Myth of Ming

Under the title "Myth of Ming," the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne presents an exhibition that highlights the art historical and technical development of blue-and-white porcelain during the Chinese Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). Approximately 80 selected exhibits from its own collection, long-term loans from the Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation, as well as loans from other Cologne and Dutch museums and outstanding German private collections illustrate both artistic refinements and global historical contexts. A standout exhibit is a blue-and-white bowl decorated with enamel colors, which was brought back in 1583 by Cologne cathedral canon Count Eberhard von Manderscheidt from a pilgrimage to Turkey and later mounted in silver. This bowl is considered the earliest verifiable Ming porcelain in Germany and highlights the early North-South and East-West connections, in which the Rhineland already played a central role at that time. The exhibition spans a thematic arc from aesthetic questions to socio-economic interconnections and demonstrates how cultural exchange between Europe and China already provided impulses for regional artistic understanding and international knowledge in the 16th century.