Exhibition celebrates rich history of 'blanc de Chine'

Maitreya Holding A Ruyi, by Chen Mingzhong. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

A typical example is the depiction of Buddhist figures, which is a favored subject, as the Chinese feel that white best represents the benevolence of sacred deities.

The figurines include Guanyin, the Chinese version of the Indian god Avalokitesvara who is represented as the Goddess of Mercy, arhats, Bodhidharma and Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.

Veteran artisan Qiu Shuangjong, 85, shows a 1.3-meter-high Guanyin, who stands on a lotus pedestal. She has three faces and a thousand hands, each of which holds a different ritualistic object. It is a conventional motif in Dehua porcelain, and the complicated representation best demonstrates a master's skills.

The exhibition also features works of Lian Zihua, 47, who is known to researchers of ceramic art as an outstanding follower of the 16th-century Dehua porcelain artist He Chaozong.

At 25, Lian was commissioned by the Palace Museum to replicate a Bodhidharma figurine sculpted by He.

Lian held a solo porcelain exhibition at the National Museum of China in 2014. One exhibit was a figurine he modeled after a colored wooden Guanyin statue. It took him more than eight months to complete.

Wang, the curator, says the exhibition also has works by a younger generation of artisans, who have cut back on the depiction of details and introduce an abstract style. Besides Buddhist motifs, they portray such themes as daily life and ordinary people's emotions.

If you go

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays, through Sept 1. 16 East Chang'an Avenue, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6511-6400.