition catalogue Porcelain for Palaces vividly capture the frenzy for collecting Japanese porcelain that possessed the European elite around 1700. The Asian porcelain collection of the House of Liechtenstein is a good example of the phenomenon’s presence in Vienna. It shows that even though the Habsburgs were not (yet) actively involved in the European trade in Asian commodities, the Viennese nobility still found ways to get their hands on some of the finest pieces, which were being shipped predominantly by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the English East India Company (EIC).2 Porcelain of this kind and calibre was also a major source of inspiration for the production of Du Paquier porcelain. Fig. 1 Large jars with figures, plants and birds Japan, Arita, Edo period, c. 1670/1690 Porcelain, enamel colours LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna Inv. PO 2536
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