The China Institute has opened a new exhibit titled "Art in a Time of Chaos: Masterworks from Six Dynasties China" featuring over 100 ancient sculptures, ceramics, paintings and calligraphy works from the 3rd to 6th centuries. Many of the pieces were excavated from tombs and represent a turbulent political time in China that also saw great cultural and artistic achievements. The exhibit spreads across five rooms decorated to showcase the neutral-colored artifacts, including ceramic vessels, figurines meant for tombs, and sculptures depicting foreigners and Buddhas introduced during this period of foreign trade.
Asian Art Two Day Sale
Day 1 –
Friday 8 November 2019 at 4pm
At The Westbury Mayfair, W1S 2YF
Viewing to be held at -
15 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ
Sun 3 Nov 2019, 10.30am - 5pm
Mon 4 Nov 2019, 10.30am - 5pm
Tues 5 Nov 2019, 10.30am - 5pm
Weds 6 Nov, 10.30am - 5pm
Thurs 7 Nov, 10.30am - 7pm
Fri 8 Nov, from 10.30am
Day 2 –
Wednesday 13 November at 11am
At The Stansted Mountfitchet Auction Rooms
Viewing to be held at
Stansted Auction Rooms
Sat 9 Nov 2019, 10am - 3pm
Mon 11 Nov 2019, 9am - 7pm
Tues 12 Nov 2019, 9am - 5pm
Weds 13 Nov, from 9am
The urls:
Day 1
Lots 1 – 299
https://www.sworder.co.uk/auction/search?au=853
Day 2
Lots 300 – 537
https://www.sworder.co.uk/auction/search?au=879
Ancient Resource Auctions' Saturday, Oct. 3rd Online Auction #87 Features Fin...associate14
Up for bid are around 450 lots of authentic Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern, Holy Land, Byzantine, Asian and Pre-Columbian antiquities and examples of ethnographic art.
Asian Art Two Day Sale
Day 1 –
Friday 8 November 2019 at 4pm
At The Westbury Mayfair, W1S 2YF
Viewing to be held at -
15 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ
Sun 3 Nov 2019, 10.30am - 5pm
Mon 4 Nov 2019, 10.30am - 5pm
Tues 5 Nov 2019, 10.30am - 5pm
Weds 6 Nov, 10.30am - 5pm
Thurs 7 Nov, 10.30am - 7pm
Fri 8 Nov, from 10.30am
Day 2 –
Wednesday 13 November at 11am
At The Stansted Mountfitchet Auction Rooms
Viewing to be held at
Stansted Auction Rooms
Sat 9 Nov 2019, 10am - 3pm
Mon 11 Nov 2019, 9am - 7pm
Tues 12 Nov 2019, 9am - 5pm
Weds 13 Nov, from 9am
The urls:
Day 1
Lots 1 – 299
https://www.sworder.co.uk/auction/search?au=853
Day 2
Lots 300 – 537
https://www.sworder.co.uk/auction/search?au=879
Ancient Resource Auctions' Saturday, Oct. 3rd Online Auction #87 Features Fin...associate14
Up for bid are around 450 lots of authentic Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern, Holy Land, Byzantine, Asian and Pre-Columbian antiquities and examples of ethnographic art.
Paintings from Ancient Egypt
Paintings from Classical Greek Era
Paintings from the Roman Era
Byzantine Paintings
Romanesque Paintings
Paintings from the Gothic Era
Art in a Time of Chaos Ancient Treasures Come to China Institute
1. Art in a Time of Chaos: Ancient Treasures Come to China
Institute
www.cityguideny.com /article/Exhibit-Art-Chaos-New-China-Institute-
Walking into Art in a Time of Chaos at the new China Institute, you’re greeted by a group of little green men. Made
of glazed porcelain, each individually carved, the 10 diminutive figures (the tallest is barely eight inches) represent
musicians and a few listeners. So vivid are they, it’s hard to believe the boys have been playing for a long time—
since the year 280 or so.
The recently relocated China Institute has opened its spanking new gallery with a display of ancient artifacts. Art in a
Time of Chaos: Masterworks from Six Dynasties China exhibits 100-plus sculptures, ceramics, paintings and
calligraphic works dating from the 3rd to 6th centuries. Many of the pieces are, literally, buried treasures, excavated
from the tombs and crypts of nobles and high-ranking officials. They’re on view for the first time in the U.S.
Photos: Perry Hu
The Six Dynasties refers to an era when southern China was ruled successively by a half-dozen families and
northern China by five different clans. Although a pretty turbulent time politically and socially — as the name
suggests — it was also a rich period for literature, arts and crafts. “Great chaos led to extraordinary cultural and
intellectual achievements by artists who defined the soul of Chinese art for generations,” says China Institute
Director Willow Weilan Hai, chief curator of the exhibition.
The show spreads out over five rooms, their walls painted in soothing tones of purple, brunt orange, blue and green
– providing a good backdrop for the neutral or subtly colored objects (most are a greenish gray, called celadon, a
name that came to mean this style of porcelain itself). The first rooms are devoted to ceramics and earthenware,
ranging from massive (a two-piece, three-foot high lotus-themed vessel) to miniscule (a one-inch water bottle in the
form of a toad). The production of porcelain took off in a major way during this period, Weilan Hai notes, “so people
could really start using it in their everyday lives.” They used it in lamps, fruit trays and spittoons; in large jars, called
soul urns, carved with a village-worth of figurines on top, or in ewers and candle-holders shaped whimsically like a
tiger or chicken or curly-horned ram.
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2. There are a variety of small sculptures too, created to be interred within a tomb, to ensure a comfortable afterlife for
the occupant. These ranged from soldiers (more common in the more warlike north) to servants and entertainers
(more typical of the south). Unglazed, they were painted in lifelike colors: one attendant’s robe remains a rosy pink,
even though it dates to 570. The figurines are rich in lifelike details, too: Warhorses are fully equipped with bridles,
saddles, and saddle blankets; smiling court ladies wear the latest in 4th-century hairstyles and dress. While some
figures are stiff and stylized, others are remarkably fluid: You could swear that one seated dog is about to leap up to
greet his master.
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3. The Six Dynasties also saw the advent of foreign trade and foreign ideas: Buddhism, from India, took hold in China
at this time. One room in the exhibit features Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Foreigners — mostly from Persia or East
Asia —are depicted in several sculptures, too recognizable by triangular hats and distinctive features.
The remaining rooms offer more esoteric fare. One is devoted to calligraphy — a variety of script styles developed
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4. during the period — and the other to tomb wall paintings and mosaic murals. The exhibits here are mostly rubbings
or reproductions, and after the 3-D objects, they fall a little flat. But there is a vivid frieze decorating the sarcophagus
of government official. And also an endearing set of flat wood sticks, about the size of paint chips. Brushed with a
person’s name, title and village of origin, they worked as business cards, ritually exchanged at meetings and parties.
Art in a Time of Chaos: Masterworks from Six Dynasties China, 3rd to 6th Centuries is on display at China Institute
Gallery through March 19, 2017. For more information, visit chinainstitute.org.
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