6 Ceramics


THE ALBUQUERQUE FOUNDATION IN PORTUGAL


Crab tureen and fixed stand, porcelain decorated in famille-rose enamels and gold, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795), circa 1770, 10.5 x 22.8 x 21.5 cm. All images courtesy of Albuquerque Foundation


Becky MacGuire and is entitled Connections. Te exhibition tells the story of the rise of the world’s first most advanced potters from China. As demand for these ceramics was high, Chinese wares were traded around the globe, which also dispersed a language of colour, motif, and form that impacted ceramic traditions everywhere. However, Chinese ceramic production, while unique in its technological achievement and revered for its sophistication, also reflected a complex web of outside influences. As early as the Tang dynasty (618-906), Buddhism and Islam were transmitted to China from Central and West Asia along the global


trading


Pair of ewers, porcelain with raised decoration and painted in famille-verte enamels, Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi Province, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722), circa 1700-1720, 22 x18.5 cm


E


nvisioned by Brazilian collector Renato de Albuquerque and his granddaughter Mariana


Teixeira de Carvalho, the Albuquerque Foundation opened its doors to the public in Sintra, on the outskirts of Lisbon,


last February. Entirely


dedicated to ceramics, the foundation will be the permanent home of the Albuquerque Collection of Chinese Ceramics,


an important private


collection of Ming- and Qing-dynasty export porcelains. Te foundation also aims to host artist


residencies and


temporary exhibitions spotlighting emerging and established artists working in the field. Carefully assembled over six decades


by Renato de Albuquerque, a former civil engineer, the collection consists of more than 2,600 pieces – some of which have already been seen in exhibitions created by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, among others. Te collection is now made accessible to the public for the first time, featuring an important group of Ming and Qing export and Imperial-taste porcelains,


including examples of ‘First Orders’, the earliest


networks, bringing foreign and new ideas as well as importing unknown material objects such as glassware alongside different types of metal ware – all these influences affected domestic Chinese design. By the 16th century, when Europeans began to arrive by sea, the arrival of European culture, too, began to have an impact. A highlight of the Connections


Dish, porcelain decorated in underglaze cobalt blue and redecorated in overglaze red enamel, Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi Province, Ming dynasty, Tianqi period (1621-1627), diameter 26.5 cm


commissions of Chinese porcelain by the Portuguese that feature European iconography. Trough the collection, the foundation wants to explore the fascinating cultural connections and complex trade relations between the East and the West during the early period of trade, when Portugal was at the heart of this exchange. As well as showcasing the collection, permanent exhibits explore the global impact of Chinese porcelain through innovative curatorial approaches with the goal of deepening the public’s understanding of Chinese ceramics and their historical significance. Once the Albuquerque family’s


holiday home, the foundation is housed in a traditional quinta (estate), located in the Sintra Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Te estate, with its historic house, has been transformed for use by the foundation by the Brazilian firm Bernardes Arquitetura, which produced a design that blends traditional elements with modern functionality, creating a space where art, culture, and community can intersect. Te foundation also features a state-of-the-art pavilion that will


Jar, porcelain covered in famille-noire enamel and decorated with famille verte enamels on the body, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722), height 60 cm, mouth diameter 21.7 cm, foot diameter 25.5 cm


host temporary exhibitions of contemporary ceramics, as well as a specialist library, a sustainable restaurant with local food, a concept store, surrounded by a tranquil garden for visitors to enjoy. Te Albuquerque Foundation is


WATCH Jessica Harrison-Hall


discuss Ming blue and white porcelain


Installation view of Connections, the inaugural exhibition of the core collection of Chinese export porcelain at the Albuquerque Foundation in Portugal


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supporting the study and appreciation of ceramics through a diverse range of public programming, offering resources, educational activities, live events, as well as an artist residency programme that explores both the history and future of ceramics. Co- founder of the Albuquerque Foundation, Mariana Teixeira de Carvalho explains: ‘Tis project honours my grandfather’s collection, while sparking dialogue and creativity around ceramics as a living art form. Our mission is to celebrate cultural heritage, create social impact and foster innovation in the world of ceramics’. Te first exhibition with the ceramic collection at its centre is curated by


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exhibition shows these changes with a Qianlong-period


Chinese-export


porcelain, crab tureen with a fixed stand, made for the European market in the second half of the 18th century. Tese types of tureens can be considered as a form of traded goods, especially in the Portuguese and Spanish markets, as many were specially commissioned works. Another example is a blue-and- white model of a pagoda, based originally on a Buddhist stupa from India. In China, pagodas were multi- storeyed buildings with distinctly curving roofs capped with ornaments. Initially, these structures symbolised sacred mountains, and they were used to house relics or remains of saints and kings. Europeans first viewed pagodas in person in the 1650s, and in the West they became iconic symbols of the Orient. Jingdezhen is probably the best- known site for ceramics and location of the imperial kilns, which produced porcelains for the imperial family during the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as making objects for export. In addition to supplying the main


palaces and other residences of the Imperial court, porcelains were required for the Imperial temples, monasteries, shrines, and as gifts for visiting dignitaries. With the growth of trade between Europe and the Far East


in the 17th century, the


Transitional period also brought a dramatic rise in the export of Chinese porcelain to European markets with the Dutch and East India Companies importing more than 60 million pieces between them. After a turbulent period during the 17th century, when Manchu forces invaded China and the new Qing dynasty was established, the fortunes of Jingdezhen recovered quickly and they resumed large-scale production under the Kangxi Emperor (1644-1722). Once again, this popularity and demand was driven by innovation with the introduction of new overglaze colour palettes known in the West as famille verte, rose, jaune, and noire. A famille-noire vase in the collection,


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Pagoda, porcelain decorated in underglaze cobalt blue, gold bells, Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi Province, Qing dynasty, Jiajing period (1644-1911), late 18th/early 19th century, height 90 cm


a sub-group her essay of famille verte,


developed from the wucai palette (meaning five-colour) in the late Ming dynasty. Konstanze A Knittler, in


‘William Lever’s


Collecting of Famille Noire Porcelain’, writes, ‘Te terms were coined by the French Jesuit and ceramic collector Albert


Jacquemart in 1873, and


famille noire can generally be defined as bearing a copper-green lead-based enamel over an unfired coating of Chinese cobalt ‘émail sur biscuit’ (enamel on the biscuit). During enamel firing, the two combined to give an intensely black effect, with a hint of green. Te technique was first used at Jingdezhen in the mid 15th century, but it disappeared again until the late 17th century, when it was taken up once more at the court of the Kangxi empeor’. Te Chinese ceramics in the collection document


this cultural


exchange between East and West, with many pieces revealing the closely interwoven threads of influence that manifested themselves during this long period of global encounter and trade. Other pieces document the skill of the Chinese craftsmen, who were able to use their skills to produce pieces suited entirely to foreign markets and taste to meet the growing demand in Europe for luxury objects from the East. And alongside these diverse strands


of taste and influence, we also see in these ceramics an underlying and very human commonality. Worship and spiritual life, celebration of royal or political power, delight in the natural world, and glorification of the trade that was the economic lifeblood of the age: these shared interests and concerns bridged the vast historical differences between East and West. A contemporary programme runs


• Connections, until 30 August 2026, The Albuquerque Foundation, Rua António dos Reis, Sintra, Portugal, albuquerquefoundation.pt


alongside the main collection, overseen by the director Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, who has chosen the US artist Teaster Gates for the inaugural exhibition.


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