What Middle Kingdom does

Middle Kingdom is a handcrafted porcelain and leather goods company founded in 2004 by Bo Jia and Alison Alten and headquartered in Washington, DC, with a manufacturing facility in China located near the historical imperial kiln sites and a separate leather studio in Washington, DC. The company produces small-batch color-clay porcelain using traditional Chinese techniques adapted for modern design, including signature matte and glossy mini vases, larger statement vases, tableware (cups, bowls, plates), garden ware, hand-painted Audubon-inspired pieces, and poetry-inspired Cold Mountain wares. A portfolio of named designer collaborations with Barbara Barry, Foekje Fleur van Duin, Carola Zee, Agnes Fries, and Olivia Jia differentiates the assortment, and the company has expanded into vegetable-tanned leather accessories (shoe horns, key fobs, dog collars and leashes, totes).

The business operates a direct-to-consumer e-commerce site at mkporcelain.com as its primary sales channel, supplemented by wholesale distribution to independent boutiques, museum shops (including the Victoria & Albert, British Museum, Met, MoMA, LACMA, and Baltimore Museum of Art), department stores (Lane Crawford, Saks Fifth Avenue), and the Chairish online marketplace across more than 14 countries on five continents. Pricing is unit-based, ranging from approximately $6 for entry tableware to $345 for statement vases, with digital gift cards and monogram/custom-size services available. The firm is privately held and founder-owned, with no external funding rounds on record and a 12-person employee base.

Name

Middle Kingdom

Legal name

Middle Kingdom

Website

https://mkporcelain.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Middle Kingdom is a founder-owned, Washington, DC-based maker of handcrafted color-clay porcelain and leather accessories, produced at a kiln in China and sold direct-to-consumer, via museum shops, and through global wholesale to design-conscious consumers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisan Porcelain Home Decor & Tableware

NAICS

Pottery, Ceramics, and Plumbing Fixture Manufacturing (327110), Pottery, Ceramics, and Plumbing Fixture Manufacturing (32711), Other Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing (316990)

SIC

Pottery & Related Products (3260)

akta.pro primary industry

Decorative Accessories Retail (Vases, Bowls, Sculptures, Figurines, Trays) (CRAIACAB)

Keywords

• Handcrafted porcelain
• Artisan tableware
• Designer vases
• Home decor ceramics
• Leather accessories

Headquarters

HQ city

Manassas Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Direct E-commerce Sales: The company sells directly to consumers through their own website (mkporcelain.com) where customers can purchase individual items at listed retail prices. Free shipping promotions are offered for orders over $50 or $100 with promo codes.
2. Wholesale Distribution: Wholesale registration available for retailers and partners to purchase products for resale through their own channels. Museum shops, boutique retailers, and design stores globally stock Middle Kingdom products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Middle Kingdom designs and produces handcrafted porcelain home decor, tableware, and vases using traditional Chinese kiln techniques adapted for modern design, along with vegetable-tanned leather accessories. Products are manufactured at a modern facility near the site of imperial kilns in China and at a Washington, DC studio, and sold directly to consumers via the mkporcelain.com e-commerce site and through wholesale to retailers, museum shops, and design stores worldwide. The portfolio includes designer collaborations with Barbara Barry, Foekje Fleur, Carola Zee, Agnes Fries, and Olivia Jia.

Product overview

Middle Kingdom is a handcrafted porcelain and leather goods company that offers a diverse portfolio of home decor and functional art products. Their core offerings include multiple vase collections (Matte Mini Vases, Glossy Mini Vases, and Small/Medium/Large Vases), dining ware (Bowls, Cups & Plates), and specialty items. The company collaborates with notable designers including Barbara Barry, Foekje Fleur, Carola Zee, Agnes Fries, and Olivia Jia on distinct product lines. They also produce Garden Wares for outdoor use, Cold Mountain Wares inspired by poetry, and Hand Painted pieces featuring Audubon-inspired designs. A recent expansion includes Vegetable Tanned Leather Goods (pet accessories, totes, and small leather items) all manufactured at their Washington, DC studio. Products are sold through their e-commerce platform and distributed globally through retail partners and museums.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Matte Mini Vases Color clay porcelain mini vases with matte finish and glazed interior, available in 11 shapes (MV1-MV11) and multiple colors including dusty pink, mint green, lilac grey, butter yellow, denim blue, and sage green. Designed for home decor and floral display.
• Glossy Mini Vases Glazed porcelain mini vases with glossy finish, available in 11 shapes (MV1-MV11) and multiple colors including orange, apple green, indigo, celadon, lavender, coral red, yellow, and steel grey, plus a metallic gold option. Assortments of 10 pieces available.
• Bowls, Cups & Plates Porcelain tableware collection including Julep Porcelain Cups, Hermit Bowls in multiple colors (celadon, yellow, coral red, ivory, black, lavender), Hermit Plates, Conical Bowls, Tulip Tea Cups, Wash Ware line, and Cold Mountain Plates for everyday dining and entertaining.
• Unique Wares Collaboration with designer Carola Zee featuring Unique Cups, Unique Carafe, and Unique Bowls. Products are characterized by graphic decoration and unique dimpled textures in dusty pink, bisque, and denim blue colors.
• Small, Medium and Large Vases Extensive vase collection including Agnes Vases (collaboration with Agnes Fries), Small/Medium White and Black Vases, Morning Glory Vase, Elixir Vase, Monk Vase, Beauty Vase, Lover Vase, Scholar Vase, Plum Vase, Jade Ring Vase, Lotus Root Vase, Bamboo Vase, Persimmon Vase, Mandarin Urn, Sage Vase, and Memphis Collection. Prices range from $170 to $345 for statement pieces.
• Bottle Vases Collaboration with designer Foekje Fleur inspired by plastic waste from Rotterdam canals. Features 11 vase designs mimicking everyday bottle shapes including Dish Detergent, Silo, Motor Oil, Lotion, Ribbed, Drinkable Yoghurt, Laundry Detergent, Curvy, Revolver, Deco, and Portico, priced from $21.25 to $47.50.
• Hand Painted Porcelain Hand-painted porcelain mini vases and bowls featuring natural history illustrations inspired by John James Audubon, including designs of goldfish, dragonflies, butterflies, grasshoppers, water-rail, chick, gull, and plover birds.
• Garden Wares Porcelain garden containers including Footed Vaso in butter, bisque, and denim; Bulb Pans; and Conical Pots (Minimus and Piccolo) in various colors with drainage holes, designed for outdoor gardening use.
• Cold Mountain Wares Collection inspired by the poetry of Han Shan (Cold Mountain). Includes Cold Mountain Porcelain Cups ($16), Bowls ($16), Gourd Vase ($92.50), Small Vase ($57.50), Large Vase ($85), and Tulip Vase ($100) in dusty pink, bisque, mint, and butter colors.
• Barbara Barry for MK Collaboration with celebrated designer Barbara Barry featuring five cone-shaped vase designs (Tall Thin Cone BB1, Tall Wide Cone BB2, Large Cylinder BB3, Small Inverted Cone BB4, Small Wide Cone BB5) in ice and ash colors with unique line designs, priced from $55 to $120.
• Leather Goods Vegetable-tanned leather accessories including shoe horns ($36), strap hangers ($30), key fobs ($42-$48), dog leashes (from $66), dog collars (from $48), and burlap rice sack totes ($95) with brass fittings. All handcrafted at the company's Washington, DC studio.
• Middle Kingdom Gift Card Digital gift cards available in $30, $50, $80, and $100 denominations. Never expires and can be used for any purchase on the mkporcelain.com website.

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Barbara BarrycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCelebrated designer Barbara Barry collaborates with Middle Kingdom on a collection of porcelain vases. Barry's design philosophy emphasizes simplicity and form coming together to create harmony. The collaboration upholds beauty as an important element of human experience, producing cone-shaped vases in color clay porcelain with unique line designs.
• Foekje Fleur van DuincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDutch designer Foekje Fleur inspired the first collaboration with Middle Kingdom through her provocative Bottle series of porcelain vases. The collection redefines plastic trash from the canals of Rotterdam as art, raising awareness about environmental pollution and encouraging living harmoniously with nature.
• Carola ZeecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRotterdam-educated graphic designer Carola Zee creates the Unique Wares collection for Middle Kingdom. Her sensuous series of cups and carafes feature graphic decoration and intriguing forms that invite pause and exploration. Rigorous craftsmanship is central to her design philosophy.
• Agnes FriescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwedish designer Agnes Fries collaborates with Middle Kingdom on a collection of Agnes Vases. Her work is driven by a love for tradition, the material, and everyday life, believing objects in our homes should be treasured.
• Olivia JiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOlivia Jia contributed Tulip and Magnolia vases to Middle Kingdom's Cold Mountain series. Inspired by environmental and urban studies background, she renders organic forms in sleek, modern silhouettes.
• ChairishcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline marketplace where Middle Kingdom sells products. The platform features MK Porcelain products with a seller badge indicating their presence on the platform.
• Cobalt GuildminorOthersSister company to Middle Kingdom, focusing on blue and white, famille ware, and vintage finds. Operated as a separate but related business entity.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Astier de Villatte: Paris-based artisanal porcelain and ceramics maker known for handmade tableware, vases, and decorative objects sold through museum shops and design boutiques globally; shares Middle Kingdom's craft heritage, museum-channel distribution, and premium designer-adjacent positioning.
• Heath Ceramics: California-based handmade ceramics and tableware manufacturer with direct-to-consumer and wholesale channels, design collaborations, and museum-tier brand positioning — the closest U.S. analog to Middle Kingdom's artisan porcelain, mini-vase, and tableware business model.
• East Fork Pottery: North Carolina-based handmade pottery and tableware brand with strong DTC e-commerce, broad color palette, and museum/gift-shop wholesale channels; a direct analog in scale, artisan positioning, and modern-traditional craft synthesis.
• Mud Australia: Australian handmade porcelain producer focused on minimalist tableware and home objects in matte and glossy finishes, sold DTC and through design stores worldwide; comparable product language (matte mini vessels, colorful porcelain) and global boutique-wholesale model.
• 1882 Ltd. English fine bone china and porcelain producer reviving historic patterns with contemporary designers, sold through premium department stores and museum shops; shares Middle Kingdom's heritage-craft, museum-channel, and designer-collaboration DNA.

Broad incumbents

• Augarten Wien: Viennese porcelain manufacturer operating from historic imperial-era facilities, producing hand-painted figurines, vases, and tableware with museum-tier positioning; a European heritage analog that competes for the same luxury-gifting and collector mindshare as Middle Kingdom.
• Iittala: Finnish heritage design house and broad incumbent in the Scandinavian porcelain and tableware category; competes at the wider home-interior level rather than MK's artisan-niche, but overlaps in vase, bowl, and decorative-object merchandising at museum shops and design stores.
• Lenox Corporation: American heritage tableware and giftware brand with broad retail and gift-shop distribution; functions as a mass-premium incumbent in the same porcelain/ceramic home-goods category, anchoring the lower-priced end of Middle Kingdom's competitive set at museum and department-store channels.
• Royal Copenhagen: Historic Danish porcelain and tableware manufacturer with hand-painted and handcrafted premium lines, blue-and-white heritage, and global museum-shop presence — a broader incumbent that occupies similar shelf space at design retailers and competes for the same gifting and collector audiences.

Others

• MoMA Design Store: Retail arm of the Museum of Modern Art that curates and sells design objects including handmade ceramics and porcelain from independent makers; already a Middle Kingdom wholesale partner and therefore an ecosystem/retail-channel peer rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/middle-kingdom

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Middle Kingdom