Page 10 - Zhangzhou Or Swatow The Collection of Zhangzhou Ware at the Princessehof Museum, Leeuwarden, Netherlands

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Appreciation of Zhangzhou ware in China and Japan

“Swatow” or Zhangzhou ware was never appreciated by the Chinese elite. It was regarded as unsophisticated
and coarse, which could be sold abroad to various “barbarians” at a high price. These large, heavy, boldly
decorated pieces, with kiln grit still adhering to the base, were not considered appropriate for the Chinese
elite.
It was only in the last decades, with the excavations of the kilns in Zhangzhou, Fujian province, these wares
were given attention and studied by Chinese archaeologists and ceramic historians. Their interest in Zhangzhou
ware is in most cases not based on the aesthetic appeal of this market.
Accordingly, Zhangzhou ware is not part of collections of Chinese ceramics in China, be it museum or private
collections.
The Japanese, however, valued Zhangzhou ware for centuries. This love and appreciation the Japanese showed
for the aesthetic fascination with Zhangzhou ware is reflected in the important collections formed and
preserved in Japan. As early as 1933, Seiichi Okuda published a first study on Zhangzhou ware. Now many
important museums like the Osaka Museum of Oriental Ceramics, the Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum and
the Seikado Bunko Museum, Tokyo, own collections of Zhangzhou ware.
Ref.: Okuda 1933; Saito 1987; Osaka 1990; Tokyo 1997

Cover of the catalogue of the Seikado Collection, Japan

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