Recommended "must have" books on Chinese porcelain:
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| On the highest spot on the old Imperial Factory Area - the Zhu Shan - the "Pearl Mountain", today as before a pagoda is to be found. Photo: © Jan-Erik Nilsson, 1991 |
In the center of Jingdezhen there is the Zhushan - the Mountain of the Holy Pearl. It is the highest spot of the old Imperial Porcelain factory site. Today as in old times there is a pagoda on top of the Zhushan. Today the pagoda is rebuilt and used as a porcelain museum and a viewing point. From the second floor of the pagoda as you see it here, you have a full view of the former Imperial factory area facing west down a slowly descending slope.
The old factory area is today a barely visibly area encompassing a few city blocks, outlined by streets, marking the outskirts of the area.
It occupies a much larger area in our minds then on the earth, so to speak.
It is a utterly strange sensation to actually be overlooking the former Imperial porcelain factory, and realize what most probably are hidden in the ground under our feets.
Text & Photos © Jan-Erik Nilsson, 1991, 1992, 2010
During 1991 and 1992 I had the privilege to visit the city of Jingdezhen and its surroundings as a participant in a small research delegation consisiting of Professor Bo Gyllensvärd, former head and founder of The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, two of the curators of Ulricehamn Museum of Oriental Art and the Carl Kempe Collection, and myself. All pictures illustrating this article are taken by me during those visits.