Manuel da Silva Mendes (1867-1931) chegou a Macau em 1901 (há 118 anos) onde começou por exercer o cargo de professor do Liceu.
Como era bacharel em direito, depressa passou também a exercer a advocacia (tal como outros funcionários públicos com as mesmas habilitações) numa primeira fase no nº 25 da Rua/Estrada da Flora que a partir de 1919 passou a chamar-se Av. Sidónio Pais. Desempenhou ainda as funções de juiz e de vereador do Leal Senado e foi também escritor, sinólogo e colecionador de arte.
Em Macau, onde morreu em 1931, deixou um legado ímpar: desde a casa que construiu no sopé da Guia (hoje sede da UNU-IIST) à coleção de obras de arte, em especial as peças de cerâmica de Shiwan que podem ser vistas no Museu de Arte de Macau.
MSM enquanto vereador do Leal Senado em 1922
Shiwan ceramics at MAM
The MAM collection of Shiwan ceramics started with Manuel da Silva Mendes, a Portuguese lawyer and intellectual who moved to Macao in 1901. A well-respected sinologist, Silva Mendes took a strong interest in the ware, and began visiting Shiwan to write, research, and study its styles and expressions. In the span of a few years, he systematically gathered Shiwan ceramics from the Ming, Qing and contemporary periods, building what would become the world’s first major collection of Shiwan works.
Silva Mendes’ contribution to the preservation of Shiwan’s legacy wasn’t limited to merely acquiring the china, however. He was also keen to explore the intersection of Chinese folk traditions and Western art forms, something which he pursued through close collaboration with one of the ceramics’ most renowned masters: Pan Yushu.
He invited Pan to Macao, introducing him to classical Western sculptures and asking him to create a series of miniatures of traditional Chinese motifs inspired by the art forms of the Occident. Pan then took the miniatures to a ceramics company in Guangzhou where Pan Yushu and his ceramic master partner Chen Weiyan used them as models for large-scale works.
The MAM collection of Shiwan ceramics started with Manuel da Silva Mendes, a Portuguese lawyer and intellectual who moved to Macao in 1901. A well-respected sinologist, Silva Mendes took a strong interest in the ware, and began visiting Shiwan to write, research, and study its styles and expressions. In the span of a few years, he systematically gathered Shiwan ceramics from the Ming, Qing and contemporary periods, building what would become the world’s first major collection of Shiwan works.
Silva Mendes’ contribution to the preservation of Shiwan’s legacy wasn’t limited to merely acquiring the china, however. He was also keen to explore the intersection of Chinese folk traditions and Western art forms, something which he pursued through close collaboration with one of the ceramics’ most renowned masters: Pan Yushu.
He invited Pan to Macao, introducing him to classical Western sculptures and asking him to create a series of miniatures of traditional Chinese motifs inspired by the art forms of the Occident. Pan then took the miniatures to a ceramics company in Guangzhou where Pan Yushu and his ceramic master partner Chen Weiyan used them as models for large-scale works.
A colecção de cerâmica de Shiwan do Museu de Arte de Macau pertenceu a Manuel de Silva Mendes (1876-1931), advogado e homem de negócios português que encomendou
aos melhores artistas seus contemporâneos - Pan Yushu e Chen Weiyan - obras
exclusivas feitas em barro e de grandes dimensões, o que faz deste conjunto um
espólio único.
Sugestão de leitura: "Manuel da Silva Mendes 1867-1931", João Botas, 2017
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