The Oriental collection
The Oriental collection is a small but important element of the pottery and porcelain collection that puts the European pieces into context. The O'Neill Collection of Chinese Ceramics, which is the core of the Oriental collection, contains important pieces of earthenware, stoneware and porcelain from the T'ang dynasty through to the Ch'ing dynasty.
The rest of the Oriental collection ranges from stoneware of the Yuan Dynasty through to early 20th century Japanese porcelain.
Image: Ming dynasty blue and white porcelain dish. O'Neill Collection.
Purchased with the aid of grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and the Esme Mitchell Fund.
The O’Neill Collection of Chinese Ceramics (factsheet)
Sir Con O’Neill, son of Lord Rathcavan, formed his collection of Chinese ceramics while he was the Chargé d’Affaires in Peking during the 1950s. Due to his family’s close connections to Northern Ireland, in 1960 he gave the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery (later the Ulster Museum) the choice of his collection to have on loan before he travelled to Finland to be the British Ambassador. The then Director specifically chose thirty-one pieces from the collection which would act as a comprehensive teaching resource. The range of pieces selected perfectly covered most of the different types of earthenware, stoneware and porcelain that had been manufactured from the Tang dynasty through to the Ch’ing dynasty. The loan of the O’Neill material enhanced what was a small and insignificant Oriental ceramic collection in the Ulster Museum and therefore at a stroke enabled the Museum to document fully the early history of Chinese ceramics.
All of the pieces in the collection are important, but the most outstanding works are the five Imperial blue and white porcelain pieces from the Yongle period (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty, three of which were deemed important enough to warrant tax exemption. Also the pilgrim or moon flask from this period is one of only two recorded with a particular symmetrical lotus flower pattern. Other items from the collection include pieces decorated with beautiful celadon glazes from both the Sung and Ming Dynasties, a 12th century piece of Jun ware from Henan province and a blue monochrome bowl from the Kangxi period (1662-1722) which has the later addition of a poem, by Emperor Ch’ien Lung, cut into its base.
The O’Neill material is regularly on show in the Museum as a collection and as individual pieces and, most importantly, it is available as a study collection at all times. As such it is a constant source of information and inspiration for ceramic artists, students, and the general public. The acquisition of the O’Neill collection has given the people of Northern Ireland their only access to a public collection of Chinese ceramics of this quality.
Purchased with the aid of grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and the Esmé Mitchell Fund.
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