Albuquerque Foundation. The Irresistible Appeal of 'White Gold'

A symbol of purity because of its unrivaled whiteness, porcelain was for centuries a well-kept secret of the East. The Albuquerque Foundation's collection, one of the finest of its kind in the world, speaks of Europeans' fascination with 'white gold,' the encounter between cultures, and the passion of a collector. Among the rarities on display is a plate that spent 300 years underwater and a pot that belonged to Donald Trump.

In the town of Sintra and its surroundings, farms and recreational properties abound, protected by high walls that only hint at the enchanting life within. But here, you can enter, have a cup of tea, read a book, relax in the park, and admire a collection of exceptional objects patiently gathered over decades. Soon, it will even be possible to stay overnight—a privilege, however, reserved for artists and researchers dedicated to furthering the collection's study.

Once the vacation home of the family of Renato de Albuquerque – a Brazilian businessman, civil engineer, and architect known for developing projects such as Alphaville in Brazil, Quinta da Beloura, and Quinta Patiño in Portugal – today this 18th-century farmhouse in Linhó houses the Albuquerque Foundation, which displays one of the finest private collections of Chinese export porcelain.

Right at the entrance, a bold, almost futuristic canopy that projects into the garden (the architectural project is by the award-winning Bernardes studio, with offices in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Lisbon) shows that we are faced with a program that combines the historical component with a strong sense of modernity.

Following the path under the roof, we pass the old family home on our left—where the shop, the cozy library, and the café-restaurant are located—and arrive at the ticket office. A spiral staircase leads us to the lower floor, where the exhibition space is located. Inside and outside the display cases, the radiance of the porcelain is highlighted in the dim light. And here begins a journey that will take us to distant places and unique cultures.

A secret formula

"The exhibition is organized into three main sections," explains Pedro Coelho, director of exhibitions and residencies at the Albuquerque Foundation. The first of these sections, titled 'Reino Espiritual,' is dedicated to religions and forms of spirituality.

When the Portuguese arrived in China—Jorge Álvares was the first, in 1513, traveling aboard a junk—they found a closed territory, averse to foreign influence, but which possessed something highly coveted by Europeans. Something whose formula was unknown in the Old Continent: porcelain, which required a 'secret ingredient,' kaolin, and kilns that reached temperatures of 1300-1400 degrees Celsius. Before the great voyages of 16th-century navigation, some of these pieces reached European cities, but only in dribs and drabs.

"Transportation was done in wooden boxes. They were filled with damp terracotta, put the porcelain inside, and then filled again—they created a kind of clay formwork," describes Pedro Coelho. "Then we had to pray that it wouldn't break," especially since the journey to Europe was extremely long and fraught with danger.

With the arrival of Portuguese navigators and merchants in the Far East, all that changed drastically. "When we arrived by sea, we were able to bring back large consignments," our host continues. In February 1603, one of these shipments, traveling aboard a Portuguese carrack from the port of Macau, was intercepted by three Dutch ships. At 1,400 tons and with a crew of 750 men, the Santa Catarina was the largest ship in the world. And it carried a cargo to match: 1,200 bales of Canton silk, sugar, spices, 60 tons of porcelain, and 70 tons of gold and silver. Instead of heading to Lisbon, the shipment went to Amsterdam, fattening the coffers of the East India Company. It was one of the most lucrative plunders ever.

The form of the spirit

But let's leave the material world for a moment and turn to the realm of spirituality. Through the initial display cases, some of the products from the first wave of exchanges between Europeans and Asians parade by. They reveal "themes of Buddhism, Christianity, Arab influence, and then there are some mythological ones, such as dragon carp. These objects were made primarily for domestic consumption, but they also ended up making them for export." A man with an extremely elongated head "reminds of wisdom." Then, "the eight immortals" appear, a sort of demigod from Chinese mythology, figures who had attained enlightenment, protected humanity, and acted as intermediaries with the gods.

A little further on, the first objects of Eastern manufacture, but already with a Christian theme, appear. "When we Portuguese arrived in China, we didn't have the objects to, for example, place a host on the altar. Or a candlestick. Or whatever. And so there are orders [for objects for liturgical use] made to Chinese artisans and kilns." One of them unexpectedly combines the Jesuit monogram—'IHS'—with Buddhist lions.

The encounter of cultures and mutual 'strangeness' also shines through in an inscription where the words 'AVE MARIA' appear with the letters reversed, clearly demonstrating the Chinese artisans' lack of knowledge of the Latin alphabet. Then there's a baby Jesus with slanted eyes – "Only two are known in the whole world," Pedro Coelho confesses – and a Saint Anthony who could easily be a Chinese sage.

Ten years waiting for a play

Besides allowing us to retrace the first moments of the Portuguese encounter with China, some pieces also recount more recent episodes. We stop next to a smiling Buddha, with a flabby belly and orange robes. "Dr. Renato acquired the platter and only almost ten years later did he get the tureen. Sometimes, if you can't get both parts of a piece at the same time, you have to be careful and very patient." With the three elements of this tureen—the container, the lid, and the platter—assembled, the Buddha has good reason to smile.

Another unique feature of this collection—besides the quality and quantity of nearly inaccessible pieces—is the top priority given to historical value. "Dr. Renato says he prefers a poorly made or poorly finished piece, but with a relevant history, to a perfect piece without that history. Throughout this exhibition, we'll see crooked, broken, and incomplete pieces. Some aren't extraordinarily beautiful or well-made, but they have a very strong historical significance," continues the exhibition director.

This is certainly not the case with an aquarium that stands out, among other reasons, for its color. "This is a piece made for the emperor. And how can we identify that it was for the emperor?" Pedro Coelho points out. "Note: the dragons designed for the emperor have five claws. For ordinary mortals, they only have four. Another easily identifiable element: only the emperor could use yellow. Even in his clothing. And for a Chinese emperor," he continues, "only supreme perfection was used. Everything else was broken."

The poetic side of returning home

The second section of the exhibition – 'Encounters' – concerns exchanges between the West and the East. To illustrate this theme, nothing better than the panel of a namban screen (there are only 60 in the world) that depicts the arrival of the Portuguese, or 'southern barbarians,' as they were called by the natives, to Japan. "Besides the Europeans being depicted with long noses, as was customary, we have the central figure arriving in Japan wearing bombachas – pants – already with Chinese prints. In other words, we had already been to China and had already found a way to produce textiles for ourselves." The figure of a slave, barefoot, with dark skin and a flat nose, completes the scene. Black people caused even more of a sensation than white people in the East. According to a Spanish Jesuit who was in China at the beginning of the 17th century, the Chinese “never ceased to be amazed to see that [black people], when they washed, did not become whiter.”

Next, one of the crown jewels of the collection. "We're sure this is one of the first commissions," announces the host, referring to the first pieces ordered by the Portuguese in China and brought to Portugal. "It has the armillary sphere and underneath a small note stating it was made for King Manuel I. It dates from 1520. These pieces are extremely rare. There are about 135 cataloged, a number that varies slightly depending on the criteria. Dr. Renato is very humble and says he only has 32, but scholars say he has 35. The Carmona e Costa Foundation in Lisbon, which is the largest collection after ours, has eight. Bringing these pieces back to Portugal 400, 500 years ago has a romantic and poetic aspect to it."

Three centuries underwater

But the history of navigation isn't written solely in beautiful verse. It's also filled with dramatic episodes. A plate in a display case displays a shade of cobalt blue—for centuries the only color that could withstand the extremely high temperatures required to produce porcelain—much paler than usual. The reason? "This piece comes from a shipwreck in the Indian Ocean. It was underwater for about 300 years. That's why the color has faded. If you look right underneath, you can still see remains of coral." It seems a perfect metaphor that encapsulates the essence of porcelain, a material that is both delicate and resilient.

Trump and Rothschild

We enter the last section of the exhibition, dedicated to animals. "Part of the collection's theme, due to Dr. Renato's interest, is animals. So, we have a small sample of animals, some of them very, very, very rare. Mainly these kendi [drinking jars with a strange shape especially appreciated in Southeast Asia] that represent a squirrel. Then we have the falcons, which had a symbolic side, not only of heroism and elevation, but were also used for hunting. And these two eagles. The only known pair, besides this one, is in the Rothschild collection," reveals the director, who then points to a butter dish shaped like a crab. It has the peculiarity of moving eyes.

And, in keeping with the spirit of the collection and the collector, a piece that is presented as it is, without retouching or 'makeup.' "This piece is clearly not as restored as the others. The neck is broken, there are cracks—they're called 'hairlines.' It was also kept this way to better understand the historical elements and its history," explains Pedro Coelho.

Nearing the end, something truly unusual in Chinese art: a scene with a subtly erotic tone. "She has her skirt lifted and a bit of leg exposed. Chinese artisans never depict ladies' legs. So the piece has that naughty side."

As time progresses, the porcelains take on increasingly rich and diverse colors. This is the case with a large pot, almost at the exit of the space, that passed through the hands of a well-known figure of our time. "Mar-a-Lago was initially built and intended to be the official vacation residence of the United States government, before Camp David. When the state of Florida decided to sell Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump purchased the property and its contents, which contained extraordinary pieces like this Chinese porcelain pot." In a time of great difficulty, Trump put the contents of Mar-a-Lago up for sale, and Renato de Albuquerque took the opportunity to enrich his collection with this pot.

Treasures in the drawer

The 300 pieces on display constitute only a small sample of the collection, corresponding to about 15% of the total 2,500 objects. Next door, in the reserves, drawers are filled with treasures of all kinds. In addition to porcelain, both Oriental and European, there are silverware, engravings, tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl objects, lacquers, enamels, and ivories. The oldest piece dates from the 20th century BC—approximately the time of the pyramids. There is also a terracotta horse from the 1st century—"like the Egyptians, the Chinese were buried with some elements for an afterlife," the host tells us—and a rare pair of Japanese lacquer stirrups. If the Albuquerque Foundation were a soccer team—a "team," as they say in Brazil—it would have an incredible cast of stars on the bench. Some of them may "enter the field" in the next assembly of the collection, scheduled for September.

In contrast to the historical collection, the foundation also has a contemporary program. The temporary exhibition pavilion, at the back of the park, hosts an exhibition by American artist Theaster Gates, "The Ever-Present Hand," until August 31st.