Porcelain

The campaign to export art treasures initiated by the Soviet government in the 1920s and 1930s affected numerous Russian museums. The State Museum of Ceramics was one of them, with many of its valuable exhibits donated to Antikvariat, the public agency responsible for the sale of art and antiques abroad. A review of the museum’s archive documents has helped restore the chronology of events of those times, estimate the scope of losses and study the composition of the items offered for sale.

Organized by the Tretyakov Gallery and the state museum and exhibition centre ROSIZO, the exhibition “White Gold: The Tradition and Modernity of Chinese Porcelain” which opened on March 27 2007 year at the Tretyakov Gallery, has been one of the first and most momentous events marking the Year of China in Russia. A milestone of Chinese culture, porcelain - and the traditions and rituals connected with it - have made a colossal contribution to the development of world civilization. The exhibition traces the evolution of the art of porcelain in Jingdezhen - the centre of porcelain production in China.

The Shanghai Museum was inaugurated in 1952 on the site of the former racecourse building located at 325 West Nanjing Road, and in 1959 moved into the Zhonghui Building located at 16 South Henan Road. Following the advances of the decades and the accompanying evolution of society, construction of the Museum’s new building started at the People’s Square in the city centre in August 1993, under the auspices of the Shanghai city government. At the end of 1995, the Galleries of Chinese Ancient Bronze, Ceramics, and Sculpture opened on a trial basis. The new Shanghai Museum in its completed form was officially opened to the public on 12 October 1996.