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.
Photo: © Jan-Erik Nilsson, 1991
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.
Text & Photos © Jan-Erik Nilsson, 1991, 1992, 2010
During 1991 and 1992 I had the privilege to visit the city of Jingdezhen and its surroundings as a participant in a small research delegation consisiting of Professor Bo Gyllensvärd, former head and founder of The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, two of the curators of Ulricehamn Museum of Oriental Art and the Carl Kempe Collection, and myself. All pictures illustrating this article are taken by me during those visits.