The Chinese collection galleries reopened last week just in time to celebrate Chinese New Year on Friday. The galleries have been closed off an on for about six months due to the construction of the American and American Indian galleries on the second floor of the Nelson-Atkins Building.
As I wandered through the galleries this afternoon, I was happy to see old friends such as the monumental Guanyin of the Southern Sea and the gorgeous Flower Vase with Dragon Motif.
Even though it was heart breaking to have our Chinese collection missing for so long, the good news is that the time was used to incorporate objects and displays that have not been on view for awhile.
It was great fun checking out the displays of Tang Dynasty ceramics and two cases of Chinese mirrors. However, I was completely enchanted by a couple of Wine Jars from the Han Dynasty just inside Gallery 229.
What captured me about the jars is the brilliance of the paint and the lyrical, swirling designs of the decoration. I am certainly not an expert on Chinese stoneware but I have never seen any other examples of such dynamic and energetic designs.
As I read the label, I learned that the design was intended to create an "expressive pictorial manifestation of the Han vision of the world, the dynamic integration of the cosmic and moral orders that are endlessly revolved and reborn in an eternal cycle of Yin Yang and the Five Phases concept of the composition of the universe."
I left the galleries after an hour feeling energized and renewed which is just what a good museum visit should do.
Comments (1)
I am also recently fascinated by Han dynasty pottery and have been adding similar pieces to my own collection. The han dynasty hill jar you have pictured above is pretty amazing, with the original cap and color - often the cold painted pigments are lost over time as they especially hard to clean (they wash off/flake off upon contact with water).
Posted by Chinese antiques specialist | September 5, 2010 1:21 AM
Posted on September 5, 2010 01:21