The East Asian Art Gallery at Mumbai's main museum

As a part of an assignment in the Bachelor of Vocation course in travel and tourism, we first year students tried our hands at tour-guiding at Mumbai's main museum, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralya (formerly known as the Prince Of Wales). This museum houses over 50,000 artifacts of different kinds- archaeological, artistic and natural. Each student guided the group through five artifacts. I chose the Japanese and Chinese art gallery, which is part of the Sir Ratan Tata and Sir Dorab Tata collection, as it suited my interests. This gallery houses artifacts from the Orient-like lacquer, jade, ivory, porcelain and ceramic art; as well as paintings. These artifacts are from 18th-19th century dynasties.#1 Chinese artChinese Porcelain-Chinese ceramic ware shows a continuous development since the modern dynastic periods and is one of the most significant forms of Chinese art.  Porcelain is so identified with China that it is still called "china" in everyday English usage.Chinese Blue and White porcelain, for example:(18th-19th century AD)

Blue and white porcelain designate white pottery and porcelain decorated under the glaze with a blue pigment, generally cobalt oxide. The decoration is commonly applied by hand, by stenciling or by transfer-printing, though other methods of application have also been used. The technique of cobalt blue decorations seems to have come from the Middle-East in the 9th century through decorative experimentation on white ware.

Blanc de Chine (18-19th Century AD) - It is a type of white porcelain.

Those are statues of Buddhist deities, one of them Guan Yin, a deity of mercy. 

#2 Chinese jade

It is the primary hard stone of Chinese sculpture. Prized for its hardness, durability, musical qualities, and beauty, it was associated with Chinese conceptions of the soul and immortality. By the Han dynasty, the royal family and prominent lords were buried entirely en-sheathed in jade burial suits sewn in gold thread, on the idea that it would preserve the body and the souls attached to it. Jade was also thought to combat fatigue in the living.

#3 Japanese porcelain 
It's one of the of the country's oldest art forms, and dates back to the Neolithic period. 

#4 Japanese lacquer- Lacquer is a clear or coloured wood finish that dries by solvent evaporation or curing process that produces a hard, durable finish. These objects are decoratively covered with lacquer. 

#5 Woodblock Prints (Moku Haga)- It's a hand printing process imitated from the Chinese woodblock prints of the 17th century. The process involved several people- the master painter to draw the design, the block makers to cut the blocks, the paper makers to prepare the design and artists to prepare pigments. The following painting is by artist Kikugank Eizan (1787-1867).

Published by Nivedita Roy, roll no. 108, FBVOC Tourism, Xavier's