Antique experts insist that the finest porcelain antiques have
not yet been returned to China, but this has not prevented a leap
in demand for imitations which is reviving China's ancient
ceramic-making industry.
China's Palace Museum has entrusted Huang Yunpeng, one of the
most established porcelain craftsman in Jingdezhen, a town in east
China's Jiangxi Province with a rich history in ceramics, to
replicate over 400 pieces of Qing Dynasty porcelain antiques.
Huang is leading the rebuilding of Jingdezhen's reputation as
the world's ceramic art center, recovering techniques that have
been forgotten for six centuries. After 20 years overseeing repairs
at the Jingdezhen Ceramic Museum in Jiangxi, he is now director of
the Jia Yang Ceramic Studio and a master copier.
One of his replica 14th century Chinese porcelain jars is sold
for around 30,000 yuan (3,750 U.S. dollars). The original antique
sold for 15.7 million pounds (about 27 million dollars) at a London
auction last year, breaking the world record for a piece of Asian
art.
"The replicas have their own art value. Remaking porcelain
antiques in the traditional way helps carry forward China's
ceramic-making culture and preserves the ancient craftsmanship,"
said Lu Chenglong, deputy director of the Antique Department of the
Palace Museum.
He disclosed that the refined ceramic-making craftsmanship in
Jingdezhen, has produced porcelain wares based on ancient drawing
drafts kept by the museum, which had never previously been
kilned.
Professor Tang Kai, with the Archeological Research Institute of
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China had 70 million
art collectors in 2002. The number had increased to 100 million by
the end of 2005, with half of them keen on collecting china.
The kiln ovens of Jingdezhen, many of which used to be imperial
pottery factories, have been burning for more than 1,000 years.
However, they have long before lost their lustre to the European
ceramic art center of the Netherlands.
According to Judge Yang Wu, head of the Intellectual Property
Rights Court of the Jingdezhen Intermediate People's Court,
porcelain reproductions of antiques are not an infringement of
intellectual property rights.
"Antiques are not protected by intellectual property laws. Huang
Yunpeng's work is made in his kiln and, although there are replicas
of original antiques, they are inscribed with his name," said
Yang.
Kong Falong, owner of the largest private ceramic art museum in
Jingdezhen, said before the Asian financial crisis, two thirds of
buyers of porcelain imitations were from Japan and the Republic of
Korea. But now, over 80 percent of buyers are Chinese.
However, Wen Guihua, deputy director of the art auction
commission under the China Association of Auctioneers, said only
when those Chinese artworks attracting top international prices
return to China would it be the prime time in China for collecting
Chinese art.
(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2006)