Porcelain Artifacts Go on Show in Shanghai Museum

The exhibition “Ming-Qing Export Porcelain from the Palace Museum and the Shanghai Museum” is now on at Hall No.2 in the Shanghai Museum. The exhibition, which runs till January 4, 2016, showcases 160 pieces of export porcelain with the oldest piece dating back to the 14th century.

“This exhibition shows a picture of recent study and achievements in this area,” said Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum in Beijing, who went on to praise Shanghai Museum’s collection of export porcelain as “unique” and being “the forefront of China, both in the quantity and quality”.

According to Lu Minghua, head of the porcelain department at Shanghai Museum, porcelain production had begun in China as early as the 7th century and kilns could be found scattered all over the coastal Fujian province by the 10th century. The mass export of porcelain later started in the 15th century, when businessmen took it to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

When new shipping routes were developed, Europe became the new market for China’s fine porcelain. By that time, the city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province had become China’s porcelain capital.

“Most of the pieces on show were made in Jingdezhen, with a few others from Zhangzhou and Dehua of Fujian province,” Lu told the media.

Export porcelain has distinctive elements. A blue-and-white flask, for example, is considered to be of Islamic style. These pieces are known as baoyue ping, or moon embracing jars, and were tailor-made for clients in the Middle East, Lu said. Such pieces can usually be found in museums in Turkey, Iran and Indonesia.

Also among the exhibits are tankards and mugs for beer drinking, a cruet for storing oil and vinegar, as well as armorial porcelain decorated with insignias of European aristocrats, military organizations and cities.