The Macau Museum of Art (MAM) is currently showing large-scale Shiwan ceramic figurines, which originally belonged to Portuguese collector Manuel da Silva Mendes (1867-1931), at the “Exhibition of Shiwan Ceramics from the MAM Collection”.
According to a MAM statement, the ceramics included in the collection were commissioned by Silva Mendes at the beginning of the 20th century from famous Shiwan ceramic artists Pan Yushu and Chen Weiyan.
The statement noted that Shiwan is located in Foshan city in the southern part of Guangdong province. Settlers from the nation’s Central Plain region introduced ceramic-making to Shiwan during the 16th century, with the Shiwan style formed after being integrated with Guangdong’s “strong regional characteristics”.
The Central Plain, or Zhongyuan (中原), refers to the area on the lower reaches of the Yellow River which formed the cradle of Chinese civilisation.
The statement added that the ceramic art’s outstanding characteristics are “the richness of its glaze colours and the diversity of the colour tones used”, with the most popular glazes being white, red and blue.
Moreover, the glazes used in the imitations of antiques from kilns such as those created uniquely by Shiwan like pomegranate red and Jun blue contribute to creating a “rich artistic effect and a strong regional style”, the statement pointed out. Ceramic artists use glazes of various colours to paint the costumes, while “unglazed clay is used to express the fine texture of face and hands”, which the statement said is a distinguished characteristic maintained to this day.
The most common motifs of the ceramic figurines were figures from legends, operas or novels, but grew to feature motifs such as historical figures, national heroes, ordinary town folks and bust statues from the mid-19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, according to the statement.
The exhibition runs until November 13, but is temporarily closed until further notice owing to Macau’s current COVID-19 outbreak. Further information on the museum’s reopening will be announced on https://www.icm.gov.mo/
These photos taken last month show some of the Shiwan ceramics of large-scale figurines displayed at the exhibition in the Macau Museum of Art (MAM) in Nape. – Photos: Rui Pastorin
