Exhibition Period: From 13 June 2020 to 11 April 2021

The history of Chinese ceramics is a long one. Over ten thousand years ago, the ancient Chinese began shaping and firing clay at low temperatures (approximately 600–800°C) to produce a large variety of pottery. Following successive advances, firing at high temperatures (approximately 1250–1350°C) became possible, giving rise to the production of hard, durable and impermeable porcelains.

To present the development and culture of Chinese ceramics in their entirety as far as possible, a fine selection of ceramics dating from various periods in the Art Museum collection is on display at this exhibition. Thanks to the generous support and donations from the community over the years, the museum has been able to build up a comprehensive collection of ceramics, which has been one of our major collecting interests since the museum’s foundation in 1971. Specifically, the Qing imperial wares are primarily gifts from the B. Y. Lam Foundation, the early pottery and Ming and Qing hallmarked porcelains came from the Zande Lou Collection, the late Qing imperial wares were donated by Dr Simon Kwan and Mr Anthony Cheung, and the purple clay and the Shiwan wares came from the Bei Shan Tang Collection. Taoshi Zhai provided Tang-dynasty Changsha wares and our export porcelains are acquisitions bought with funds from the Friends of the Art Museum, CUHK’s Professor and Mrs. Cheng Te-k'un, and Bei Shan Tang. It is our hope that this exhibition will further facilitate teaching through actual objects and will provide our visitors with an understanding of the development of culture and history through ceramics.