The 19th-century Ningbo export paintings are displayed at the Ningbobang Museum. [Photo/Tide News]

A major exhibition of 19th-century Ningbo export paintings opened at the Ningbobang Museum on July 1, bringing a rare collection of artworks back to the city where they were created more than a century ago. 

The exhibition, titled Scenes of Eastern Life in 19th-Century Ningbo Export Paintings, features more than 50 original albums from Germany's Saxon Ethnographic Collections, part of the Dresden State Art Collections. The albums are selected from a larger collection of more than 90 volumes containing nearly 900 paintings.

Export paintings were artworks produced for foreign merchants, diplomats, and travelers during the era of international trade. Often depicting local customs, occupations, architecture, and daily life, they offered overseas audiences a glimpse into Chinese society.

The exhibition is organized into four sections, covering everyday life, traditional crafts, street commerce, and Ningbo's transformation following its opening as a treaty port in 1844. The paintings offer detailed depictions of local customs, weddings, farming activities, workshops, shops, waterways, and encounters between Chinese residents and foreign visitors.

Because the fragile albums cannot be opened for display, the museum has supplemented the originals with enlarged reproductions, digital screens, interactive exhibits, and replica albums that visitors can browse. A dedicated gallery showcases original works from Dresden, allowing visitors to view the albums up close and explore their contents through digital presentations.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Bernd Ebert, director general of the Dresden State Art Collections, said the paintings provide a unique record of life in Ningbo and offer valuable perspectives on cultural exchanges between China and the wider world in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The exhibition will run until Nov 1 and is jointly organized by the Ningbo Museum, Zhejiang Wanli University, and the Dresden State Art Collections, with support from several museums across Zhejiang province.