Museum

Ding kiln is located in Quyang county, Dingzhou, Hebei province. White-glazed vessels from Ding kiln of the Song dynasty are famous for two reasons: The warm white color with a tinge of yellow of the refined glaze creates the soft, warm feelings; the incised and molded motif marks the new era of decoration for white porcelain wares. Ding wares were fired upside-down in groups, with the mouth rims unglazed. This firing method improved productivity and reduced cost. To cover the unglazed mouth rims, craftsmen had silver, gold, and copper inlaid…

Ding kiln is located in Quyang county, Dingzhou, Hebei province. The spittoon was used to hold bones of meat and fish during ancient noble families’ banquets. A popular product of kilns across the country at the time, most of the surviving porcelain spittoons date to the Song dynasty. This spittoon in beautiful shape with pure white glaze is regarded a rare white glazed porcelain ware from Ding kiln.

Ding kiln is located in Quyang county, Dingzhou, Hebei province. Dingzhou, the location of Ding kiln, was an industry center in the Song dynasty that assembled porcelain kilns, gold and silver ware workshops, and textile distributors. Craftsmen in Ding kiln applied silverware modeling techniques and textile motifs to the manufacture of white porcelain wares. Therefore the floral decoration of Ding wares stayed in a high artistic level since the very beginning.

Ding kiln is located in Quyang county, Dingzhou, Hebei province. Besides white-glazed porcelain, Ding kiln is also celebrated for black and dark-reddish-purple glazed wares, which are popularly known as “black Ding wares” and “purple Ding wares”. Compared with the white-glazed porcelain vessels in mass production, dark-color wares were produced in small number and therefore are more valuable.

Jun kiln is located in Yuzhou, Henan province. The bowl with flower-petal shaped mouth rim resembles a blooming flower. The alternating blue and purple glazes create a scene of rosy clouds floating in the sky. Chinese porcelain wares before the Song dynasty were usually coated with celadon glaze for decoration. The success in producing red-glazed Jun wares inaugurated a new realm, exerting profound influence on ceramic development, especially that of the color-glazed porcelain fired at high temperatures in the following Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644), and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

Yaozhou kiln is located in Huangbu, Tongchuan, Shaanxi province. The incised motifs on celadon Yaozhou wares show strong sense of solidness. The sunny and shady sides of the leaves are easily identified. With the sharp knifepoint, craftsman created flowing lines that form the motif. An example in point is the incised lotus design on the stomach of this vase.

Vessels with decoration in contrasting colors (doucai) are first fired at high temperature with outlines of the target patterns painted in cobalt blue pigment beneath the transparent glaze layer, then filled in with polychrome pigments over the glaze layer and re-fired at low temperature. The motif on the stem cup displayed here includes four groups of medallion lotuses and stylized leaves and flowers corresponding each other near the mouth rim and the contracting bottom of the cup.

Cizhou kiln is located in Handan, Hebei province In the Yuan dynasty, the Cizhou kiln mainly produced white glazed wares with black motifs, characterized with big size and thick bodies. Big basins, big jars, and pillows were major products. Dragon among clouds, phoenix among clouds, wild goose among clouds, and fish and grass were popular decoration patterns.

Lingwu kiln is located in Lingwu, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. By comparison, historians found the clay and glaze of this vessel similar to the excavated Lingwu wares in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in terms of the clay body and the glaze type. Therefore, this vase is considered a Lingwu ware. Sharing the same glaze colors and subject matters of the motif, porcelain wares of the Western Xia dynasty were deeply affected by the style of Cizhou wares in Hebei province. However, Lingwu wares look strong and wild, reflecting the ethnic…

Longquan Kiln is located in Longquan city, Zhejiang province. Starting porcelain manufacture in the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), Longquan kilns are famous for celadon wares. Longquan wares of the Ming dynasty have a heavy body covered with a thick glaze layer. The dish displayed here is large in size. It is translucent green glazed and carved with a grape motif in the interior bottom. It is a refined celadon ware typifying early Ming dynasty Longquan wares.

Shunzhi Reign (1644-1661), Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) In the Qing dynasty Shunzhi era, polychrome porcelain shapes retained the antique flavor of late Ming dynasty. Many vessels employed a strong contrast between vivid hues of vermillion and green boldly painted in unrestrained fashion. The body of this beaker vase (gu) has white glaze with blue-green specks, polychrome-painted with distinct images of irregular rocks, flowers, and other designs. Each color is vibrant, with visual effects presented clearly with a refined sense of beauty.

A yu is a vessel for serving grain or soup. Because the sand-tempered red ceramic provides increased heat resistance, this red yu was probably a cooking vessel. The Cishan culture is named after the village of Cishan, in Wu’an county, Hebei province, where the first finds of this type were made in 1972. It dates to the Northern China Middle Neolithic, 6000-5600 BC.

In a he bird hat with a dignified facial expression, this military officer has a high nose bridge, deep eyes, and handlebar-shaped moustache. According to ancient records, he was a bellicose bird. In the Tang dynasty, the he-bird decorating the hat was usually designed like a little sparrow that unfolded its wings with head downward. This piece was donated by Mr. Zheng Zhenduo (1898-1958).

Ru Kiln is located in Qingliangsi, Baofeng county, Henan province. The plate’s smooth and lustrous surface resembles silk. All celadon wares made in Ru kiln of the Song dynasty were glazed in light sky-blue, the favourite of the imperial family. The mellow color was in tune with the aesthetic taste of the upper class.

Longquan kiln is located in Longquan, Zhejiang province. This celadon vase with a dish-shaped mouth distinguishes itself with its elegant shape and pure, beautiful glaze. The color and quality of the powder-blue glaze reflect the most consummate skill of firing celadon wares in Chinese history. The special glaze material of Longquan wares of the Southern Song dynasty was highly adhesive and high-temperature resisting. Therefore, the glaze would not fall down during firing. Powder blue and plum green are the two most famous glaze colors. The plum-green glaze is thicker than…

Decoration patterns on the blue-and-white porcelain wares of the Yuan dynasty borrowed designs from textiles. The widely used hanging cloud designs and the S-shaped cloud designs were evolved from the shoulder decoration in Chinese traditional opera costumes. The shoulder of the vase is decorated with hanging cloud designs.

Painted pottery appeared more than 6,000 years ago based on the red pottery tradition of the Yellow River valley. It began first in the east and subsequently spread west. This vessel belongs to the Banshan type of the Majiayao culture, 2600-2300 BCE. Banshan pottery is characteristically two tones with alternating red and black painted patterns, with cross-hatching filling in small areas.

This pot has a garlic-head shaped mouth and a pair of ruyi-shaped ears. The interior is glazed white while the exterior is painted with floral designs. This vessel was made for court use during the Qianlong era (1736-1795) at Jingdezhen imperial kiln. This flask reflects the popularity of antique style at that time.

This is a new style of cup developed at Jingdezhen imperial kilns during the Yongle reign (1403-1424). The thick wall, the flared mouth, and the low position of the center of gravity of the cup together create a sense of pressure as one holds it with the space between the thumb and the index finger. Thus, it is also known as a “press-hand cup” (yashou bei). In the center of the interior bottom painted a pair of lions playing with an embroidered ball, inside which a four-character Yongle reign mark…

The jar with five mouths is shaped like a gourd bottle with three bulbs. The waist is decorated with bears, tortoises and lizards. This kind of vessel was made during the Eastern Han period, and largely unearthed from burials in the Yangtze delta region. The earlier shapes were simpler, while the later carry more decoration such as figures and animals. In the Western Jin period (265-317) this form evolved into the granary model, an important achievement in ancient art.

The black pottery was fired in a strongly reducing atmosphere (lacking oxygen); during the last stage of firing the fire was extinguished, the kiln was closed, and water was poured from the top chimney; carbon element from the fuel infiltrated the ceramic wall through the steam. Longshan is a Late Neolithic culture. It was named after Longshan village, Zhangqiu county, Shandong province where it was first recognized in 1928. The vessel was made on a rotating wheel which became common during the Longshan culture, and vessels became thinner than before.

Taking its name from it resemblance to a lantern, this vase became popular at the end of the 18th century. While the interior is glazed in a pine green color, the exterior has a painted “brocade” ground created by a floral pattern that include lotus, peony, and Chinese rose. The inside of the circular foot is also glazed in pine green and bears a blue-and-white inscription that indicates a Qianlong-era of production.

‘This square teapot is glazed white on the interior and decorated with a yellow lotus familie rose design on the exterior. All four sides have elliptical oval-shape paintings of peony branches, plum trees, mountains, rivers, and pavilions. Each painting is accompanied by a poem inscribed by the emperor.

Designs of children at play first appeared on Tang dynasty ceramics. When it began to appear as a motif on Qing court porcelain, the design had come to symbolize peace and joy. Done in familie rose, the painting depicts happy boys playing in a garden.

Phoenix amid peonies is a traditional Chinese decorative motif. The phoenix is the king of birds and the peony is the king of flowers; together they represent wealth and rank. With a red glaze, the vase has gold dragon-shaped ears adorning either side. The exterior has a familie rose painting of a phoenix amid peonies. Bright and beautifully colored, the work as a whole exemplifies the craftsmanship of Jiaqing-era imperial porcelain.

The Buddhist stupa (pagoda) form originated in India. Stupas were used for storing and preserving relics or sutras and also served the purpose of worship. Tibetan in style, this yellow famille rose lotus pattern pagoda was fired in parts and then joined together. The object would have been placed on an altar in front of an image of the Buddha. Based on its stylistic characteristics, the pagoda was likely produced during the Qianlong era in the imperial Jindezhen kiln for use in one of the many imperial worship halls.

This pagoda was used as a storage container. An auspicious treasure bottle and a pink canopy decorates the top of the pagoda. Below the canopy are thirteen wheels, representing thirteen days. The pagoda body and base are hollow and were filled with Buddhist sculptures or sutras. This pagoda was an offering pagoda and would have been placed on an altar in front of an image of the Buddha. Based on its stylistic characteristics, the pagoda was likely produced during the Qianlong era by the imperial Jingdezhen kiln for use in…

The neck of the bottle has a ground of purple glaze with familie rose floral pattern on top. Symmetrical red and gold hornless dragon ears adorn either side of the neck. The stomach, painted gold, is hollow and is carved with symbols of the Eight Immortals. When the bottle is rotated, the Eight Immortals and their treasures are united, creating a complimentary visual effect.

With jagged ridges protruding from its walls, this zun has a bronze-color ground covered with turquoise glaze and metallic color. This antique-style bronze patination was an innovation of the Qianlong era. Both in form and decoration, this vase painstakingly imitates the appearance of ancient bronze ware and is visually indistinguishable from bronze, a breath-taking effect.

This small decorative mountain imitates the random peaks, valleys, and colors of an actual mountain in an ingenious, like-life way. On the foot a regular script inscription says “Woji jushi amuses himself”. Woji jushi was the sobriquet of the well-known Jingdezhen imperial kiln supervisor Tang Ying, who served through the reigns of two emperors from 1728 to 1756. During his tenure, the kiln produced some of its most exquisite work. This small mountain was made personally by Tang Ying for use in a study. This work was donated by Mr….

This type of vase was made to hang on a wall and therefore has one decorated side and one flat side. Symmetrical ears adorn either side of the belly and neck of this gourd-shape wall vase. Inside a circular opening is a painting of fish and algae. The lower part of the vase is adorned with kui dragon ears with an inlaid clock in between. The vase has a pearlized black body with a winding gold peony pattern. The surface design that imitates shark skin is quite rare in Chinese…

Red glaze as such is named after Lang Tingji, the ceramics supervisor at Jingdezhen who created the glaze resembling “ox blood” in the Kangxi reign. The quality of the glaze is fine, even, and thick, giving the zun a bright and shiny appearance. Because the glaze on the mouth of the zun flows downward, it is thin and transparent, revealing the white porcelain underneath. The characteristics of this work are representative of Kangxi-era Lang ceramics.

This white glazed plate has a simple and unadorned exterior and a portrait of a European woman in a roundel. The brushwork exquisitely renders a lifelike portrait. This type of ware was produced specially for export to European. While the body of the plate was produced by the Jingdezhen kiln, the glazing and decoration were done in Guangzhou, thereby earning the name “Guangdong glaze” .

The vase with dragon-shaped ears was a popular type during the Tang dynasty. There were white-glazed, celadon, and tricolor pottery vases of such type. The vessel is a hybrid of alien culture and the indigenous Han culture. This elegant style shows the prosperity of the Tang dynasty.

This is a typical Ding ware of the Tang dynasty. Well known for its white porcelain products, the Ding kiln was located at Quyang county of Hebei province, which started ceramic production in the Tang and ended in the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), spanning about six or seven hundred years. Tang period boxes were mostly round in shape, with no decoration on the surface, and were used to keep woman’s cosmetics, including face powder, face cream, and eyebrow ink, as well as keep medicine, mirror, and spice.

The prunus vase (mei ping) is at once a wine vessel and a flower receptacle. It is widely believed that the prunus vase was created in the Song dynasty (960-1279), but this piece of work is considered to have been made earlier in the Tang dynasty and therefore reverses the previous opinion.

The horse was attached with great importance in the Tang dynasty, which was related to the nomadic lineage of the Li imperial family. Tang Taizong (Li Shimin, r. 627-649) had the artist Yan Liben (ca. 600-673) draw six horses to be carved in relief on stone tablets to decorate his own mausoleum, the Zhaoling Tomb. Tang Xuanzong (Li Longji, r. 712-756) trained horses to gallop in rhythm on his birthday. The many tricolor pottery horses excavated from tombs datable to the Tang dynasty reflect their fondness of horse.

According to the Tang dynasty custom, burial objects were put into the grave together with the deceased. People with high status often had hundreds of burial items, the commonest of which were figurines of officials, warriors, and guardian beasts. The figurine of civil official was usually portrayed with a serious facial expression in a long robe with wide sleeves. One of its hands is cupped into the other in front of chest. This figurine was donated by Mr. Zheng Zhenduo (1898-1958).

This figurine stands tall and straight, looking serious. Different from low-temperature glazed pottery, the tricolor glazed pottery of the Tang dynasty was made of kaolin as the clay body. The raw body was fired at the high temperature of 1,100 degrees Celsius, and then was applied with the glaze containing several metal oxides as colorants and plumbic oxide as the flux, and finally fired at the lower temperature of 900 degrees Celsius, to visualize light and dark colors like green, blue, white, brown, and yellow.

According to the Tang dynasty custom, burial objects were put into the tomb together with the deceased. People with high status often had hundreds of burial items, the commonest of which were figurines of officials, warriors, and guardian beasts. In the armor, the warrior figurine looks ferocious and valiant.

“Hu people” is the collective name given to all northwestern minorities by the ancient Han Chinese people. It refers to not only the northwestern Chinese people but also those lived in Central and West Asia. During the Tang dynasty, the Silk Road linking the west and the east was in its prosperous time, with continuous flow of merchants. As the mount of the merchants and the vehicle for carrying goods, camels are known as “ferries in the desert”. This figurine was a burial object, reflecting the reality of the Tang…

This white glazed plate has a simple and unadorned exterior with butterflies and floral decorations in underglaze cobalt blue on the interior. The bowl well bears a famille rose painting of two phoenixes playing among rocks and flowers. This exquisite example of “Guangdong glazed” ware was made specially for export and reflects European taste.

The teapot has a polychrome painting of an auspicious qilin unicon accompanied by flowers and rocks. The uniquely shaped teapot is enhanced by the painting’s rich colors and full composition. This work is donated by Volvo China.

The pot is decorated with armorial pattern and an “s” letter in blue and yellow of the famille-rose family and gold. Stars are depicted on the mouth rims of the lid and the pot. This pot is designed after a piece of silverware. The armorial pattern indicates that this is for ordinary people to use. The pot is donated by Volvo China.

The exterior of the bowl is decorated with flowers and plants painted in black with gold accents to present flower pistils and stamens. A Swedish check with the date August 11, 1762 is depicted in the bowl well. This work is donated by Volvo China.