Model of a pagoda. China, c. 1765-1775. Painted hard-paste porcelain, gold, iron. The pagoda was an important symbol of China for Westerners. These structures were illustrated in travel accounts, more often than they occurred in reality. Westerners eagerly collected these kinds of porcelain pagodas, which were specially made for them. This example comes from the collection of Chinese objects assembled by Jean Theodore Royer.