A private collection of Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain can be viewed by the public for the first time at a beautiful new cultural destination in Portugal. Mariana Teixeira de Carvalho, granddaughter of Brazilian collector Renato de Albuquerque, persuaded her grandfather to convert his holiday house in Sintra into a permanent home for his priceless collection of porcelain. Brazilian collector Renato de Albuquerque’s private collection of Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain is now on public display in UNESCO World Heritage site Sintra.
Mariana Teixeira de Carvalho–an international human rights lawyer who moved into the art world in 2009 and worked as director of several high profile galleries including Luisa Strina,Hauser & Wirth, and Michael Werner–is co-Founder of The Albuquerque Foundation, which opened to the public on 22nd February with an exhibition by contemporary artist Theaster Gates inaugurating the contemporary ceramics programme, and Connections, an exhibition of ceramics from the permanent collection curated by Becky MacGuire.
Situated on the outskirts of Lisbon in Sintra–a breathtaking UNESCO World Heritage site full of castles and fairytale palaces where English Romantic Poet Lord Byron once spent time –The Albuquerque Foundation is a new Jewel in the Crown of the region’s cultural offerings.
Formerly the Albuquerque family’s vacation home, the foundation is housed in a traditional ‘Quinta’ (estate), nestled in the Sintra Cultural Landscape. Brazilian Architectural practice Bernardes Arquitetura were commissioned to convert the Quinta in Sintra into a ceramics foundation and have succeeded in preserving the traditional elements of the building and respecting its history while creating a new contemporary wing, specialist library, restaurant and concept store. Bernardes Arquitetura’s vision for the Albuquerque Foundation forges metaphorical links between time and space, and visual links between past and present.
Conceived as a unique cultural center devoted to the art of ceramics, The Albuquerque Foundation foregrounds the fascinating cultural connections and historic relationship between Portugal and China which dates back to the 15th century when Portugal played an important role in the cross-cultural exchange between East and West and the Portuguese began importing Chinese porcelain.
The world’s most advanced potters were located in China for centuries, and as their beautifully crafted ceramics were gradually exported around the world, Chinese ceramic traditions began to have global influence. As early as the Tang dynasty (618-906), foreign glass and metalwork, Buddhism and Islam all journeyed to China from Central and West Asia on global trading networks.
The global impact of Chinese porcelain is explored at the Foundation through innovative curation and the importance of ceramics as a fine art form is given an unprecedented international platform. The foundation will also host artist residencies and temporary exhibitions spotlighting emerging and established artists working in the field of ceramics.
Former civil engineer and lover of ceramics Renato de Albuquerque amassed a collection of more than 2,600 pieces during a lifetime of collecting. His keen eye for the best examples of Ming and Qing dynasty ceramics resulted in a priceless collection including pieces that have been loaned to iconic international institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the V&A in London.
Highlights of the Albuquerque Collection include Ming and Qing Export and Imperial Taste porcelain include rare examples of ‘First Orders’, the earliest commissions of Chinese porcelain by the Portuguese, featuring striking European iconography.
As well as providing a permanent home for the Albuquerque Collection of Chinese Ceramics, the Foundation launches a contemporary exhibition program, overseen by Director Jacopo Crivelli Visconti and kicking off with an exhibition of acclaimed US artist Theaster Gates.
Gates, whose multi-faceted practice incorporates urban planning, sculptural ceramics and performance, is presenting The Ever-Present Hand, a solo exhibition featuring black ceramic tiles made in Japan in the form of a floor-based intervention which visitors are invited to walk upon, and a curated selection of his own sculptures juxtaposed with pieces from the Albuquerque Collection.
One of Gates’s most celebrated works consisted of a series of dinners he held in homage to his mentor Yamaguchi Shoji, a Japanese potter who reportedly settled in Mississippi many years before after being attracted by its special clay. Yamaguchi married a black woman and they founded a pottery together, developing a unique ceramic style that fused Asian and African-American techniques. Gates recently came up with the term Afro-Mingei to express the power of combining different creative traditions fusing ceramics from different cultures such as the politically and racially charged Black aesthetics and Chinese, Korean and Japanese ceramic tradition, in which the concept of mingei highlights the ineffable beauty of everyday objects made by unknown craftsmen.
Highlights of Connections–the Foundation’s first exhibition of ceramics from the permanent collection–include a Qing Dynasty Crab Tureen dating to ca. 1770, a late 16thCentury wine Ewer modelled as a dancing lady, and a Ming dynasty Chongzhen period dish painted with two Persian women of the powerful Safavid dynasty of 17th Century Persia.
Albuquerque Foundation Co-founder Mariana Teixeira de Carvalho said at a preview of the exhibition: “This project honours my grandfather’s collection, while sparking dialogue and crativity around ceramics as a living art form. Our mission is to celebrate cultural heritage, create social impact and foster innovation in the world of ceramics”.
Theaster Gates: The Ever-Present Hand is at the Albuquerque Foundation until 1st June, 2025.
The permanent collection exhibition Connections, curated by Becky MacGuire runs until 30th August, 2026.
This article was first published in Forbes.
