Blue and White Porcelain

The collection of Blue and White porcelain from China, owned by J.G. do Amaral Cabral (on long-term loan), is considered the most significant private collection of Chinese porcelain on the Iberian Peninsula.

Being the most recent permanent exhibition open to the public, it showcases around 100 pieces of Chinese porcelain from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Almost all of the items in the collection are pieces of white glazed porcelain painted in cobalt blue, a type of porcelain that was in high demand at the Portuguese market from the first contacts with this artistic craft. This private collection, which has been acquired in Portugal over the last few decades and which has been kindly deposited to be shown in our grounds, if proof of this fact.

Through the evolution of forms, the reading of the rich symbology embodied in traditional animals, plants and objects, it is possible to follow the political and socio-religious developments of the Great Eastern Empire.