: With tongue in cheek, Winterthur has headlined its latest
ceramics exhibition "Made in China" - a label all too familiar to
modern consumers. From a modern age when Americans would be
barefoot and unkempt without inexpensive Chinese shoes and
hairdryers, visitors are brought back to the time when having
Chinese Export porcelain on the table was a sign of wealth and
status.
"In choosing the title 'Made in China' - which is stamped on so
many cheap goods that come into the country now - I want people
to understand that the Chinese have a long tradition of making
things for the Western market," points out assistant curator of
ceramics Ron Fuchs II, who put together the exhibition and wrote
the accompanying catalog in collaboration with David S. Howard.
"I want people to gain an appreciation of the beauty of Chinese
Export porcelain and to recognize how skilled the potters were
and how prized these pieces were because of their exotic origins
in Asia."
The 150 examples on display through May 15 are all gifts or loans
from the collection of Leo and Doris Hodroff. Through the
couple's generosity, Mr Fuchs is the dedicated curator for the
Hodroff holdings at Winterthur, and he notes, "It's one of the
largest private collections of export porcelain in existence
right now." The museums in Minneapolis, Minn., and Palm Beach,
Fla. - cities where the collectors live - have also benefited
from their gifts, but Winterthur has been singled out because of
its focus on the decorative arts.
