Ceramics Gallery in Beijing

East of the Third Ring Road near the Shilihe Bridge is a busy area filled with warehouses selling household building supplies: stores devoted to all things electric, including lamps; plumbing supplies; ceramic sinks, toilets, tiles and the like. Tucked amongst all the huge warehouse buildings is an unprepossessing building which houses an interesting set of ceramics galleries and a museum on the second floor.

The location in Chinese: 北京朝阳区东三环南路十里河桥东周家庄陶瓷艺术馆。

It’s a simple two-story building. On the first floor are a few ceramics companies from Jingdezhen, Tangshan and Guangzhou showing fancy dinnerware and tea sets. But at both the end of the long corridor and upstairs, there are ceramics art galleries as well as a museum. The galleries include works by teachers and students of the Jingdezhen Ceramics Art School and the Tsinghua University Art School as well as by established ceramicists from all over the country. Both modern and traditional art forms are exhibited. The museum is small and has reproductions of famous pottery shapes and glazes from China’s dynasties and regions, but it provides a good introduction to China’s ceramics history IF you have someone who can translate and explain the displays.

Bonus? On the weekends, on the 2nd floor, there are three pottery wheels and anyone can rent them for a small fee.