Page 36 - Jindezhen Porcelain Production of the 19th C. by Ellen Huang, Univ. San Diego 2008

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media, museum catalogues, exhibition reports, and academic discussions on Chinese art,

I hope to illuminate the social and political forces at play in the acts of displaying,

viewing, and enjoying aesthetic objects. Ultimately, exhibiting “China” was not without

contestation, demonstrating the instability of the concept “Chinese art.” The second half

then considers the central role of Guo Baochang, the technical committee member and

porcelain expert chosen by the exhibition’s organizers from China. Guo was responsible

for the porcelain objects sent to London, and in the final section of this chapter, I will

examine the themes he laid out in his selection of porcelain and porcelain essay, “Ciqi

gaishuo” ନኜ฿Ⴍ (Brief Description of Porcelain).

I. The International Exhibition: Planning from Beijing to Shanghai to London

The idea for a “comprehensive” display of Chinese art originated in October 1932,

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with the efforts of five renowned English connoisseurs of Chinese art artifacts. The
fathers of the endeavor included R. L. Hobson, a noted researcher of ceramics; University

of London Professor Walter Perceval Yetts, whose specialty was Chinese bronzes; Sir

Percival David, a wealthy collector of porcelain; ceramics collector George

Eumorfopoulos; and Oscar Raphael, a well-known jade collector. In the same vein as

prior international exhibitions specializing in a particular nation’s art, this exhibition

aimed to “mark an important stage in European understanding of Oriental, and especially

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Chinese, art.” The English organizers planned to first seek the Chinese government’s

cooperation in implementing the exhibit, particularly in the selection of art objects from

collections in China, and then to entreat the cooperation and participation of various

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collectors and museums across the world. In the words of Sir Percival David, who later