Meditations on Galleries 200-205

 

These pictures show some of the development of Chinese ceramics from 7th Century Tang Dynasty, through the 14th Century Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty from the 16th to early 20th Century.  The one of the far left is Qing, the blue and white Ming and the pure white is Tang.

To my eyes the Qing dynasty ceramics are gaudy but they were produced after China was opened to the West and were popular for export.  The Ming which are often just cobalt and white are more restrained and the Tang are the most austere.  It is interesting to contemplate the changes a culture goes through as reflected in its art.  Although much of Chinese history is turbulent both the Tang and Ming periods were of relative stability.  Thye Qing quite a bit less so as this was the period where Western powers tried to impose their views and economies on China. These pieces run along a long hallway alongside the Grand Staircase and leading to the great balcony so it's a fairly narrow passageway.  It's difficult to get a long perspective but I spend a long time close up to the cabinets that hold these ceramics.

According to the Met--

The Great Hall Balcony (Gallery 200 through Gallery 205) traces the development of Chinese ceramics, including the creation of vibrant green and blue (or celadon) glazes of the tenth to the thirteenth century and the flowering of porcelains painted in underglaze cobalt blue in the fourteenth. Also presented here are the interchanges between Chinese ceramics and those in other parts of the world. Among the works on view, highlights include a group of ceramics illustrating the transformation of Chinese ceramics, in part due to the rise of global trade, from the late sixteenth to the seventeenth century and Japanese trade ceramics in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. (info from the Met's website)