Delicate lines, intense colours, shimmery surfaces: the Chinese lacquerware objects shown in this exhibition speak to a form of art refined and developed over centuries. Carved lacquers featuring as many as 150 layers of lacquer, objects with delicate mother-of-pearl inlays or artworks using the intriguing kuancai technique, revealing a quiet poetry that astonishes the viewer.

With its rich formal language and symbols, such lacquerwares offer insight into Chinese culture and beliefs. Favoured motifs in Chinese art such as dragons, bats, and winter plum blossom convey good wishes and tidings of joy understood in China without a need for words. The lacquerware displayed here are more than a feast for the eyes, inviting visitors on a journey through the history of Chinese culture.

In collaboration with LWL Museum of Art and Culture, Münster