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| LIULI | |
Native name | 琉璃工房 |
Romanized name | Liúlí Gōngfáng |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | LuxuryGlass |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Headquarters | Tamsui,New Taipei,Taiwan |
| Products | Lead Crystal |
Number of employees | 900 |
| Website | www.liuliusa.com |
Liuli Gongfang orLiuligongfang (Chinese:琉璃工房;pinyin:Liúlí Gōngfáng) is Taiwan's only contemporary glass studio devoted to artistic Chinese glassware.
Liuligongfang was founded in 1987 by actressLoretta Yang and directorChang Yi.[1] Their name refers toliuli, a form of archaic Chinese glasswork; the founders chose to use the wordliuli, rather than the common name for glass,boli (玻璃) to honor their cultural origin. The founders aimed to revive the art of antique Chinese art glass,[2] the production of which had dwindled following theFirst andSecond Opium Wars in the 19th century. Yang mortgaged her house and those of all her family members in order to gain start-up capital.[1] After much trial and error, costing$1 million and taking more than three years, she and Chang were able to master the Frenchpate-de-verre orlost-wax casting method. At the time of their founding, they operated a two-person workshop inTamsui,Taipei County (now New Taipei City). Yang and Chang originally had a fairly strict division of labour, with Yang handling the artistic aspects of their work, while Chang managed finances and other business responsibilities; with Chang's 1997heart attack, Yang has taken over more of Chang's responsibilities as well, including contact with the media.[2]
Works created by Liuli Gongfang have become part of the permanent collection ofLondon'sVictoria and Albert Museum as well as the Palace Museum inBeijing'sForbidden City.[3]People First Party chairmanJames Soong, during hisvisit tomainland China (the second Taiwanese politician to do so, after that ofLien Chan), presentedCommunist PartyGeneral SecretaryHu Jintao with a Liuli Gongfang sculpture; Hu gave himJingde porcelain in return.[4]
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Liuligongfang art works have been exhibited in Taiwan, Japan, Mainland China, Europe, and United States. Several pieces have become part of the permanent collection of some of the most well known museums. IncludingThe Palace Museum, Beijing,Shanghai Fine Arts Museum,Tsui Museum of Art, HongKong,Medicine Buddha Temple in Nara, Japan,The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C., United States,Victoria and Albert Museum in United Kingdom,Bowers Museum in California, United States.