Pair dreaming of success in china
Print Edition
IT has taken August Wang from Taiwan and Guy Thompson from Britain four years to produce the kind of artistic ceramics they want.
In March, the first batch of their modern ceramics made in Jingdezhen, China’s porcelain capital, went on sale in Thomas Goode’s store in Mayfair, London.
It has been the dream of ceramic makers in Jingdezhen to revive the town’s past glory. A century ago, Jingdezhen porcelain was among the most sought after in Europe.
“I often wondered why people would spend vast sums for a bowl. My thinking is that if arts and crafts can be made for daily use ... and be put in the dishwasher, they are the things I want to present to customers,” Wang said.
Without any background in art, Wang quit his job as a business analyst and went to Jingdezhen to set up his own ceramics studio in 2012.
He became one of about 20,000 jingpiao, a term for the floating population of Jingdezhen who are driven to the city by their love of fine china.
His partner Thompson was a risk analyst for Standard Chartered Bank.
He also quit his job to join Wang in developing their brand, Spherebol.
Porcelain has been made in Jingdezhen for more than 1,000 years.
In the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it was not only home to the imperial kilns, but a center of the porcelain trade. It is estimated that more than 100 million pieces of china were sold to Europe from the 16th to the 18th century.
However, as the world’s population increased and along with it the demand for tableware, mass production took the luster from Jingdezhen’s ceramic industry.
Jingdezhen is well supplied with precisely the kind of low-cost resources and professional craft-workers required to make money from china.
Nowhere else could the inexperienced pair have groped in dark for four years to produce the kind of porcelain that meets their expectations.
Thompson is proud that Britain has produced so many famous luxury brands, like Rolls Royce, Liberty and Wedgewood.
He believes Jingdezhen can give his ceramics the necessary appeal to become a fully-fledged international brand.
The chief designer of Spherebol is local woman Luo Yan.
She said Wang wants to express his passion for European art in the ceramics.
Luo Yan uses Chinese fine-brush painting and firing techniques to put her boss’s love of European art into the glazes of their china.
Quality ceramics are not easy to make.
The same design might need to be produced hundreds of times before the desired effect emerges.
Even a very minor difference in the firing temperature can have devastating effects on the color and quality of the product.
Wang plans to continue to target the luxury market in Europe before fully exploring the market in China.
After all, it is the melding of elements from Chinese culture with contemporary European aesthetics that has been the source of his creativity.
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