True blue beauty

Of all the art forms created in China during its long history, blue-and-white porcelain ranks high because of its technical originality and artistic brilliance. It has a refined quality, simple but elegant designs, bright colors and is decorated with rich patterns.

The artistic value that distinguishes the porcelain comes from blue flowers - one of the earliest porcelain decoration methods with typical Chinese characteristics. The blue flower influences are rich in natural cobalt mineral - easy to color and one that never fades.

In a talk in the British Museum, the decorative themes of dragons, flowers and calligraphy on Chinese blue-and-white porcelain will be explored. The speaker will be Anne Haworth, an independent speaker specialized in the art of ceramics.

For the event, the website of the British Museum shows a picture of an ancient Chinese porcelain flask of flattened globular form, with wide long neck tapering in the middle. There is a three-clawed dragon against a background of waves in underglaze cobalt blue on the exterior, a wide band of scrolling lotus flowers on the neck.

Date: Oct 20

Venue: The British Museum

Website: www.britishmuseum.org

(China Daily 09/07/2012 page31)