Il Museo was established in 1901 in the Missionary Residence. Its formation originated from the collection of objects coming from mission lands, assembled from the late nineteenth century for educational purposes on the initiative of Bishop Conforti. The Chinese art section, which has been increased over time by regular contributions continued until the 1950s and then by occasional donations, provides an overview of Chinese culture and customs over a long period. The second section consists, instead, of materials of ethnographic interest from Japan, Indonesia, Brazil, and Africa. The Chinese collection exhibits bronzes, ceramics, paintings, and coins, including ritual vases dating from the 11th century BC to the 13th century AD, realistic portraits of bonzes from the 6th to the 9th century, statuettes, mirrors. Among the rich series of funerary terracottas is a sculpture from 200 BC, depicting a turtle with a snake, considered the oldest dated specimen. Numerous porcelains produced from the 10th to the 13th century to the present day; among the stoneware objects are porcelain and ceramics of various types. Notable: the white-blue cup from the Husuan-Te period, from 1426 to 1435, the vase from the Chia Ching era, between 1522 and 1566, the K’ang-Shi cup, datable from 1662 to 1722, and some imaginative 17th and 18th-century manufactures. Interesting are the liturgical vases commissioned by the Jesuits during the 18th century. Among the most significant paintings, a series of portraits should be mentioned, while the collection is completed by essays of calligraphy, prints, and casts from engraved stones. The heritage also includes almost nine thousand coins from the 13th century BC to 1911, and smaller nuclei of jade, ivory, stone and wood sculptures, snuffboxes, pewters, enamels, and amulets. The ethnographic section exhibits instruments and weapons from China, Japanese prints, Indonesian utensils, weapons from Oceania, artifacts from Congo, Pakistan, Australia, Amazonas.
Information about the Museum of Chinese and Ethnographic Art
Viale S. Martino, 8,
43121 Parma (Parma)
0521 257 337
mail@museocineseparma.org
Source: MIBACT
