What's on

Coated ware

The technique of applying falang enamel coating on ware was introduced to China from the Middle East, between the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The craft was developed by local artists who combined handicraft and aesthetic views at home to make falang ware a representative category of traditional Chinese art. The luxury items were enjoyed by royal families who ordered production at imperial studios. Emperors sometimes rewarded such ware to princes, ministers and visiting foreigners. The craft had been inaccessible to ordinary people until the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when court budgets were reduced and artisans were dismissed. To make a living, they made and sold falang ware so that ordinary families could use. Glamour, an exhibition now on at Liaoning Provincial Museum in Shenyang, is showing dozens of such items from its own collection. The exhibition that runs through to Oct 30 introduces techniques, color arrangements and styles of the craft, and traces its rise, decline and modern revival since the 13th century.