Museum

Dehua kiln is located in Dehua county, Fujian province. Symmetrical lion-shape ears adorn either side of this incense burner. The interior is unglazed while the exterior is glazed in a translucent white that resembles congealed fat. This incense burner is a common type of vessel produced at the Dehua kiln.

Yixing kiln is located in Yixing, Jiangsu province. This six-sided teapot has a canopy-shaped lid with a knob handle. The belly of the elegant vessel has window-like panels on either side. One contains an inscription dated 1742; the other panel contains a slip painting of tea preparation. This exquisitely-made teapot was exclusively for imperial use.

Yixing kiln is located in Yixing, Jiangsu province One side of the teapot bears a gold painting of a pavilion in a rocky forest with a four-character inscription that translates, “Two mountain peaks pierce the clouds”. The other side also bears an inscription that translates to “All life-long loving tea drinking”. This teapot was made in the Jiaqing era as a collaboration between the famous teapot makers, the Yang siblings, and the famous calligrapher Chen Mansheng (1768-1822).

Yixing kiln is located in Yixing, Jiangsu province. Simple and unadorned in form, the body of this teapot is covered in a light purple slip with flecks of yellow in its composition. The work as a whole is exquisite to the finest detail.

Decorated with pines, peonies, and banana trees, this blue-and-white flowerpot has a stand decorated with a painting of peonies. A four-character inscription on the bottom of the pot indicates the work was made specially for the Hall of Harmonious Conduct (Tihe Dian) where the Empress Dowager Cixi took her meals.

The ewer used to be a wine vessel. In the Tang dynasty, Changsha kiln produced a great number of the polychrome under-glaze porcelain wares, which is considered a breakthrough of the monochrome celadon wares. After fired at high temperatures, the polychrome glaze could stand the test of time. Ewers from Changsha kiln had elegant shapes, which was prestigious in Tang dynasty.

Changsha kiln is located in Tongguan, Changsha, Hunan province The ewer used to be a wine vessel. In the Tang dynasty, Changsha kiln produced a great number of the polychrome under-glaze porcelain wares, which is considered a breakthrough of the monochrome celadon wares. After fired at high temperatures, the polychrome glaze could stand the test of time. The special molded decoration on this ewer suggests that it was made to export to West Asia.

Yuezhou kiln is located in Xiangyin county of Hunan province, and was under administration of Yuezhou region in the Tang dynasty. The celadon glaze of the Yuezhou ware was rich in calcium oxide. This kind of glaze would show green color in reducing atmosphere.

Yaozhou kiln is located in Huangbu, Tongchuan, Shaanxi province. The ewer used to be a wine vessel. In the Tang dynasty, Yaozhou kiln primarily produced celadon and black-glazed porcelain wares. At low temperatures, the black glaze would show the color of tea dust, as the one displayed here.

Ding kiln site at is located in Quyang county, Hebei province. In the Five Dynasties, Ding ware still maintained some characteristics of the white porcelain from Xing kiln. At that time, fine white porcelain wares enjoyed great improvement: the color is pure white or white with a tint of green, the shape was elegant and the workmanship was superb. The porcelain wall was semi-transparent.

Ding kiln is located in site at Quyang county, Hebei province. A masterpiece of the white porcelain during the Five Dynasties, this bowl is a product from Ding kiln at Quyang of Hebei province. Since parts of the workshops of Ding kiln complex were reserved to the imperial family and the government, their products were specially marked with a Chinese character for “official” (guan) so as to distinguish from other products sold to ordinary people. Compared with the unmarked wares, these porcelain wares were more exquisite.

Yue kiln is located insite at Cixi, Zhejiang province. Porcelain ware of the Five Dynasties was influenced by the design of gold and silver ware. Plates were usually made with flower shaped mouths, and vases were often shaped after the melon. This plate shows clear signs of wear and tear, which indicates that it has won fondness of many people.

Yuezhou kiln was located in Xiangyin county of Hunan province. During the Five Dynasties, Yuezhou kiln mainly produced small celadon plates and bowls. The incised lotus petal pattern was the most commonly used decoration method. This dish-shaped mouth vase is one of the rare large vessels from Yuezhou kiln, and is therefore very unique.

Yaozhou kiln is located at Huangpu, Tongchuan city, Shaanxi province. Yaozhou kiln complex started producing porcelain ware from the Tang dynasty (618-907). The major kiln workshops assembled in Huangbu city in Tongchuan of Shaanxi province. Celadon ware was the main product during the subsequent Five Dynasties. The celadon glaze and elegant shapes could emulate the prestigious celadon wares from Yue kiln at that time. This bowl has an even glaze and beautiful shape, exemplifying the Yaozhou wares of the Five Dynasties.

The straight neck, bulbous body and foot ring give the vase the name of “globular vase”. The vase was made by covering the whole vase with a fine-textured, snow-white glaze and then by painting the decoration in pink, green, white and brown colours with the “boneless method,” a method that paints pictures without outlining the subject first. The peach tree and rose are in alternating light and dark colours to produce well-defined texture and a three-dimensional effect. There are eight ripe peaches on the tree with a sturdy trunk and…

The Heavenly King is one of the figurines comprising the burial assemblages during the Tang dynasty. Together with the guardian beasts, the Heavenly King, usually in pair, were placed in front of the tomb path or the chamber, behind the guardian beasts. Collectively they were called the “four deities” in extant ancient records.

Camel can have one or two humps. The double-humped camel is indigenous to Central Asia and China. Camel motifs were found on pictorial bricks datable to the Eastern Han period (25-220). During the Tang dynasty, through frequent cultural communication between China and the west, camels became a popular subject matter of artists and craftsmen. An example in point is the tricolor pottery ware.

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. This tricolor…

Yixing kiln is located in Yixing, Jiangsu province The unique form of this teapot is modeled after the radial symmetry of flowers. The characters “Made by Chen Yingshang zhi” are carved in relief in the bottom of the teapot. Chen Yingshang was a famous early-Qing teapot maker.

The smiling Contemplative Bodhisattva wears a crown with floating ties and a skirt with two layers. On the back of his head is a vertical halo. He rests his right leg on the left knee, sitting on a round stool and leaning forward. His right elbow rests on the right leg. The right hand holds a lotus with a long stem. The left arm is broken. The surviving hand grasps the right foot. Below the stool is a large lotus, a distinctive feature of statues made in the Eastern Wei…

In the mid and late Eastern Han dynasty, the pottery center transferred from Xi’an and Luoyang to Sichuan, where society was stable, economy was prosperous and the people attached importance to enjoyments both in this and the other worlds. Some funerary objects, such as the female pottery music listener, were modeled on recreations and articles in real life. This female pottery figure kneels with the upper part of her body straight. She is wholly absorbed in the music so that she could not help putting her hand behind her ear….

Rectangular in form, this wrist rest is glazed white and painted with ink bamboo between the two joints. A line of poetry complements the visual motif, reading “Emerald bamboos has simple and elegant stems”. The most joint is embellished with a row of nubs in relief.   Used to support the hand when writing with a brush, wrist rests are usually made of bamboo. A porcelain piece is distinctive and rare. On this one, the bamboo is vivid; the dark ink and simple brushwork reflect literati taste. It is representative of…

Dehua Kiln is located in Dehua, Fujian province. The Dehua kiln complex is celebrated for white porcelain wares that are characterized by fine quality and perfectly fused biscuit and glaze. The Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma traveled to preach in China in 520. He spent nine years in contemplation at Shaolin Monastery in central China’s Henan province. During his religious practice, he had a disciple Hui Ke (487-593), who then established the Chan School (Meditative Sect) in China.

Dehua Kiln is located in Dehua, Fujian province. This statuette by the famous porcelain artist He Chaozong presents a lofty-minded immortal with a deer and a crane. In seal script (zhuan shu), the artist signed his name in intaglio within a gourd-shaped frame on the back of the immortal.

The curly-bearded Bodhidharma (?-528) is standing on the vast sea, his left foot exposed, the hem of his kasaya flying in the wind. His perceptive eyes are gazing into the distance, while one hand is cupped in the other before his chest, in a gesture of respect. The statuette of Bodhidharma is covered with bright white glaze. The smooth intensity of the monochrome finish augments the extraordinary spirit of Bodhidharma. Dehua ceramic statuettes carry on the style starting from the third century. Based on aesthetic judgment, the sculptor created Buddhist…

The Goddess of Mercy with plump and smooth-skinned oval face and benevolent expression lowers her head and eyes and seems to be watching all living creatures in the world. She wears high coiffeur decorated in the middle with ruyi-shaped head ornament, hood, long shawl and ruyi-shaped necklace and pendant. Her hands are hidden in the clothes while one leg is half revealed and the other is crossed. Through the drooping and undulating drapes, the Goddess’s bearing is dimly visible. The statue is glazed white and hollow inside; its back is…

The Indian monk Bodhidharma traveled to China across the sea in the sixth century to preach the Buddhist Chan doctrine. Not long after his arrival, he was granted an interview with emperor Liang Wudi (r. 502-550). He then traveled north along the river to the Shaoling Monastery on Mount Song in Henan province. He spent nine years meditating facing a cave wall. Before he went on with his journey, he left his mantle to his disciple. A legendary figure in Chinese Buddhism, Bodhidharma was regarded as the first patriarch of…

With sunken eyes, a long nose and beard, the figure wears a scarf on his head. The open lapel jacket with narrow sleeves covers pants down to his kneels, garments in “barbarian style.” He rides on a Bactrian camel, both hands resting on the front hump; on his back is a monkey that raises its head and looks around. The camel raises his head as if neighing. The appearance and costume of the figure suggests that he was from the Kang Kingdom in the west of China. People of the…

Seen from above, this octagonal-shaped incense burner shows the Buddhist swastika (卍) mark in the interior bottom. The body is glazed green with black specks while side pillars are decorated with a hornless dragon. The composition predominately uses yellow, green, and purple, with blue as supplement. The glaze colors are simple but elegant. This work examplifies court porcelain ware that combined beauty and untility

The brush washer is designed in the shape of a curved lotus leaf. It is coated with sky-blue glaze. Irregular shaped crackle lines are visible on the lustrous glaze surface. The brush washer typifies the austere but elegant quality of articles in a scholar’s studio.

With a thick body, this vase adopts the interesting form of a water buffalo. It is coated with thick blue glaze except for the “mouth” which is glazed with pale yellow. Little white spots are visible on the dark blue glaze. Glaze on the head and legs of the buffalo show flambé effect, which displays strong local flavor despite the overall glaze tone’s resemblance to the famous Jun ware (the site of Jun kilns is in present-day Henan Province in central China). It is because of the similarity to the…

The double-gourd-shaped vase has a straight mouth, short neck, and a smaller upper bulb compared with the lower one which gracefully terminates in a narrow, slightly upturned foot. The interior wall is applied with turquoise glaze and the exterior with red cloud-like bat designs on the blue-green-glazed ground. At the bottom inside the foot ring, grouped in three lines within a single-line crimson frame, are six crimson characters in seal script reading “Made in the Qianlong period of the Great Qing” (Daqing Qianlong nian zhi). Vessels in gourd shapes are…

The surface of the bowl is decorated with a yellow, green, purple, and white speckled pattern, bearing a striking resemblance to tiger fur. This type of design is commonly called “tiger fur glaze” or “tiger fur tricolor”. Developed in the Kangxi era, this design was an innovation based on the unadorned tricolor style.

he design of dragon among clouds is carved on the wet clay body before applied with the transparent glaze layer and fired the plate at a high temperature. The floral pattern is painted over the glaze. Then the plate was refired at a low temperature. When the carving underneath the glaze and the painting on top of the glaze are integrated, a unique partly-hidden and partly-visible design is created.

This rectangular table is decorated with the image of a happy fishermen painted in plain tricolor glaze. The painting depicts a bustling scene of fishermen at work along a river with a pavilion and flourishing trees. A flock of geese fly overhead. The predominate color scheme is green, purple, black, and yellow. Table as such was used in the study and was relatively rare in the Kangxi era.

This pot gets its name from the long curved neck and globular body that resemble an eggplant. This peculiar kettle is glazed white with plain tricolor decoration, which was a style exclusive to Kangxi-era imperial kilns. The shape of this pot suggests that it was likely made for medical use.

Kangxi-era plain tricolor ware is primarily decorated with yellow, green, and purple. The works are glazed and fired a second time at a low temperature. This vessel is glazed white both on the interior and exterior, and is decorated with a painting of four hippocampuses crossing the sea to reach the Eight Auspicious Symbols. Because the painting forgoes red pigment, the resulting image is elegant and simple.

The plate is decorated with the motif of dragon with flame in the interior, and the design of dragon vying for a pearl among clouds on the exterior. The “dragon among clouds” design was a common decorative motif at the Qing court because dragon is a revered symbol of the imperial family.

This vase is decorated with iron-red interlocking vine patterns on the white ground. Meticulous and clear, the vase’s decoration complements its slender body. The circular bottom bears an inscription showing that it was made in the Yongzheng reign.

In Chinese language, “fish” (yu) and “surplus” (yu) are homophones. Traditional design often used a fish motif to express the wish “a surplus of abundance for many years to come”. The vase is glazed white both on the inside and outside with vivid and lifelike painting done in iron-red and green on the exterior.

This bowl is glazed with an even white finish with an iron-red painting of peaches in the bowl well. The exterior is decorated with the Eight Immortals standing on auspicious clouds holding various treasures. The painting illustrates the folk tale of “Eight Immortals congratulate the birthday of the Queen Mother of the West”.

The interior and exterior of the cup are glazed white while the exterior is decorated with clouds and dragons in red. The saucer is also glazed white with a dragon design on the interior. This iron-red cloud-among-dragons cup and saucer with its translucent glaze and saturated color is of exquisite in craftsmanship. A symbol of the imperial family, dragons were a common design element at the Qing court.

Porcelain such as this vase, decorated in red and gold, was in vogue during the Kangxi era. Its interior and exterior are glazed white with red and gold painting on the exterior. Dragons in clouds chase a flaming pearl. The foot and mouth are decorated with matching lotus-flower pattern that constrasts to the ferociousness of the dragons.

This unique vase was created from two vases. A smaller vase fits inside a larger vase and the openings of the two vases are connected but moveable. The smaller vase is decorated with a purplish-red glaze and a painting of a plum tree. The middle sections have holes but above and below they are not connected. While the design allows for some movement, the two bottles cannot be separated. This craft is called “intersecting tranquility” and signifies “the top and bottom are one, the world is at peace, everything is…

Item used in the Qing court The paste container has a rimmed mouth, a straight neck, a flat stomach, and a foot ring. Both the body and lid are covered with snow-flake blue glaze and painted with gold décor. The patterns include stylized tendrils on the lid, heads of ruyi scepters on the neck, and four sets of flowers on the stomach. The foot ring has white glaze but no inscription. Since it was made to contain paste made of starch, the object has a lid to protect against rats…