Pair of ornate porcelain and gilt bronze candelabras featuring cherubs and floral designs.

The Parisian Marchands-Merciers

</p> A marchand-mercier is a French term for a type of entrepreneur working outside the guild system of craftsmen but carefully constrained by the regulations of a corporation under rules codified in 1613. The reduplicative term literally means a merchant of merchandise, but in the 18th century took the connotation of a merchant of objets…

Ancient ceramic figure of a woman with traditional attire and hairstyle.

The ‘Court Fat Lady’

</p> The Golden Age of Chinese History The Tang Era of Chinese history is heralded as a golden age. It witnessed the prosperity of culture, economy, diplomacy and politics under a unified government. Stability within China led to an expansion of foreigners entering and living within the country, bringing with them their own cultural and…