Colonial History of Peaches

I never knew that one of my favorite fruits had such great and interesting history behind its rich and sweet flavor. Peaches, that is their name, is one of my favorite fruits because of its sweetness and juiciness. This round doughnut shaped is sweet and juicy that you can put it in any forms of dessert, drink , salad, pastry or even as a garnish on baked food. It has so many variety of cooking and it is so versatile! And speaking of variety, this fruit also comes in various forms of varieties based on the countries they came from which I will further elaborate in the next section on their history.

Colonial History of Peaches

The first thing I found out was that peaches were actually originated from China. I usually would think peaches would be from Japan because most of the peaches I bought were from Japan.  But they were actually cultivated from China since the 1000 B.C.E.. It is from China that the spread of peach cultivation goes to Persia to Europe and finally to America.

To start off , a fun fact I know was that peaches had a special significance in the Chinese culture. The peach tree is a symbol of life and peaches are symbols of unity and immortality. Thus, this could show  that peaches are originated from China because of their symbolic meaning that is already given by China.

Moving on to their history, peaches were first cultivated in China and were introduced to  Persia between the 1st to 2nd century B.C.E..  This spread of peach cultivation to Persia led to an extent whereby this fruit was later named as the Persica fruit by the Persians. That is why some people nowadays would also think that peaches were made from Persia because of this famous commercial route from China to Persia. The seeds were brought by the Chinese who traveled west via the silk roads to Persia. The trees in Persia are mostly self pollinated which is mostly suitable for growing peaches.

Then, in Persia, the peaches were discovered by Alexander the Great who introduced them to the Greeks in Europe during the 322 B.C.E.. By the 50 to 20 B.C.E. , the Romans started to grow their own peaches and transport it to west and other parts of their European empire.

It is also believed that the Spaniards in Europe introduced peaches to South America after the conquests of Cortez and then eventually to England and France where people would take it as a sweet treat in their meals.

Finally, in the early 17th century, a horticulturist George Minife brought the first peaches from England to America. From then on wards during the 19th century, a group of American Indian tribes start to spread the growth of peach cultivation in all parts of America.

Nowadays, you can see peaches in various forms such as yellow flesh would probably be found in Europe and North America. As for the white flesh which is much sweeter is most popular in Europe.

Bibliography

J, Janick. ” The origins of fruits, fruit growing, and fruit breeding. “Purdue University. 2005. Last Accessed October 29th 2018.  https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/origins%20of%20fruits.pdf

“Peach facts: Peachy Keen. All About Peaches.” The Nibble, Great Find Foods. August 2006. Updated on July 2008. Last accessed October 29th 2018. http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/fruits/peach-facts.asp

“Peach. Tree and fruit. ” Encyclopedia Britannica. Updated on July 8, 2018. Last Accessed October 29th, 2018.

https://www.britannica.com/plant/peach

Week 10- Contextual Analysis (Free Writing)

Pair of Mounted Blue Jars. Porcelain, China , (1736-45).  Gilded bronze mounts, France, (1745-49).

This elegant piece of object stands out with a beautiful anthropomorphic figure of a human being. That is having the head to be the top connected to a thick neck at the first half followed by the shoulders which are the edges of the jars protruding out then the body and legs at the bottom. The edges of the jars seem to be very smooth curvatures that enhances the elegant shape of this jar.

Furthermore, if one were to look from afar, both jars have striking colors of deep blue and bronze. Both colors seem to represent  wealth and people of higher class because these jars were made during the Qianlong reign. During this period, the Qianlong Emperor expanded trade to more countries including Europe and Mongolia. As a result, the colors appear to be different as compared to previous blue and white Chinese porcelain we always see from China.  The blue is much darker and there is a new addition of rich bronze color that adds brightness and contrast to the whole jar.

Moreover, the  jars also have animal motifs including the dragons which were probably cast by the Europeans in Paris during the Louis XV reign. Louis XV, a prince in France who became the owner of the Vincennes factory in France that produces soft paste porcelain body in France during 1759.  As a result, this bronze mount was named under Prince Louis XV to indicate  ownership. As for the dragon, this animal motif chosen as a dragon  shows great sophistication for Chinese porcelain that European could have had as they were inspired by Chinese porcelain.

Bibliography

Jeffrey Munger, “French Porcelain in the Eighteenth Century” , October 2003. Accessed 20th October 2018.

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/porf/hd_porf.htm

Asians Civilizations Museum, “Pair of Mounted Blue Jars”. Accessed 20th October 2018/

https://discover.acm.stqry.com/v/pair-of-mounted-blue-jars/s/ac1131f1-1747-45cd-8725-62f16b9b80d1