Craft lineages

Four starting clusters. Each one connects material, technique, production place and object evidence.

  1. Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China

    Jingdezhen porcelain

    Jingdezhen porcelain is high-fired ceramic made in the Jingdezhen production system of Jiangxi, using porcelain stone and kaolin-rich body recipes with techniques such as cobalt underglaze painting.

  2. Beijing and associated enamel workshops, China

    Cloisonné

    Chinese cloisonné (jingtailan) is metalwork in which wires form cells on a metal body, the cells are filled with vitreous enamel, and the surface is repeatedly fired, ground and polished.

  3. Workshops in Fujian, Jiangsu, and Beijing

    Lacquerware

    Chinese lacquerware is made by preparing a wood, textile-and-ash or other core, applying and curing successive lacquer layers, and polishing or decorating the resulting surface.

  4. Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

    Suzhou silk

    Suzhou silk refers to filament-silk weaving and embroidery associated with the Suzhou region of Jiangsu, including pictorial Su embroidery made through controlled thread direction, density and colour.