Author: DEYDIER, CHRISTIAN; BEURDELEY, MICHEL (DOREWORD); TRANSLATED FROM FRENCH BY SELIGMAN, JANET
Title: Chinese Bronzes
Description: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. 1980, 1st Edition. (ISBN: 0847803236). Hardcover, with dust jacket. Book, English text; Hardcover (cloth with dust jacket in slipcase); 25.5 x 29.5 cm; 2 Kg; 252 pages with black and white and a few colour illustrations.; Used with signs of wear on the slipcase and dust jacket. The top right side of the dust jacket is slightly worn with a minor scuff. Interior in very good condition with minor signs of wear. The slipcase show some stains and wear marks throughout.; This magnificent, splendidly illustrated book discusses recent archaeological finds in China and examines the role they are playing in the expansion of Western knowledge and appreciation of ancient Chinese art. This is particularly true of the bronzes that have come to light during the excavation of royal tombs. Clearly, these elegant works constitute a major artistic genre. As Hilton Kramer noted in his recent New York Times review of the major exhibition, "The Great Bronze Age of China,' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: 'What this glimpse into the dawn of Chinese civilization reveals is an artistic culture of considerable scope and complexity and astonishing, almost runaway technical prowess.' As Chinese Bronzes reveals, the use of bronze in China was limited to highly significant objects: the medium itself was considered precious, magical, almost sacred. Bronze artifacts were intended for imperial or noble use and included a wide range of ceremonial vessels. Even the earliest extant bronzes, from the Shang dynasty, are marked by a high degree of sophistication in both design and craftsmanship. Such early masterpieces of metalwork are part of an artistic continuum that had its origins in prehistory. Across the millennia, stylistic change and development in these bronzes mirrored many of the complex crosscurrents of social, political and religious change in China. Chinese Bronzes provides a rich historical perspective as it traces this artistic evolution from dynasty to dynasty, examining chronologically such diverse influences as Confucianism, Buddhism and anti- Buddhist reaction, and the contact with Islamic art which resulted from trade with Persia. Richly illustrated with hundreds of unusual and rarely reproduced examples, this survey of bronzes includes a pictorial catalogue of 102 specific identifications, summarizing the entire development of this area of Chinese art. The technical problems of casting bronze are treated; a glossary explains the intricacies of Chinese terminology; an index and bibliography are also included. Very Good/Dust Jacket Included.

Keywords: 0847803236 china,chinese bronzes,the shang dynasty,the zhou dynasty,inscriptions,weapons,fibulae,mirrors,the han dynasty,the six dynasties,the sui dynasty,the tang dynasty,the song,yuan and ming dynasties,chinese art,museums,collections Chinese Art


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