middle kingdom at asia now

tea pot from the ‘hermit series’

chinese born, american based design duo bo and alison jia founded middle kingdom in 1998. the studio celebrates the traditions of chinese porcelain and craft, creating new objects which are both subtle and elegant. their colorful tableware designs draw on the porcelain influences of china’s qing and ming dynasties.

‘hermit series’

‘hermit bowls’ are influenced by the humble wares of imperial times. the bowls are fired rim down to allow for a glazed foot ring and a contrasting rustic rim, though the original reason for firing wares rim down was to save kiln space.

‘red chamber’ collection

vases from the ‘red chamber’ collection are named after the characters of a novel from the qing dynasty entitled ‘dream of the red chamber’. the styles and colors are as varied in shape and vibrancy as the characters of the novel. an assortment of these styles have been collected by the victoria and albert museum in london.

‘red chamber’ vases image © designboom

installation view of middle kingdom’s porcelain wares at ‘asia now’ image © designboom

vases from the ‘red chamber’ series and ‘polychrome bowls’ image © designboom

middle kingdom’s porcelain polychrome bowls echo the refined aesthetic of ming porcelain. 

‘hermit’ bowl and ‘red chamber’ series image © designboom

up close of a ‘red chamber’ vase image © designboom

vessels from the ‘red chamber’ series image © designboom

‘red chamber’ bowl image © designboom

bowl from the ‘scholar’ series

‘cold mountain’ vessels

the ‘cold mountain’ vessels are the newest collection of middle kingdom. the series of vases and bowls show the marks of the potter.

image © designboom

image © designboom