Jingdezhen's "Return of the Silk Road Porcelain Classic" dialogue with the world - the Ming and Qing export ceramic treasures exhibition mainly focuses on Jingdezhen Ming and Qing export porcelain. Chinese ceramics, represented by Jingdezhen porcelain, represent the unique humanistic connotation of Chinese culture. It is like a bond that connects the cultural, artistic and economic exchanges between China and the world, and has become an important window for China to go to the world and the world to know China.
China, China; China, porcelain. Porcelain is Chinese culture and world language, telling Chinese stories. It is understood that the production and trade of Chinese export porcelain has a long history. From the late Ming Dynasty to the mid-Qing Dynasty, Jingdezhen became the main production base of Chinese export porcelain. The porcelain it produced began to be sold on a large scale to the European and American markets through the Silk Road, and gradually became a "world commodity" participating in the process of globalization.
At the exhibition site, all kinds of export porcelains are of various shapes and colors, covering utensils for different purposes such as tableware, tea sets, coffee sets, furnishings, makeup sets, lamps, etc., including blue and white, pastel, doucai, underglaze red, monochrome glaze, kiln-changed glaze, white porcelain, celadon, shadow celadon, engraving, scratching, printing and other crafts. There are many fine products, some of which are unique, and some of them fill the gap in domestic porcelain collection.
The practice of inlaying precious metal decorations on Chinese porcelain is a typical cultural attitude of "Chinese for foreign use". Many Chinese porcelains entering the palace were dressed in gorgeous and rich metal "clothes", which not only protected the precious Chinese porcelain, but also matched the European court style. This kind of Chinese porcelain dressed up by European goldsmiths formed a beautiful and luxurious landscape with both Eastern and Western colors in the European society in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially the palace furnishings.
Chinese porcelain had become a very popular collection in the European court in the 18th century. Among them, the most fanatical fan of Chinese porcelain was Augustus II, the Elector of Saxony in Dresden. In 1717, he reached a deal with Wilham I to exchange 600 dragoons of the Saxon army for 151 large Chinese porcelain bottles, so these Chinese porcelain bottles also earned the reputation of "dragoon bottles".
During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Toyotomi Hideyoshi of Japan sent troops to Korea and brought back Korean ceramic craftsmen when he returned home. One of the participants, Li, discovered porcelain stone in Quanshan, Arita, and opened a kiln in Tengu Valley in Arita Town, Saga Prefecture in 1610-1620 to produce Arita porcelain. Since Arita porcelain was mostly exported from Imari Port, it was called Imari porcelain in Europe. Many of the patterns of early Imari porcelain were based on Jingdezhen porcelain, and even the styles were imitated.
The first to realize that special emblems could be added to porcelain were the Portuguese. Inspired by the British East India Company's control of the sea, the demand for heraldic porcelain reached its peak in the 100 years between 1720 and 1830. Although the number of heraldic porcelain is small, it is also considered as a whole and is extremely meaningful in art. Heraldic porcelain is not only a decorative pattern, but also has historical authenticity, and also reveals the historical background and possible manufacturing date of the porcelain.
Qing Dynasty colored powder and gold painting British Enfield family marriage heraldic plate, exhibits from Portugal.
On March 20, 1602, 14 Dutch companies engaged in East India trade merged to form the joint-stock Dutch East India Company. In 1715, the British East India Company was granted the right to open a trading agency in Guangzhou. In the mid-18th century, Britain occupied the leading position in the operation of Chinese porcelain in Europe. Conservative estimates show that between 1602 and 1682, the Dutch East India Company imported about 12 million pieces of porcelain from China, and in the early 18th century, the British shipped 25 million to 30 million pieces of Chinese porcelain to Europe. The British and Dutch East India Companies were once involved in Chinese history while trading with China.
From the 7th to the 17th century, Chinese porcelain was also a product loved and admired in the world. Compared with pottery, stoneware, woodware, lacquerware, glassware, crystalware and metalware, porcelain is either stronger and more durable, or cleaner and more beautiful, or cheaper and easier to obtain. Its functionality, aesthetics and cost-effectiveness make porcelain the terminator of other materials once it comes out.
Qing Dynasty Guangcai Ladies Cup and Plate, exhibits from Portugal.
Qing Dynasty Guangcai Port Trade Picture Pot, exhibits from the United States (left); Qing Dynasty Guangcai Figure Milk Pot, exhibits from Belgium (right).
Nearly 300 sets of Jingdezhen export porcelain from the Ming and Qing Dynasties bring visitors into the historical context of the Maritime Silk Road. With their graceful shapes and colorful patterns, they vividly interpret the Silk Road spirit of "peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, mutual benefit and win-win".
Chinese export porcelain is the memory of a strong China left to the world. Some representative silk porcelains exported overseas for 1,000 years have been collected and returned to the country where they were created and manufactured, and to the mother of Chinese porcelain culture. With the restoration of the Silk Road, the Silk Road culture has been revived. Culture is enriched by exchanges, and civilization is wonderful because of mutual learning. We believe that what returns is not only the object, but also the soul; what returns is not only the utensils, but also the stories behind them. This story is heart-wrenching and inspiring.