Jingdezhen: A Few Days of Learning with My Mother

A few days of learning with my mother in 2016, and a closer look at the hands behind Chinese porcelain.

In 2016, I travelled to Jingdezhen with my mother for a short study trip. We stayed for a few days, spending time with ceramics and learning about the work behind them. Looking back through the photographs, I see a journey recorded in small scenes: a bowl held in one hand, a brush in the other, and a worktable crowded with pieces waiting for their next stage.

That is where I would like to begin this story—with the making.

Learning to Look, One Bowl at a Time

In one photograph, I am painting the inside of a small white bowl. Around me are stacks of undecorated bowls and other pieces already covered in fine lines. The scene holds a useful contrast: a finished object may look effortless, while the worktable reveals how much attention goes into it.

Trying a craft gives you another way of looking at it. The curve of a bowl becomes a surface you must learn to follow. A brushstroke becomes a decision about pressure and direction. Even a modest exercise can make the skill of an experienced maker easier to appreciate.

These photographs do not document mastery. They record the pleasure of being a learner, with time set aside to watch, try, and pay attention.

A City within China's Porcelain Story

Porcelain originated in China, developing through the work of many kiln regions over centuries. Jingdezhen, in Jiangxi province, became one of its most influential centres. It is often called China's Porcelain Capital, a name that reflects its long history of production and its importance far beyond the city itself.

Its story includes the development of celebrated blue-and-white wares and the imperial kilns that supplied the Ming and Qing courts. Porcelain also travelled abroad, carrying Chinese designs and techniques into wider networks of trade and cultural exchange.

That history is easier to understand when we look beyond the finished vase. A ceramic object brings together knowledge of materials, shaping, decoration, glazing, and firing. Its surface is the visible result of many kinds of work.

Heritage in the Work of Hands

Another photograph shows me crouching beside a craftsperson as he works on a bowl. There are tools, worn wooden supports, and a basin nearby. It is a working space, with the materials and practical arrangements of the craft all around us.

For me, this image is a good companion to the word “heritage.” A tradition survives through people who keep practising it, teaching it, and making decisions with their hands. A city associated with centuries of porcelain production is also a place where individual makers do today's work.

The photographs invite a slower kind of attention: to the rim of a vessel, the shape of its foot, or the small movements that help bring it into being.

A Journey Shared with My Mother

We were only in Jingdezhen for a few days. Yet the date and the company matter to me: this was a learning journey I shared with my mother in 2016. Alongside the cultural history, there is the simpler, personal record of having gone somewhere together.

I do not need to turn those few days into an account of every famous kiln or street. The photographs offer their own modest story—learning at a table, watching a maker, and looking into a shop filled with ceramic forms.

What I Bring Back to Lansattic

When I look at these images now, I also think about the objects we choose to live with. A bowl, a pendant, or a strand of beads can reward the same willingness to look closely: at material, proportion, surface, and the work behind a detail.

Ceramics and jewelry are different crafts, each with its own knowledge. What connects them for me is an interest in how natural materials become objects people use, wear, and keep. That interest belongs in Lansattic's story alongside the journeys that have helped shape it.

Jingdezhen is part of that story: a place I visited with my mother, a place where I spent a little time learning, and a reminder to give the making as much attention as the finished piece.

Historical background: National Museum of China, Ancient Chinese Porcelain Art; UNESCO Creative Cities Network, Jingdezhen.