Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2005

• ‘Elegance in Relief: Carved Porcelain from Jingdezhen of the 19th to Early 20th Centuries' was held from 28th October 2005 to 5th February 2006 at the East-wing Galleries. The exhibition featured masterpieces by Chen Guozhi, Wang Bingrong an d L i Yucheng, and so on w h i c h demonstrate the flourishing art of carved porcelain at Jingdezhen in the 19th and e a r ly 2 0 t h c e n t u r i e s. Ob j e c t s f o r the s c h o l a r ' s s t u d i o encompassing brus h pots, v e rm i l i o n boxes and paperweights ; decorative items such as fragrance holders, vases and table screens, and snuff bottles, the trendiest personal accoutrements of the time, occupied the majo r categories of the display. Most pieces are unglazed porcelain showing an off-white biscuit, but some are applied w i t h a monochromatic glaze covering the l ow relief decoration don e by carving, applique or mo u l d i n g and dabbling. The exhibit s are selected f r om private and public collections bo th locally and w o r l d w i d e . H i g h l i g h ts includ e selections from the collections of Mr. & Mrs. Tony Miller and Mr. Humph r e y Hui , and loans f r om other private collectors, as we ll as the prestigious public collections from the Baur Collections in Geneva and the Shanghai Museum. • ‘The Art of Chen Hongshou: Painting, Calligraphy, Seal Carving, and Teapot Design' ran from 10th December 2005 to 12th February 2006 at the West-wing Galleries. The exhibition was j o i n t l y organized by the Shanghai Museum , the Nanjing Museum, and the A r t Mu s e um of the Chinese University, and sponsore d by the K.S. Lo Foundation. Qing scholars turned their attention to textual studies of the classics i n the eighteenth century and established the Qian-Jia Schoo l of Scholarship, ma k i n g e n c o u r a g i n g a d v a n c e s i n t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i on of w o r d s i n Co n f u c i an classics, t e x t u a l c r i t i c i sm , p h i l o l o g y, epigraphy and phonology. Amo ng others, Chen Hongshou (1768-1822), one of the Eight Masters of X i l i ng (Hangzhou), was also a practising epigraphist. He was well- versed i n poetry, the classics an d the four basic calligraphic scripts, especially clerical script and painted flowers w i t h a 'boneless style'. In seal carving he f o l l owed the Q i n and Ha n traditions and was inspired by senior Xiling Masters. Chen collaborated w i t h Yixin g potter, Yang Pengnian, to make zisha teapots of o r i g i n a l designs and w i t h i n s c r i p t i on s composed by h i m and a peer group of scholars. Close to a hundred items including paintings, calligraphy, seals and Mansheng teapots o f Chen Hongshou f r om public and private collections in Shanghai, Nanjing and Hong Kong were exhibited. A n accompanying monograp h on his life, circle and artistic pursuits has been published by the A r t Museum. News in Brief 6 9