Chinaware un-earthed in China's porcelain capital of Jingdezhen went on public display last Thursday for the first time in Nanchang, the capital of East China's Jiangxi Province.

The pieces came from an excavation started in October 2002 by archaeologists from Jingdezhen, provincial archaeology institutions and Peking University.

Among the thousands of items unearthed, the most notable were 70 painted vases, censers, bowls and containers, said Li Yiping, deputy head of the Jingdezhen Archaeological Institute of Porcelain.

The items include a 10-centimetre high chalice with a diameter of 16 centimeters, which was made during the reign of Emperor Yongle (1402-24), which bears an inscription indicating the time of manufacture, said Li.

Jingdezhen has a porcelain-making history of more than 1,700 years and is still one of China's biggest producers and exporters of porcelain products.

The city has many imperial kilns dating back to the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Thousands of ancient porcelain items have been found in the remains of the kilns over the past 20 years.

(China Daily January 9, 2004)