As early as the 1100's, traders brought Chinese exports to Europe, where it became greatly admired. As European trade with the Orient grew during the 1600's, many of these products and their styles became popular with the European public. Thus, the Chinese had a growing influence on European aesthetics, and the art style known as Chinoiserie arose.
             The term Chinoiserie refers to the seventeenth and eighteenth century style in European art characterized by forms and motifs derived from Chinese art. Chinoiserie, used mainly in conjunction with Baroque and Rococo styles, featured extensive gilding and lacquering, use of blue-and- white, asymmetrical forms, disruptions of orthodox perspective, and Oriental figures and motifs. Variety and multiplicity best describe the style of Chinoiserie. It favored light, springing forms. Chinoiserie sought to diffuse its decoration in continuous growth without stiffness or emphasis. Luster, brilliance of surface effect, freshness, and brightness were all characteristics of the Chinoiserie style.
             As stated in his book, "Europe and China: A Survey of their Relations from the Earliest Times to 1800," Geoffrey Francis Hudson writes,
             The painted silks and embroideries, the porcelain, the lacquered cabinets and screens, which made the courtly society familiar with Chinese forms and principles of
             design were at first imported not for their value as fine art so much as for the qualities of their material technique . . . in time both the forms and the world represented in painted scenes began to take hold on the imagination of European buyers.
             Chinoiserie became fashionable in many European Courts during the 17th century, and achieved widespread popularity in the 18th century. In baroque and rococo art, the idea of Chinoiserie became prominent in interior decoration, garden design, paintings, porcelain, and silks, as well as other art forms.
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