Checkin' In at Middle Kingdom

I have written numerous posts on Middle Kingdom ceramics. It is one of my happy places to go for inspiration. Beauty abounds amidst the walls and shelves of their warehouse which is local to us, where hundreds of authentic antique blue and white porcelains and rooms upon rooms of gorgeous MK porcelains await shipment to recipients all over the world.  The sheer size of some of the blue and white pieces blows me away; four and five feet tall, and half as much around. It is good to see greens, browns, rusts and other colors of these beautiful pieces as well, so often overshadowed by the famous blue and white line.  Middle Kingdom is a global brand seen in shelter magazines, museum gift shops and boutiques.  I recently spotted MK in April 2014's Better Homes and Gardens (shown below) and May 2014's Lonny issue in a feature story about Cindy Crawford's Malibu Ranch.

In case you are not aware of this brand, Middle Kingdom started in 1998 by Bo Jia and Alison Alten. He is the artist/designer and they both are cultural preservationists. They live in Washington, DC, but Alison's parents are the proprietors of The Opera House Gourmet in Manassas and friends of mine.

When I checked in recently, Bo and Alison are in China at the kilns overseeing their pieces being made by artisans there. Their wares are created in the ancient kiln town of Jingdezhen, where the imperial kilns were once located.

Here are some iphone shots of my trip to the warehouse....

Follow their press and latest events on Facebook or view an album of porcelains here.  Thank you Bo and Alison for preserving history and merging old and new Chinese porcelains in such a way that we can enjoy them in our own homes. 

 They are the perfect accessory!