The Jingdezhen Pottery Workshop invites groups of all types and sizes for education and fun. 
We’ve hosted small and big groups from all walks of life, including students, ceramics enthusiasts, and master craftspeople. Some groups work mostly in our studios learning traditional Chinese ceramics techniques, while other groups mostly tour the ceramics areas and countryside. We can work with you to produce a custom plan specific to the needs of your group.
Facilities
Our upper residency studio has two rooms- A big room which can accommodate up to eight artists, and a smaller room perfect for smaller groups. Larger groups can use our large Two Chimenys workspace.
Education
The Pottery Workshop will help you arrange custom-tailored classes in traditional Chinese ceramics techniques with local masters:
- Blue & White (Qinghua) painting.
Learn about the long history of blue & white ceramics, specialized tools for application, how to prepare qinghua for painting, and various painting techniques. Students practice on greenware tiles and plates, which can later be fired and taken home.- On-glaze painting. Various materials (e.g. xincai, fencai) and techniques are shown. Students can select already fired whiteware (plates, bowls, vases, etc.) to paint on, which can later be fired and taken home.
- Carving. Introduction to various carving techniques. Students can carve their own creations in already made greenware (plates, bowls, vases, etc.). Work can be glazed and fired to be taken home.
- Throwing & trimming. A local potter will show you the intricacies of throwing and trimming Jingdezhen porcelain.
- Mold-making. All the sculptures here in the Sculpture Factory come from molds. A local plaster mold maker will show you the basics, including introduction to plaster types, plaster mixing, single and multi-part molds.
- Slipcasting & pressmolding. Much of the work created in the Sculpture Factory is either slipcast or pressmolded. Local masters will show you their special techniques for working small and big.
Tourism
Near Jingdezhen are a number of unique heritage sites, including Yellow Mountain, Wuyuan countryside, Yaoli historical village, and the Tianbao Dragon Kiln. (Please see our About Jingdezhen page for more information.) We can arrange tours for you group to these areas. There are many ceramic factory areas in Jingdezhen, each of which is unique. During tours of these areas you will witness local artisans using traditional techniques dating back hundreds of years, as well as some techniques more recently invented. Apart from the ceramics factories, Jingdezhen has a lot of interesting things to do:
- The Monday morning antique market is a favorite. Here you can find shards dug up from ancient kiln sites, as well as antiques in ceramics, wood, metal, etc.
- Gu Jie is one of the last remaining old parts of town, filled with interesting architecture. Here you can get a sense of what Jingdezhen was like before modernization.
- Antique street. This street houses dozens of shops selling fake antiques that reproduce virtually every dynasty in Chinese history.
Please contact us by email at jingdezhen [at] potteryworkshop.org for more information!
