The Meiyintang Collection is a privately owned assembly of
Chinese ceramics
Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era. Chinese ceramics range from construc ...
, porcelain and bronzes, which has been hailed as one of the finest private collections of Chinese porcelain in the Western world.
Meiyintang 玫茵堂, "Hall among Rosebeds", is the adopted Chinese studio name of the collection.
[''Meiyintang marvels: The finest private collection of Chinese porcelain in the West is about to be sold''.](_blank)
The Economist, March 17, 2011, p. 92f.
History
The brothers Stephen Zuellig (1917–2017) and Gilbert Zuellig (1918–2009), both born in Manila, developed manifold interests in Asian art and culture throughout their life and business activities in the Far East. In the late 1950s, they began to build up a systematic collection of Chinese art. Gilbert Zuellig specialized in early
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
,
stoneware
Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refracto ...
and
ceramics
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
, spanning five millennia from the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
period to the
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
,
Tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
and
Song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
dynasties, while his brother Stephen collected the porcelains of the later
Yuan,
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
and
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
dynasties as well as archaic bronzes of the
Shang
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and f ...
,
Zhou and
Warring States
The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...
period. Early on in their career as expert collectors, the Zuellig brothers were encouraged and guided by the connoisseur and dealer Edward T. Chow.
As of 1994, following the publication of the scholarly collection catalogues written by the researcher Regina Krahl, the term “Meiyintang” gained international recognition among specialists of Chinese art. Exhibitions dedicated to objects from the Meiyintang Collection were held at the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in London (1994), the Sporting d’Hiver in Monte Carlo (1996), the
Asia Society
The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Man ...
(1995) and the
China Institute
China Institute in America is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution in New York City. It teaches an American audience about Chinese culture and history through talks, business initiatives, language immersion programs and gallery exhib ...
(2001) in New York, the
Musée Cernuschi
The Musée Cernuschi (; 'Cernuschi Museum'), officially also the ('Asian Arts Museum of the City of Paris'), is an Asian art museum located at 7 avenue Vélasquez, near Parc Monceau, in Paris, France. Its Asian art collection is second in Pari ...
in Paris (1999), the
Musée du Président Jacques Chirac
The musée du Président Jacques Chirac (''President Jacques Chirac museum''), commonly known as musée du Septennat,''Septennat'' means in French a seven-year period, which was the French presidential term from 1873 until 2002. The name ''musée d ...
in Sarran, Corrèze (2009) and the
Musée Guimet
The Guimet Museum (full name in french: Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet; MNAAG; ) is an art museum located at 6, place d'Iéna in the XVIe arrondissement, 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Literally translated into English, its ful ...
in Paris (2013).
In 2001, President
Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
of France acknowledged the Zuellig brothers for their role in promoting the cultural understanding between East and West by awarding them the rank of Chevaliers of the Ordre National de la
Légion d’honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
.
In 2011 and 2012, a substantial portion of the Yuan, Ming and Qing pieces of the Meiyintang Collection was sold in a series of auctions by Sotheby's in Hong Kong, among them the famed Chenghua “chicken cup.”
Shortly thereafter, selected pieces of Gilbert Zuellig's collection were placed on permanent loan with the
Museum Rietberg
The Rietberg Museum is a museum in Zürich, Switzerland, displaying Asian, African, American and Oceanian art. It is the only art museum focusing on non-European art and design in Switzerland, the third-largest museum in Zürich, and the largest t ...
in Zurich.
Permanent exhibit at the Rietberg Museum
As Gilbert Zuellig and his family wished to preserve his collection as an ensemble and to make it accessible to the general public, the majority of the pieces were transferred to a foundation, the Meiyintang Stiftung. In 2012, the foundation placed six hundred objects with the
Museum Rietberg
The Rietberg Museum is a museum in Zürich, Switzerland, displaying Asian, African, American and Oceanian art. It is the only art museum focusing on non-European art and design in Switzerland, the third-largest museum in Zürich, and the largest t ...
in Zurich under a long-term loan agreement and enabled the museum to refurbish the exhibition space of its department of Chinese arts, including the installation of an innovative lighting system to provide optimal conditions for the display of the collection.
Bibliography
* ''Evolution vers la perfection, Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang,'' Sporting d’Hiver, Monte Carlo 1996 (exhibition catalogue).
* Regina Krahl: ''Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection,'' (Volumes I, II, III, IV), London 1994–2010.
* Regina Krahl: ''L’âge d’or de la céramique chinoise, VIe – XIVe siècles, Collection Meiyintang,'' Musée Cernuschi, Paris 1999 (exhibition catalogue).
* Regina Krahl, Willow Hai Chang, China Institute Gallery: ''Dawn of the Yellow Earth – Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection,'' New York 2000 (exhibition catalogue).
* Regina Krahl: ''Trésors de la collection Meiyintang, Céramique chinoise ancienne, exposition,'' Sarran, Musée du Président Jacques Chirac, 2009 (exhibition catalogue).
* Sotheby's: ''The Meiyintang Collection, Part I-V,'' Hong Kong 2011–2013.
*
Wang Tao, ''Chinese Bronzes from the Meiyintang Collection'' (London, 2009)
* Christian Deydier, ''Chinese Bronzes from the Meiyintang Collection'' (2 vols) (Hong Kong, 2013)
* Alexandra von Przychowski, ''Chinese Ceramics – The Meiyintang Collection in the Museum Rietberg'' (Zurich, 2018) ISBN 978-3-907077-59-7
Gallery
File:Zhou Deckeltopf Museum Rietberg.jpg
File:Han Tonmodell eines Wachturms Museum Rietberg.jpg
File:Han Tonmodell Ziehbrunnen Museum Rietberg.jpg
File:Museum Rietberg Meiyintang Collection – Bird head ewer.jpg
File:Museum Rietberg Meiyintang Collection – Bowl for washing brushes.jpg
File:Museum Rietberg Meiyintang Collection – Two horses.jpg
File:Museum Rietberg Meiyintang Collection – Jar with lid.jpg
File:Museum Rietberg Meiyintang Collection – Large basin.jpg
File:Museum Rietberg Meiyintang Collection – Long-necked bottle.jpg
File:Museum Rietberg Meiyintang Collection – Meiping.jpg
File:Museum Rietberg Meiyintang Collection – Watchtower.jpg
References
{{Reflist
External links
Rietberg Museum: Collection
Chinese porcelain
Chinese art collectors
Private collections in Asia
Private collections in Switzerland