Today (December 13), Ms. Suzanne Fratus of California, USA donated two Ming Dynasty pottery figurines from Our country to the Shanghai Museum. The pottery figurines are Ming Dynasty funerary ming vessels and are determined to be third-class cultural relics. Suzanne said that the two figurines returned because of the power of love and respect for the Chinese people.
In April, the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco received a postal courier from Ms. Suzanne containing two colorful figurines and a letter about her family's relationship with the two figurines, hoping to return the cultural relics to Chinese people through the Chinese government and donate them to the Shanghai Museum.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage immediately organized the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics and the Shanghai Museum to carry out cultural relics appraisal, judging that these two ceramic figurines are Cultural Relics of China, which is more similar to a set of Ming Dynasty colored glazed pottery figurines in the Shanghai Museum.
In September, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage respected Ms. Suzanne's wishes and designated the Shanghai Museum as the recipient of the two pottery figurines. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage cooperated with the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, Ms. Suzanne, the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the Shanghai Museum, and the two cultural relics finally entered Shanghai on November 26.
On December 2, in accordance with the requirements of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shanghai Museum organized experts to carry out physical appraisal and confirmed that the two pottery figurines were Ming Dynasty funerary tools, which were precious physical materials for studying the ancient Chinese tomb system and pottery history, and were determined to be third-class cultural relics. The two cultural relics are the same as the tire quality of a set of Ming Dynasty pottery figurines in the Shanghai Museum, and the low-temperature lead glaze process applied to the surface, and the shape and production style are very similar to the pointed hat figurines in it, which should be works from the same period and the same region.
On December 13, a short video of ms. Suzanne, a cultural relics donor, was played at the ceremony hosted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. She said it was a great honor to return the two figurines to the Chinese people. The separation of the two terracotta figurines has witnessed a hundred years of history and inspired people to be friendly, respect each other, and help each other. She admired China's beautiful cultural and artistic achievements and decided to return it to her homeland.
In accordance with the requirements of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shanghai Museum carefully prepared the "Thousands of YiXiang - Special Exhibition of Ming Dynasty Colored Glazed Pottery Figurines", and exhibited the two donated pottery figurines together with the Ming Dynasty color glazed ceremony guards in the collection of the Museum that was exhibited in San Francisco that year. A total of 68 cultural relics are exhibited in the exhibition, and the exhibition period is one month.
【Know a little more】
Susannah's grandfather obtained two clay figurines while practicing medicine in China
Ms. Suzanne's grandfather, John Herbert Waite, practiced medicine in China in the early 20th century and obtained two clay figurines, which were brought back to the United States and later handed over to Ms. Suzanne to inherit. In 1983, in order to celebrate the sister cities between Shanghai and San Francisco, the Shanghai Museum went to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco to hold "Shanghai Museum Collection - 6,000 Years of Chinese Art Exhibition". Ms. Suzanne found that a set of honor guard figurines exhibited on the exhibition was very similar to the pottery figurines in her collection. The person in charge of the Shanghai Museum told him that the pottery figurines should come from the tombs of Chinese stolen nobles. Ms. Susannah has always loved ancient Chinese science and Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture, and has admired the Chinese people, and in the past 40 years, she has always looked forward to returning cultural relics to the Chinese people in a suitable way.
Text/Beiqing - Beijing headline reporter Cui Yifei
Edit/Hairy Feather