The Emperor's Lost Treasure

Chenghua porcelain is among the most valuable and highly prized of imperial wares from the Ming period. It is also the rarest of Ming porcelain because so few of what must once have been a stupendous collection of wares made for Emperor Chenghua are known to have survived following Chenghua's death in 1487. Despite five centuries of clandestine treasure hunting by grave robbers and secretive collectors, no palpable cache of Chenghua porcelain appears to have come to light.

In writting this book, the author does not claim to have found the answer to the mystery of Emperor Chenghua's lost treasure. however, he is, in his opinion, privy to a private collection of some exceptional pieces of Chenghua porcelain. These pieces were embargoed from published here, together with a scholarly essay which, while acknowledging indebtedness to established authorities when traversing familiar ground, does not balk at expressing contrary opinions whenever justified. The result is an unprecedented work on Chenghua porcelain.

Whether a Chenghua expert or layperson, the reader will find Section II a feast for the eye while studying the various photographs and mulling over the delicacy of the potting and design, the quiet splendour of the luminous colours or the lustrous gleam of the ivory-toned or the smoky green glaze of the illustrated Chenghua porcelain. Could these pieces possibly constitute some of the fabled lost treasures of Emperor Chenghua? The author leaves it to the reader to decide.