Asian Goods Markets in Early Modern Europe: Chinese silk fabrics in Seville, 1733-1750

Abstract

From the second half of sixteenth century, Chinese silk goods entered into the markets of the Spanish Empire, including its European territories. By the early eighteenth century, the supply of this Asian good increased across Europe because of the rise of trade companies settled in the Far East. This article aims to know the specific silk markets where Chinese silk goods penetrated in Seville in the first half of eighteenth century by analyzing consumption with notarial sources as probate inventories and dowry letters.