A Fragile History | News | Notre Dame Beijing

Notre Dame students dig into Chinese ceramics history during reconstruction workshop

Ceramics expert Coleton Lunt speaks while walking among the tables of participants.

An ungainly duck with a long neck and forlorn eyes served as a hands-on connection between Notre Dame students and China’s centuries-old porcelain history.

View from the amphitheater to the Ming dynasty ruins and a royal incense burner called a DucKtor Sui. — View from the amphitheater to the Ming dynasty ruins and a "DucKtor Sui" royal incense burner. Images courtesy of the Imperial Kiln Museum.

Shaped over 500 years ago, during China’s Ming dynasty, the original ceramic duck was created to be an incense burner for an imperial family in Jingdezhen—a city in eastern China renowned for its exquisite ceramics. Eventually discarded because of a design flaw, the duck lay broken in pieces and buried for centuries. In 1987, archeologists from the Imperial Kiln Museum in Jingdezhen excavated and reconstructed the duck—which was named “DucKtor Sui” referring to good fortune and safety in being rediscovered—and the quirky fowl became a signature piece of the world-renowned museum.

Now that same duck taught Notre Dame students the basics of archeology and art history. At a workshop on September 28 in Jenkins Nanovic Halls, 45 participants—students, faculty, staff, and community members—played the role of archeologists, digging out and reconstructing replicas of the ancient duck.

The two-hour excavation started with a clay brick with ceramic duck pieces embedded. Under the guidance of Coleton Lunt ’20 MFA, a ceramics professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, participants carefully unearthed and cleaned the ceramic pieces before gluing them together.

“This workshop was really fascinating, and it gave me a new respect for the level of difficulty and precision involved in the field of archaeology,” said junior Eileen Burger. “It was interesting to learn about China’s porcelain history and the Imperial Kiln Museum, especially in this hands-on way. This was an experience I never would have expected at Notre Dame.”

Participants start with a block of clay and slowly uncover and clean each piece of ceramic before gluing them together to form a reconstructed "Ducktor Sui." Photos by Liu Institute staff and Peter Rigenberg. — Photos by Peter Ringenberg and the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

Indeed, the workshop was one of a kind, created specifically by the Imperial Kiln Museum for Notre Dame through the efforts of two undergraduate students.

“It was my dream to share my hometown and its famous ceramics with the Notre Dame community,” said senior Nikki Shao, who worked with the kiln museum and the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies to organize the excavation kits and the event. “Chinese art history is fascinating, and to learn through a hands-on workshop makes it come to life. I hope this experience encourages Notre Dame students to find other ways to learn about Chinese art and to even visit China and the Imperial Kiln Museum.”

Shao and her friend Cindy Yingxin Liu, also a Notre Dame senior, spent nearly two years coordinating the two-part event, which also included a lecture by curator Yanjun Weng, the director of the Imperial Kiln Museum that drew 86 audience members. Shao worked closely with curator Weng, a family friend who generously guided the production of the reconstruction kits, which included artisans handpainting each replica duck.

“This collaboration offered Notre Dame a truly rare experience,” said Lunt, who had taught ceramics at the University until this academic year. “The reconstruction kits were crafted with remarkable precision, allowing students to handle pieces that replicated the form, texture, and artistry of the original Ming-era duck.

“Working with the Imperial Kiln Museum, a world-renowned institution, gave students a meaningful connection to Jingdezhen’s ceramic heritage and a hands-on archaeological experience seldom possible in a classroom setting.”

The Imperial Kiln Museum was built on the original site of the ancient kilns that produced ceramics exclusively for the royal court. Many of the museum’s artifacts are reconstructed from imperial-use ceramics, representing some of the most exquisite craftsmanship in Chinese art history.

The museum is also internationally recognized for its pioneering integration of archaeology, conservation science, and digital technology.

Curator Weng has led numerous excavations of imperial kiln sites and spearheaded global initiatives on ceramic heritage preservation. His lecture, “The Preservation and Revitalization of the Imperial Kiln Historical Site in Jingdezhen, China,” discussed the excavation and preservation of the Imperial Kiln site, the international recognition of Jingdezhen’s craftsmanship, and the city’s continuing role in connecting art, technology, and cultural exchange.

Shao hopes the connection between Notre Dame and the Imperial Kiln Museum will continue, and she is already working on plans to carry the relationship forward.

“It has been an honor to connect Notre Dame with the Imperial Kiln Museum,” she said.

“Global collaborations are important for Notre Dame, and it’s exciting to think about expanding cross-cultural dialogue through art and art history. I hope there is more to come.”

The workshop was sponsored by the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, and Notre Dame Beijing.

Additional Resources

Originally published by Liu Institute at asia.nd.edu on November 17, 2025.