Where My Heart Settles, Is Where My Home Is

By Heng Wu, Curator of Asian Art, AGGV.

A horse-drawn carriage passing the Legislative Assembly building, instantly captured in freehand-style brushwork, resonating with a festival night in China about 900 years ago recorded in a poem by the Chinese poet Xin Qiji (1140-1207). A young girl in traditional Chinese dress dancing under a maple tree, paired with a line transcribed in the seal-script calligraphy, which reads, “Where my heart settles, is where my home is.” The colorful float homes gilding Victoria’s Fisherman’s Wharf rendered in traditional Chinese ink wash with a tone of Western oil painting. 

10 Things To Know About Decorative Themes in Chinese Blue and White Porcelain

By Audrey Wang, AGGV Volunteer

With its origins in China, this quarter’s column of “10 Things To Know” will look at Chinese blue and white porcelain and its myriad decorative themes. Behind every design element are symbolic meanings relevant to the maker or to the eventual owner of the piece. What does each theme signify and what does that tell us about the piece?

The Story of Blue and White

By Audrey Wang, AGGV Volunteer

Did you ever wonder why fine porcelain is called “china”? Or why the habit of pouring milk into a porcelain teacup before pouring the tea became outdated? It all harks back to the origins of blue and white porcelain from the Yuan and early Ming Dynasties and its far-reaching influence on the rest of the world.