One seller priced the pot at $60, more than 10 times its usual cost in China. It follows a long history of the West refashioning Chinese porcelain for different uses.
This week, an Amazon listing for an “antique fruit basket” is making the rounds on the internet...because it isn’t a fruit basket.
The product in question is actually a Chinese chamber pot that was used in homes before modern plumbing became widely available. It’s also used as a spittoon—that is, you hock a loogie into it while smoking.
There were multiple listings for this portable potty/fruit basket, all of which have since been deleted, but thanks to the Wayback Machine, you can view one of them here. One seller priced the pot at $60, more than 10 times how much it normally costs in China.
Most of the listings advertised the pot’s versatility and attached pictures of the vessel holding fruit, wine, and ice. Naturally, people in China were grossed out by the idea, joking on social media that their “childhood potty” turned out to be more valuable than they thought.
The South China Morning Post found that most of the sellers appeared to be based in mainland China, according to the addresses attached to their profiles.
(Read more: Inside China’s ‘ghost markets,’ where you can buy dug-up antiques)
Humorous it may be, the snafu actually follows a long history of the West refashioning Chinese porcelain for different purposes.
Creative uses of Chinese porcelain date back to the 17th century, when English nobility started using Chinese tableware as punch bowls and fruit baskets. Before, Chinese ceramics had an air of mystique because pieces had to take the long journey across the Silk Road.
When the bowls did arrive in Europe, they often served as decorative pieces in people’s homes. That’s why in art museums, you’ll often see Chinese porcelain embellished with gold and silver mounts. It was one way to signal luxury in already rare pieces.
For a long time, China kept its porcelain-making methods secret from the outside world, even as demand for them increased. Traders who wanted to buy wares could not step foot in Jingdezhen, the town where many pieces were made, instead ordering from intermediaries at ports. That added to the existing mythology surrounding Chinese porcelain.
Today, that legacy of Chinese porcelain as timeless and priceless continues, even as Chinese plates and bowls have become more commonplace. The appropriation of the Chinese chamber pot is just one more example in a long history of cultural exchange and commerce.
Perhaps one Weibo user put it best: “It is actually interesting to see how things can be used differently in other cultures. As long as the buyers like it, it shouldn’t matter what it was ‘originally’ used for.”
If you’re curious about where Chinese porcelain comes from, we did a video a while back about the factory that makes the iconic blue and white bowls. You can watch it here:
This quick take was originally published in the Goldthread newsletter. To stay on top of the latest China trends, subscribe here.
