The China Connection

Discover the story of porcelain from its origins in China, to the groundbreaking work of Plymouth man William Cookworthy, who first made hard paste porcelain in the UK.

See beautiful, traditional blue and white porcelains, famille verte and famille rose enamels from the collection of local businessman Arthur Hurdle, tin-glazed earthenware from England and Holland and fine European soft paste porcelains.

Things to look out for:

• A special display case created by BA (Hons) English students from Plymouth University. They have been working on a project to investigate interpretation in the Museum and their display focuses on a Japanese porcelain vase.
• Silk blinds created by artist Karen Evans with the Racial Equality Council’s Muslim Women’s Group and Worth Group, the Respectinators youth group and our Traditional Craft Group. The designs on the blinds are based on the symbols and decoration in our Chinese ceramic collection.
• ‘Opium Den’, an installation by artist Karen Tam as part of our 'Sinopticon' exhibition from 28 April to 7 July 2012.
• Inspired by Sinopticon - work produced by BA (Hons) Contemporary Craft students from University College Falmouth in response to the Chinese collections and the themes of our 'Sinopticon' exhibition.

Falmouth students handout [0.99MB]

Find out more about our decorative art collection.