The main decorative motif of the ritual vases of the Shang dynasty was the Taotie – a mask of a non-specified animal with eyes, ears, mouth, horns and paws.

Archeological excavations of tombs of later epochs, Zhou of the East, Han and Tang, reveal the existence of various bronze objects (vases for wine and other beverages, food containers, arms and mirrors) necessary for everyday life and the afterlife.

This vessel in which wine was served was called Jue because of its form resembling a bird with a broad beak, used to pour the liquid, and a tail.

With objects ranging from neolithic earthenware to 19th century export porcelain, the museum's ceramics collection covers over a period of over 5,000 years of Chinese art history.

Since the third millennium B.C., it underwent considerable development, especially with the manufacture of kitchen utensils, food storage containers, wine goblets and ritual vases.

New species were introduced to the stud farms of the Han dynasty emperors, strengthening the breeding stock and increasing the number of horses in use.

[3]: 71 From this period the museum houses several funeral earthenware statuettes that accompanied elements of Chinese high society in the afterlife.

They include servants and dignitaries, animals and domestic utensils as well as imaginary figurines whose function was to protect and render the tomb inviolable.

The camel with two-humps was introduced to China from the Xiongnu region and used as a pack animal to cross the Gobi desert and the Tarim Basin.

Technically, porcelain is a product of an improved stoneware due to the use of a special plastic potter's earth, kaolin and high temperature firing above 1350 °C.

They produced bowls, vases, dishes, pilgrim flasks, meiping, aquariums and bottles all vividly decorated with fishes, birds, trees, aquatic plants and landscapes.

Of note in the museum's collection is a plate decorated with a cobalt blue underglaze characteristic of porcelain exported from the port of Shantou in the north of the Guangdong province.

Another object of particular note is a plate in Portuguese faience, decorated with motifs inspired by the porcelain exported from China during the Wanli period.

Portuguese potters in the seventeenth century were influenced by exotic designs from the Orient and produced bowls, jars, plates and tiles using decorative elements originating in China.

The plate shown represents a style influenced by Kraaksporselein, using the same decorative scheme, a gazelle in a rocky landscape in the centre and the rim divided into panels with floral motifs.

[3]: 102 Another piece of note is an ecuelle with cover and saucer decorated with heroic characters from Chinese history based on the book by Jun Gu Lian published in the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662–1722).

The figures represented include: on the lid, Li Bai (701–762), the poet of the Tang dynasty, the military hero Yue Fei (1103–1142) and Hua Mulan, the most renowned warrior woman in the mythological history of China.

The classification was based on the distribution of green, yellow, black or pink enamels found in the decoration of Chinese porcelain of the reign of Kangxi (1662–1722).

The best examples for this type of porcelain are found in dinner, tea and coffee sets, and dressing table ornaments of the royal houses of Europe.

Amongst these of particular importance is a plate dating from 1755 with a coat of arms attributed to José Seabra da Silva (1732–1813), deputy minister of the Marquis de Pombal and inspector of the Companhia do Grão-Pará e Maranhão (company trading with Brazil).

The crucifixion, based on an illustration by Hieronymus Wierix, was probably the biblical event most represented in the porcelain destined for European markets.

In the museum collection is a set of four plates dating c.1745 depicting the birth, baptism, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ based on Wierix's illustrations.

[3]: 111 The use of sacred symbols and Koranic verses in plates and cups reveal porcelain as an effective vehicle for the propagation of faith in the Islamic world.

Buddhism and Taoism were the first to realize the advantages of porcelain as an effective means of religious expansion, easily accessible to all social classes.

Thus one finds illustrations such as a boy with magical and religious powers and divinities of Buddhist and Taoist pantheons, like the goddesses Guanyin and other patrons of music and the home, Han Xiangzi.

Amongst the collection are also plates, vases, clocks or snuff bottles introduced by English and Dutch merchants with depictions of erotic scenes.

Lacquerwork tea caddies were often presented as gifts from local merchants to traders who frequented Chinese ports in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Though the use of opium has been known for thousands of years, the drug's administration changed dramatically in the eighteenth century when smoking became the preferred method rather than oral consumption.

It is aimed at higher education audiences, students and professors from universities and polytechnic institutes, national and foreign researchers, as well as anyone interested in information and training on China, Macau and East Asia.

With an international and multidisciplinary dimension, it works in collaboration with other libraries and archives, national and foreign, in order to better fulfill its mission of supporting research, teaching, information and dissemination of knowledge.