Starting in early 17th Century, a widespread passion for Chinese decorative arts and artistic products spread all over Europe. Chinese-styled fancy gardens and imaginary rural architecture became fashionable in hundreds of European aristocratic mansions, palaces, parks and renown amusement localities. The same was true for interior decorations, including wall-papers, hangings and screens as well as for priced collections of Chinese porcelain table wares, vases, jars and lacquered trays.
The China decoration and objects fashion culminated in 18th Century, with massive imports of actual Chinese art goods together with a vast number of objects manufactured in China to satisfy the taste of Europeans albeit having at times little likeness with real Chinese objects of art if any at all. At the same time an innumerable number of objects, interior decorations and architectural structures were created by European artisans and artists by imitating, often grossly, the supposed Chinese models so much appreciated by fashion-crazy European customers.
Among art historians the whole process of importing and/or creating by imitation Chinese art objects and decorations goes under the somewhat too generic name of “Chnoiserie fashion”. “Chinoiserie”, a French word, might well be translated as “Chinese and Chinese-like objects and decorations”.
