Renato de Albuquerque Opens Museum for Chinese Porcelain Collection in Sintra

Brazilian entrepreneur Renato de Albuquerque, 97, has opened a museum in Sintra, Portugal, to house his world-renowned collection of over 2,600 pieces of Chinese porcelain and ceramics, spanning the Ming and Qing dynasties. The collection, built over 60 years, includes a notable 1770s crab-shaped tureen and a quartz crystal figure of the Christ Child as Salvator Mundi with silver-gilt filigree. The museum is located at Quinta de São João, an 18th-century estate, and is operated by the Albuquerque Foundation. Albuquerque, who began collecting in 1961 after buying a Meissen kerosene lamp in Santa Catarina, Brazil, also assembled a monographic library. His granddaughter, Mariana Teixeira de Carvalho, a contemporary art collector, helps promote the legacy. The collection focuses on Chinese export porcelain, with many intercultural pieces reflecting centuries of East-West interaction. Albuquerque decided to bring the collection to Europe to share it with scholars and the public, despite his preference for privacy.