Restoration of two pottery vessels from the Orientalising Period of ancient Greece in the MANN: Mimetic retouching a century ago and current conservation
Available online 21 July 2026
Two pottery vessels from ancient Greek civilization are examined in this project for their conservation, which are now preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN). Both vessels...
Maritime trade and Chinese porcelain from the Ming to early Qing dynasties. A study of blue-and-white shards from eleven Portuguese shipwreck sites off the South African coast: Part I (1506–1593, the Hongzhi to Wanli periods)
Available online 17 July 2026
This paper contributes to a broader understanding of the dating and classification of blue-and-white Chinese porcelain produced during the Hongzhi (1488–1505), Jiajing (1522–1566) and Wanli (1573–1620)...
Beyond the zisha teapot: Iron-rich clay and slab-building technique in the Yixing Chuanxindiao liquid-boiling vessels
Available online 7 July 2026
Zisha teapots, the unglazed stoneware vessels produced in Yixing, Jiangsu, China, have long been celebrated for their zisha clay and slab-building techniques. Existing scholarship has predominantly...
17th-century Chinese blue-and-white porcelain found in Dutch colonial North America
Available online 3 July 2026
Jamestown, Virginia, founded in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in North America, where extensive excavations have shown that blue-and-white Ming dynasty Chinese porcelain was among...
‘Chinamania’ in Britain: The Blue-and-White Revival of 1860–1900
Available online 1 July 2026
From the 1860’s, Chinese blue-and-white porcelain enjoyed a renaissance in Britain. Promoted by the artists James McNeil Whistler (1834–1903) and Dante Gabrielle Rosetti (1828–1882), the craze for ‘old...
Musings on an Exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Monstrous Beauty-A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2025. 256 pp, ISBN: 978-1588397928
Available online 1 July 2026
Radiant grandeur: Gold and silver decoration on ceramics in the Song and Yuan dynasties
December 2025
Gold and silver decoration on early Chinese ceramics has long been a mysterious chapter in the study of ancient Chinese ceramics given the challenge imposed by mere scarcity of such examples, material...
Porcelain figures for Empress Chabi of Khubilai Khan: An attempt to define the image and clarify the dating
December 2025
Khubilai Khan (r. 1271–1294) was the first emperor of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) in China. Early in 1253 he recognized Tibetan Buddhism as the official state religion and from that time Tibetan influence...
The discovery of a pair of early Ming dynasty blue-and-white candlesticks of the Yongle period inspired by Islamic metal prototypes
December 2025
Until five years ago, there were less than a dozen recorded examples of Yongle (1403–1424) and Xuande (1426–1435) faceted candlesticks in public and private collections. The odds that a pair would exist...
Chinese ceramics in Lisbon — The Medeiros e Almeida Museum in context
December 2025
António de Medeiros e Almeida (1895–1986), a prominent Portuguese entrepreneur and philanthropist, devoted much of his life to assembling an outstanding collection of decorative arts, today preserved...
Hizen porcelain exported to Americas
December 2025
At the end of the 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded the Korean Peninsula and brought many Korean potters back to Japan. Initially, they produced stoneware, but in the early 17th century, they...
Yixing stoneware customised for the West: An analysis of a rare Yixing zisha stoneware mustard pot in the Anders Collection, The Netherlands
December 2025
Yixing stoneware is an intricate material culture originating from the Yixing area in Jiangsu province, southeast China. Thanks to its unique clay resources and specialised shaping techniques, Yixing...
Chinese porcelain from the collection of Queen Elisabeth Farnese Queen of Spain (r. 1714–1746)
December 2025
Chinese porcelain epitomizes the scientific and technological achievements of Chinese civilization, remaining unrivalled in refinement until much of Europe mastered porcelain production in the mid-eighteenth...
Shopping at the Guangzhou Fair in October 1599, Francesco Carletti (1573–1636)
December 2025
This article reconstructs the commercial activities of Francesco Carletti, the first independent merchant to circumnavigate the globe, at the Guangzhou Fair of October 1599. Drawing from Carletti's...
Timur’s blue-and-white: Yuan and Ming porcelain in Central Asia
December 2025
While Chinese porcelain was widely exported by sea from the ninth century onward, its presence in Central Asia remains rare. Archaeological finds from Samarkand and Herat - primarily high-quality Yuan...
A rare Qing dynasty Kangxi porcelain vase covered with black lacquer and inlaid with mother-of-pearl motifs
December 2025
The Oranienbaum Palace's collection of Chinese porcelain in Russia includes more than three hundred items. A significant part of them belongs to the historical collection, formed before 1917. These...
Form and function of blue-and-white porcelain: Insights from Safavid miniatures and the National Museum of Iran ceramics
December 2025
With the expansion of commercial relations between Iran and China during the Safavid period, the use of blue-and-white porcelain became highly popular in Iran. Moreover, certain earlier examples of...
The Temasek Wreck ceramics cargo: Yuan blue-and-white porcelain, celadon and other ceramics found in Singapore waters
June 2025
A maritime archaeological excavation recently carried out in stages over a four-year period resulted in the recovery of approximately 3.5 tonnes of ceramic shards, along with several intact or nearly...
Creating a database of dated Chinese porcelain from 1550 to 1750
June 2025
From the vast quantities of Chinese porcelain produced between 1550 to 1750, a very limited number are inscribed with dates which provide the vital building blocks for establishing a chronology. This...
Global ambitions in 17th century Britain: Trade, colonization and Chinese porcelain
June 2025
In the first decade of the 17th century, the English crown had its sights set in two directions: eastward towards trade with Asia and westward towards colonization. To compete in the European global...
Kaststellen and Garnitures de Cheminée: The origins of vase sets for European interiors, 1635–1695
June 2025
Five-piece porcelain garnitures or vase sets, comprising three jars and two beaker-vases with matching decoration, manufactured in Jingdezhen, appeared almost immediately in Europe after the Chinese...
Artists painting in cobalt blue. Yuan porcelain from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung
June 2025
The small but exceptional collection of early Chinese blue-and-white porcelains assembled by the renowned collector and patron Sir Joseph Hotung 何鸿卿爵士 (1930–2021), has recently been donated to the British...