Green, Amber, Cream: Forgotten Art of a Ceramic Workshop in Shanxi, China
September 25, 2010 to January 9, 2011
In 2005 the Princeton University Art Museum acquired a Ming dynasty (1368–1644) glazed ceramic statue of the Buddhist deity Guanyin, the bodhisattva of infinite compassion. Brightly colored in the green, amber, and cream glazes of the sancai, or "tri-color," palette, the sculpture's base is carved with a thirty-four character inscription recording that it was made in 1500 by the artist Qiao Bin, who was part of a family workshop operating in Yangcheng, Shanxi province. Research on the Guanyin has led to the discovery of other significant works by Qiao family artisans, such as the Parinirvana and Attendants (dated 1503) group and a Daoist Divinity (dated 1481), both in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another Guanyin statue (dated 1507) by Qiao Bin’s father was also found at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Other examples of this type of tri-color glazed ceramic by the Qiao workshop are now surfacing in the collections of many museums worldwide, but this corpus of material is rarely published and has received little interest. This special research exhibition brings together the Princeton, Metropolitan, and Philadelphia sculptures to introduce this almost forgotten art of the Ming period in hopes of finding additional surviving examples and information.
The Qiao family workshop's sculptures are closely related to the tri-color ceramic wares found in Tang-dynasty (618–960) tombs; both are low-fired earthenware with lead-based glazes. Sculptural works produced by the Qiao workshop are characterized by stout torsos, plump limbs, and stylized modeling, and were also unified by the lustrous tri-color glaze. Such works were often made with standard molded components and then finished by hand, adding finer details. Two firings were required, the first for the clay bodies, and the second after the glazes were applied. Qiao family artisans in Shanxi province have been making glazed ceramic architectural tiles and religious sculptures since the Yuan dynasty (1260–1368), and were especially productive during the Ming period. Because of the workshop's fame, its workers were recruited for kilns across Shanxi.
The Qiao and other Shanxi family workshops were a family business. Highly-guarded technical skills and production methods were usually transmitted by generation among male family members. Experience gained from apprenticing with elder family artisans was essential to the continuation of the workshop. Family transmission is demonstrated through the works in the exhibition. The elder Qiao Bin made the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Guanyin and the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Parinirvana group. A collaboration between the elder Qiao Bin and his son, the younger Qiao Bin, is seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Daoist Divinity. The Art Museum's Guanyin, on the other hand, demonstrates that the younger Qiao Bin also produced independent works.
Large numbers of Shanxi workshop architectural tilework with high-relief figures have survived but they are largely inaccessible due to their high location on rooftops. Individual Qiao family sculptures have mostly been preserved in museums. Researching this group of tri-color ceramic sculptures sheds light not only on this genre of ceramic art produced in the Shanxi region, but also helps us learn more about artisan workshop practices in late imperial China.
Eileen Hsu, guest curator
Cary Liu, curator of Asian art
The Qiao family workshop's sculptures are closely related to the tri-color ceramic wares found in Tang-dynasty (618–960) tombs; both are low-fired earthenware with lead-based glazes. Sculptural works produced by the Qiao workshop are characterized by stout torsos, plump limbs, and stylized modeling, and were also unified by the lustrous tri-color glaze. Such works were often made with standard molded components and then finished by hand, adding finer details. Two firings were required, the first for the clay bodies, and the second after the glazes were applied. Qiao family artisans in Shanxi province have been making glazed ceramic architectural tiles and religious sculptures since the Yuan dynasty (1260–1368), and were especially productive during the Ming period. Because of the workshop's fame, its workers were recruited for kilns across Shanxi.
The Qiao and other Shanxi family workshops were a family business. Highly-guarded technical skills and production methods were usually transmitted by generation among male family members. Experience gained from apprenticing with elder family artisans was essential to the continuation of the workshop. Family transmission is demonstrated through the works in the exhibition. The elder Qiao Bin made the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Guanyin and the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Parinirvana group. A collaboration between the elder Qiao Bin and his son, the younger Qiao Bin, is seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Daoist Divinity. The Art Museum's Guanyin, on the other hand, demonstrates that the younger Qiao Bin also produced independent works.
Large numbers of Shanxi workshop architectural tilework with high-relief figures have survived but they are largely inaccessible due to their high location on rooftops. Individual Qiao family sculptures have mostly been preserved in museums. Researching this group of tri-color ceramic sculptures sheds light not only on this genre of ceramic art produced in the Shanxi region, but also helps us learn more about artisan workshop practices in late imperial China.
Eileen Hsu, guest curator
Cary Liu, curator of Asian art
