Hong Kong painted porcelain, or Gangcai, is the type of decorated porcelain manufactured in Hong Kong, embodying the territory’s distinctive historical and cultural characteristics.

Since the 1920s, porcelain workers came to Hong Kong from different parts of Chinese Mainland have inspired the development of design and manufacturing technique of the local porcelain production. Among painted porcelain traditions, Guangdong painted porcelain was particularly influential. As a trading port, Hong Kong fostered a fusion of shapes and motifs used in porcelain wares. Blending the cultural features from China, Britain and the destination countries for export, together with local Hong Kong elements, Gangcai grew between 1920s and 1990s, achieving remarkable success and reflecting Hong Kong’s position both window for traditional Chinese arts to reach the world, and as the global cultural crossroad.

The 20th century marks the golden age of Hong Kong porcelain. In 2015, the Hong Kong Ceramics Research Society commenced a research project on Gangcai, recording the past via oral histories and collated into archives to reconstruct the authentic historical and cultural landscape of Gangcai industry, as well as preserving the related artefacts and documenting the essence of the art.

This collection showcases the contents and images of the aforementioned research work, the public can get to know about the historical development and features of Gangcai through the accompanied text, images, video and audio files, and to explore the colourful path Gangcai travelled.