Experts from Sweden and China are carefully adding the final touches to a unique exhibition of Chinese porcelain due to open in Guangzhou later this month.

 

"The exhibition will be special as most of the exhibits are porcelain products made in China in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) that were salvaged from a shipwreck two hundred years ago," Huang Qingchang, director of Guangzhou Museum's publicity department, told China Daily.

 

In total 115 pieces from the Swedish National Maritime Museum will be on show at the exhibition, which runs from July 21 to September 18.

 

The exhibition is part of the activities celebrating the arrival of Gotheborg III, which is sailing along the ancient "Silk Road on the Sea" and is scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou next Wednesday for a one-month visit.

 

"Though made in China, the porcelain exhibits on show can rarely be seen here as they were tailor-made for the upper classes in Sweden," Huang said.

 

Both decorative and for daily use, the pieces were mostly made in Guangdong and Jiangxi's Jingdezhen, both traditional bases for porcelain production.

 

The seashells stuck to the bowls are reminders of the shipwreck more than two centuries ago.

 

The Gotheborg III, which cost over US$40 million to build, is a replica of the Gotheborg, the largest vessel owned by the East Indian Company in Sweden in the 18th Century.

 

It sank on September 12, 1745, just 900 meters off the coast of its homeport of Gothenburg on its third voyage from Guangzhou, or Canton as it was then known.

 

It took down with it a precious cargo of tea, spices, silk and porcelain.

 

All efforts to salvage the goods failed, but the porcelain remained intact until the 1980s when some Swedish divers discovered the treasure.

 

"I just can't wait to see the exhibits with my own eyes," said Liu Zhi, a history student at South China Normal University.

 

Liu said that the exhibition was a must-see for people with an interest in Chinese or world history, and would help people better understand 18th Century porcelain craftsmanship.

 

At a recent press conference, Li Wenyao, head of Guangzhou Tourism Bureau, said that the Gotheborg III set sail last October and will visit Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

 

He said it is a voyage celebrating more than half a century of diplomatic relations between China and Sweden.

 

Li said that Guangzhou would organize several activities to mark its visit as well as the exhibition.

 

(China Daily July 12, 2006)