Chinese Porcelain Collection
In this factory all kinds of figures were made. The colors of the figures, from yellow to white, only depends on how dry they were. In Jingdezhen there is factories for ceramic sculptures of the highest quality. Rarely if ever seen in the west "one of a kinds" are still made by skilled artists. There is also factories for mass production of the traditional Guanjins, the water buffaloes and all the other popular large and small figures that since long have found their form and their customers.
In one factory they were still making chopstick stands in the shape of a little dog. An late relative of the small dogs found among tea, spices and porcelain shards during the excavation of the East Indiaman Gothenburg that foundered outside the harbor of Gothenburg in 1745.
Figures
Photo: © Jan-Erik Nilsson, 1991
During 1991 and 1992 I had the privilege to visit the city of Jingdezhen and its surroundings as an interested student of Chinese porcelain functioning as expedition photographer in a small group of scholars and students of Oriental art, the most notably being Bo Gyllensvärd, former head and founder of The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm. All pictures illustrating this article is taken then.
Text and photos © Jan-Erik Nilsson, Göteborg 1991, 1992 and 2000.