Chinese Export Art from the Hermitage Collection: End of the 16th - 19th Centuries

On 10 October, 2003, in the Menshikov Palace opened an exhibition devoted to the cultural contacts between China and the West. The display showcases over 200 exhibits, including jewelry, metalware, carved bone, porcelain, wallpapers, fabrics, drawings and "applied" paintings, showing cultural contacts between China and Western Europe, South East Asia and Russia.

Chinese export art was created by Chinese masters for foreign customers and domestic market.

Chinese culture reached the peak of its popularity in the middle and second half of the 18th century. The exhibition explores various production centers and techniques used by Chinese masters.

Missionaries’ activities are represented by a portrait of the diplomat Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) by an unknown European painter, books including a Bible in Chinese, rolls, carved ivory and dishes with scenes from the Gospels. Creations of the 17th - 18th centuries show the succession of European styles, from baroque through rococo to classicism. Since the middle of the 19th century, special attention was paid to the perfection of technique.

Russia also had its period of fascination with China, showed by the silver casket of the 17th century and jewelry of the 18th century. A number of exhibits had distinguished owners, such as the blue-silk schlafrock of Peter I, dresser set of Catherine II, and the exquisite carved ivory and tortoise shell boxes of Elizabeth Alekseyevna, the consort of Alexander I.

Many of the exhibits have never been displayed previously.

The exhibition has been prepared by the Hermitage Oriental Department; the curator is the Department’s Dr. Tatiana Borisovna Arapova. The State Hermitage Museum and Slaviya Publishers have prepared a full-color illustrated catalogue of the show.

More