15 Bountiful Chinoiserie Tablescapes For The Mid-Autumn Festival
Celebrate this harvest season feast with one of the most enduring design styles loved by many all over the world
The Mid-Autumn Festival is upon us, and for many who honor Chinese traditions, it’s a celebration for the entire family. Aside from the requisite moon cakes that are given during this time, the dinner table should also be lavished with dishes and objects that symbolize the family’s unity and harmony. Fruits such as pomegranates and pomelos; vegetables like taro and pumpkin; flowers, and various dishes (duck and crabs are a must!) are present at the table, symbolizing gratitude for nature's abundance and reunion with the family during this time.
Is there a style more fitting for your table to celebrate this occasion than chinoiserie? Loved by many across the world, chinoiserie is actually a Western style of decor that draws inspiration from Chinese motifs, as seen in textiles and porcelain. Distinctively Chinese aesthetics crossed over to Europe via trading. Some say that the travels of the Italian explorer, Marco Polo to the East in the 14th century sparked this trend. Its fruition owes to the bustling trade between China and Europe in the 18th century, when stunning blue and white Chinese porcelain pieces were first traded to Europe. The trend caught on for its light and airy motifs, featuring dragons, butterflies, birds and Chinese scenery— definitely a refreshing counterpoint to the stiff and heavy brocades, decor and furniture prevalent in the European Baroque. Its earliest notable appearance in European architectural history was the Tiranon de Porcelaine, a porcelain pavilion built for Louis XIV in Versailles by architect Louis La Vau in 1670.
Chinoiserie continues to be a well-loved style to this day. Having gone through various incarnations through the times, some of its characteristics stay, proving that this style is enduring, even millennials have taken to it. The blue and white color scheme; depiction of natural landscapes and Chinese figures, pagodas, dragons, phoenixes, peonies and pomegranates still figure in paintings, home decor, textiles and as a theme to dress the celebration table.
We scoured Instagram for the best examples of these:
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15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Pair blue and whites with pale pink orchids and roses. Set them off with gold cutlery.
Photo Credit: @keyeventsco
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
This style lends itself very well to Autumn and Winter decorating. Consider painting your pumpkins with chinoiserie motifs or a blue and white palette for a homemade Chinoiserie look.
Photo Credit: @theinspirednest
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Add a pop of color! Orange is the opposite of blue in the color wheel. It is a striking complement to the blue and white color scheme. Use orange to add some pizzazz to your table.
Photo Credit: @heirloomweddings
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Your Mid-Autumn table will ideally be replete with round fruits. Handmade squash in shades of gray velvets do the job in this table setting.
Photo Credit: @monicabenavidez
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
You can add the theme down to the tiniest detail of your spread. Here, wine corks were painted with temple and ginger jars in the blue and white motif, to be used as place holders.
Photo Credit: @lemonhousedesign
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Your chinoiserie table need not only be in blue and white. All manner of bright colors are welcome in your Mid-Autumn table setting.
Photo Credit: @suzanneinggestyle
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Red and blue are powerful colors to dress a table. They lend a stately look to the celebration.
Photo Credit: @southern_waterlilies
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
A modern interpretation of Chinoiserie is to take a few minimal elements and take them front and center of your table. In this case, a Foo Dog is used as a centerpiece together with a modern white temple jar.
Photo Credit: @suzanneinggestyle
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
A lose interpretation of the Chinoiserie theme is represented here, using Japanese-inspired motifs of the pagoda and the geisha figurine.
Photo Credit: @kimpossibles
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Consider using vegetables and fruits in your centerpiece arrangements to symbolize a bountiful Mid-Autumn harvest. Here, artichokes and grapes accompany mums contained in a blue and white vessel.
Photo Credit: @suzanneinggestyle
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Imari plates and porcelain are of Japanese origin, but they mix well with the blue and white theme of this table. Again, there are no hard and fast rules. A cohesive look creates harmony on the dining table.
Photo Credit: @nestwithnina
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Wicker goes well with blue and white. They act as the perfect neutral background to plates that are festooned with patterns of nature.
Photo Credit: @mangitas
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Photo Credit: @suzanneinggestyle
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Your kitchen island can also afford some decor that matches your dining table. Consider this especially if you are using the island as a host for the spread.
Photo Credit: @lalasaks
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Chinoiserie doesn't just come in blue and white. Famille rose porcelain were painted in shades of pink and carmine. These were known as "yangcai," meaning foreign. Using Chinese themes and patterns, Europeans improvised on the color of the porcelain. Your tablescapes may also derive inspiration from these color combinations.
Photo Credit: @whatpippawantspippagoetz
15 Chinoiserie Tablescapes for the Mid-Autumn Festival
Use jars as centerpieces. Their varying heights draw the eye from one end of a long table to the other. This also helps in creating a focal point for the table setting.
Photo Credit: @designedbydixon
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