Page 41 - Jindezhen Porcelain Production of the 19th C. by Ellen Huang, Univ. San Diego 2008

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correct handling of the objects for the duration of the exhibit: Na Zhiliang ପᆽਅ, whose

expertise concerned jade; Fu Zhenlun ڰᆒ੾, a Palace Museum archaeologist; Song

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Jilong ස࠽ੈ, and Niu Deming ୤֤ૼ.

In London, the exhibition displayed over 3,000 objects, with about a third of the

artifacts contributed by the Chinese government. Of the nearly one thousand artifacts

shipped to London from China, over 700 came from the Palace Museum, 100 from Rehe

Palace (Chengde or Jehol), 100 from Academia Sinica, 14 from the Henan Museum, 50

from the Beijing National Library, and 4 from Anhui Library. Among these “national

treasures,” there were 60 bronzes, 362 ceramic objects, 170 works of painting and

calligraphy, 16 fans, 20 furniture pieces, and approximately 10 scholars’ implements.

The Chinese government and Royal Arts Academy of London each received half of the

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proceeds earned from ticket sales and other revenues - about 9,000 British pounds each.

As mentioned, after the objects on loan from the Chinese government returned safely to

Shanghai in 1936, they were shown again in the former Examination Hall in Nanjing,

then capital of the fledgling republic. Proceeds from the London exhibit went to

organizing China’s second national art exhibition and constructing a national concert hall

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and exhibition center, both of which opened in Nanjing in 1937. The fact that there was
a post-exhibition showing in Nanjing again decenters London as the locus of the event’s

significance.

II. Two Views of Material Artifacts
Objects of History: Representing the Nation