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...
Understanding Chinese export ceramics through Western paintings and prints
June 2025
Scholars have long turned to traditional sources when researching Chinese export porcelain: The porcelain itself, extant historic collections, archaeological evidence, and primary documents. Occasionally...
Transformations: Porcelain and European dining in the 17th and 18th centuries
June 2025
Due to its plasticity and many other outstanding properties, porcelain is today one of the most widely used materials, and porcelain products are ubiquitous, while one of the most long-standing and...
The Yuan Lacuna: The ‘David’ vases and UK collectors of early Chinese blue-and-white porcelain in the early 20th century
June 2025
In 1929, R. L. Hobson (1872–1941), Keeper of Oriental Antiquities at the British Museum, was the first to publish and formally acknowledge the significance of the pair of Yuan blue-and-white temple...
Other markets: 19th century Jingdezhen porcelain made for Japan and Thailand
June 2025
With its singular focus on blue-and-white, the collection formed by Rodney Frelinghuysen over almost five decades ventures beyond the classic categories of Chinese export porcelain to explore wares...
Understanding European style Chinese export porcelain through the Ionides Collection: New discoveries and future research
June 2025
Once described as ‘the most comprehensive collection of its kind ever made’, the Ionides Collection of European style Chinese export porcelain remained largely unknown until recent research revealed...
The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection – Publishing on porcelain in the digital age
June 2025
In early 2024, the national and international awarded digital platform The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection was launched. It encompasses five independent catalogues which allow the user to freely...
Sir Michael Butler and the rise of High Transitional porcelain
June 2025
This article discusses a few examples of porcelains of extraordinarily high-quality produced during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen (1628–44), the last ruler of the Ming dynasty. They were made at private...