Chinese Red Clay Opium Pipe Bowl, c. 1850

A delicate example of the time-honored practice of blue-and-white ceramics, this 19th century porcelain soup spoon was likely used as an everyday ...

During the 18th century, Europeans provided an eager market for Chinese export porcelain, especially the colorful and fanciful ware known as “famille rose.” Named for a palette of op...

This colorful porcelain bowl dates to the mid-19th century and was originally used as a serving dish for ritual offerings, placed before a home altar and piled high with fruit, baked goods, and other foods. The dish has a shallow cartouche-shaped body and a short footed base decorated with crashing waves. The dish is painted with overglaze enamels in the famille rose style, with a scene of three mythical figures on a floating, heavenly island. The central figure depicts the 3rd-century warrior Guan Yu, also known as the God of War...

By the 18th century, opium use had become as central to Chinese social life as taking tea or smoking tobacco, fostering a subculture rich with its own customs, traditions, and exquis...