Jinxi Antique Museum

Jinxi Antique Museum

It is an antique collection museum established in Jinxi by Mr. Xue Rensheng, a senior antique collector from Suzhou. Originally from Wuxi and a lifelong resident of Suzhou, Mr. Xue was born into a once-prominent but declining family. On the eve of the War of Resistance against Japan, his father ran an antique shop on Guangzhou Road (formerly known as Fifth Road) in Shanghai, dealing in calligraphy and paintings, stationery, ceramics, and assorted antiques. As a result, he was exposed to a wide range of items from a young age, which nurtured his passion. In his early adulthood, he inherited his father’s trade and dedicated himself to collecting. By living frugally for half a century, he amassed a collection of over 3,000 antiques, primarily featuring rare water droppers from various dynasties.

The antique museum showcases a wide variety of exhibits spread across three floors. The ground floor displays lacquerware, wood carvings, and Ming and Qing dynasty furniture. Natural lacquer is one of the earliest inventions in human history, credited to China. Archaeological findings prove that as early as 7,000 years ago during the Hemudu period, our ancestors were already making lacquered bowls. People from the Liangzhu culture and Lower Xiajiadian culture also produced lacquerware. By the Shang dynasty, lacquer began to be mixed with various pigments, and techniques such as gold foil application and turquoise inlaying emerged, laying the foundation for the “gold and silver inlay” techniques of the Han and Tang dynasties. The Han dynasty lacquer cup in the museum’s collection is a typical representation of early Chinese lacquerware.

Woodwork in China also dates back to prehistoric times. The *Book of Changes · Appended Statements* says, “Fuxi hollowed out logs to make boats and shaved wood to make oars.” Fuxi was already making and using dugout canoes 4,000 years ago. (This artifact is now housed in the National Museum of Chinese History.)

The oldest wooden item in the museum is a Song dynasty horse carriage—an extremely rare piece. The frame, axle, and wheels are all made of the precious hardwood Dalbergia odorifera, making it exceptionally sturdy and durable.

The second floor features exquisite displays of ceramics, calligraphy, and jade artifacts. Ceramics represent another unique achievement in China’s artistic treasury. It is fair to say that China is the homeland and birthplace of porcelain. Chinese ceramics originated in the Shang and Xia dynasties, matured in the Eastern Han dynasty, and from their precursor—primitive glazes—Chinese ceramics have been characterized by high-temperature colored glazes, especially celadon glazes using iron as the coloring agent. Since the Eastern Han dynasty, celadon glazes have dominated uninterruptedly, continuing through to the eventual decline of Longquan celadon in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The museum’s collection of over a hundred fine ceramics—including pieces from the Five Great Kilns of the Song dynasty, Ming dynasty jun red porcelain, Yongzheng crackled glaze porcelain, Qianlong langyao red porcelain, and Canton enamel—offers a glimpse into the “development of Chinese ceramics.”

The third floor’s water dropper exhibition room houses 800 treasures, including water droppers, brush pots, brush washers, and brush racks, spanning 3,000 years from the pre-Qin period to the present. A Qing dynasty boxwood carved pen holder, standing 11.8 cm tall and 7.8 cm in diameter, combines landscapes, flowers and birds, pavilions, towers, and miniature human figures. It was crafted by Ke Qingyuan, a renowned artist from Fujian in the Qing dynasty. His works depict mountain peaks with remarkable depth, perspective, and layering, complemented by trees, flowers, pavilions, towers, and figures, creating an exquisitely serene ambiance. A Northern Song dynasty Yue kiln three-legged toad-shaped water dropper is endearingly charming, drawing visitors in. The treasures on the third floor—including an iron bottle from the Tang dynasty, an original blue-and-white primitive porcelain fierce beast vessel from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, a chicken-head pot from the same era, a Northern Wei stone Buddha, and a Tang dynasty white-glazed lady figurine—are truly “national treasures.”