Ceramic is one of the most significant arts of Chinese culture and over the centuries the great craft-masters have created some of the most enchanting and valuable works of their tradition. Of all the inventions of the ceramic industry, porcelain certainly occupies the place of honor, and for a long time remained an exclusive treasure of the Chinese culture.
Depending on the ceramic processing, there are three artistic productions that are generated: terracotta, stoneware and porcelain, which differ in the type of clay used and in the degree of fire in the kilns.
Vase of grains
Among the most ancient vases are the Pan Shan terracottas, prehistoric pottery, dating back to the third millennium BC. Large vases in fine clay with handles. The red or black decoration consists of a succession of straight, wavy or spiral lines.
Accompanied by a wide debate on their use, which initially was considered urns, they then came to be considered, also by virtue of their large size, as containers of food and drinks, which were placed in the tombs with the same function.
Turtle dropper
An example of funerary terracotta is the “Turtle with snake”, from the Han period, used as a water holder for brushes. The two animals are a reference to the Big Dipper, Chen Wu, one of the most revered deities in Taoism, and apotropaic symbols.
Lady of court
The funerary art continues with figures of men and women, the latter while riding, playing or waiting to receive orders. The lady captures the Persian fashion widespread in China, wearing a long dress with a long-sleeved blouse closed with a scarf and her hair gathered up.
Amphora Vase
A precious example of stoneware, clay mixed with silica, raised to over 1200 ° C, of unsurpassed beauty. In glazed stoneware that testifies to the relations between China, Persia and the West. The shape renews the classic Roman amphora and the dragon handles the Sassanid models
Bowl with mold decoration
If for the Chinese stoneware is like porcelain, because it is hard and sonorous, for the Europeans it is porcelain because of its whiteness and transparency. The Song-era bowl looks like a bud on the outside, and a whirlwind of floral decorations inside.
Ovoid vase
Porcelain is born from the processing of an iron-free clay brought to a temperature of over 1300° C which not only melts but reaches its vitrification or transparency. Ovoid vase Qing Dynasty, 17th century.
White-blue vase
The object which gave the Museum its birth is this very fine porcelain vase made according to the blue-white technique which involves a single firing and decoration in cobalt blue or manganese directly under the deck. Adorned with a blue Greek band. Ming Dynasty 1506-1521.
Bowl Zughe
The white-blue has a completely new processing, the object is no longer covered with a display case, but with blankets of the same nature as the body, of a very refined material, which makes it transparent. Cup of the Ming dynasty, with double bottom for warming water.
The discovery of porcelain dates back to the end of the sixth century and for a long time remained a treasure of Chinese art. The craft-masters decided to broaden the teaching also in Europe, starting from the beginning of the eighteenth century.
Apple green round dish
In oriental culture, elegance resides in monochromatism, so there are many completely white, red, green and blue vases that the Museum welcomes. Like the apple-green bowl from the Kang-Xi era, a more unique than rare piece.
In it emerges the Buddhist emblem shell used to replace the name of the emperor Kang-Xi. The transparent green receives the brilliance from the white blanket on which it lies and shows the very fine crack called “wings of flies”.
