Displaying items by tag: ming dynasty

Sotheby’s will offer a selection of exceptional Japanese and Chinese works of art drawn from the collection of Japanese connoisseur Tsuneichi Inoue on May 13, alongside its biannual auction of Important Chinese Art.

“The Soul of Japanese Aesthetics: The Tsuneichi Inoue Collection” offers a revealing cross section of prevailing aesthetic tastes in Tokyo during the early to mid-20th century. Classical Ming and Song Dynasty porcelain and ceramics were very much in vogue, along with archaic Chinese bronzes.

In the year 1400 a visitor from outer space would have probably concluded that the Chinese state was the most powerful and civilized on Planet Earth. Other places might have caught this fictional Venusian’s attention: Brunelleschi’s Florence, Mamluk Cairo, Iran, India, and Venice, for example. But in all manner of ways the Middle Kingdom was bigger, better organized, and more advanced.

Plenty of proof of these claims is to be seen in “Ming: Fifty Years that Changed China,” on view at the British Museum through January 5. This is a sumptuous display full of blue and white porcelain, paintings, lacquer-work, weapons, and luxurious objects of every kind. The British Museum, strictly speaking, is not a museum of art but of history. So this is an exhibition intended to teach visitors about a culture distant in time and space, about which most will know little. Accordingly, it is also dense with facts.

The French architect Jean Nouvel has revealed his modern, airy design for the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC). Located in the heart of Beijing’s cultural district, the 323,000-square-foot museum will house a variety of important collections spanning from the Ming dynasty to the present day.

The NAMOC, which will be in close proximity to the city’s 2008 Olympic stadium, will feature a number of galleries for permanent and temporary exhibitions, research and education centers, a grand terrace, an indoor garden, and an auditorium. According to Nouvel, the NAMOC “resists the laws of gravity while asserting its presence.”

Shanghai-based art collector Liu Yiqian recently spent $36.3 million on a tiny porcelain cup with a humble chicken painted on its surface. But for many in China, the most shocking thing wasn’t the amount he paid, or the fact that he paid with an American Express card.

No, it was the fact that Mr. Liu decided to celebrate his Ming-dynasty purchase by sipping some tea from it.

The cup in question is one of China’s so-called “chicken cups,” which were forged in imperial kins and possess a particularly silky texture. Though fakes abound, only 19 genuine articles are known to exist. To art experts, they’re known as the “holy grail” of Chinese porcelains.

A Ming Dynasty wine cup sold for $36.05 million at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on Tuesday, April 8, breaking the world auction record for Chinese porcelain. The tiny porcelain cup, which features a color painting of a rooster and a hen tending to their chicks, was purchased by the Shanghai-based financier, Liu Yiqian, by telephone bid.

The previous record for Chinese porcelain was set in 2010 when a gourd-shaped vase from the Qianlong period sold for $32.58 million. The chicken cup also surpassed the previous world record for Ming Dynasty porcelain, which was set in 2011 by a blue and white vase that brought more than $21 million. Nicolas Chow, deputy chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, said, “There is no more legendary object in the history of Chinese porcelain. This is an object bathed in mythology.”

The chicken cup was created during the reign of the Chenghua Emperor between 1465 and 1487, a period known for its exceptional porcelain. A number of later emperors were so enamored by the chicken cup’s design that they commissioned numerous copies. There are less than 20 such cups in existence, with only four in private collections. Yiqian’s cup is the only genuine chicken cup in China.

The Croydon Council, a local authority in south London, will sell 24 antique Chinese ceramic vases, bowls and bottles to benefit the redevelopment of Fairfield Halls, a 50-year-old arts center in the area. Local businessman Raymond Riesco gifted the valuable objects to the Council in 1959 as part of a 230-piece collection of artifacts that included Ming dynasty bowls. The 206 objects retained by the Council will remain on view for the public.

The decision to break up the collection has drawn criticism from the museum sector. David Anderson, president of the Museum Association, told the BBC, “Croydon’s decision to sell valuable Chinese ceramics threatens not just its own reputation, but that of the museum sector as a whole. It would undermine the widespread public trust in museums and I strongly urge them to reconsider.”

Arts Council England has also voiced opposition to the sale and penned a letter to the Croydon Council earlier this month warning them that their decision was not in line with English museum standards.