A catalog illustrating 354 Chinese jades from the collection of Brian McElney, the Peony Collection and the Rannerdale Collection, this bilingual volume includes essays on the art of Chinese jade carving.

The Chinese have revered the mystery and magic of jade since ancient times. This authoritative book provides an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of six thousand years of development, from the earliest cultures to the twentieth century. The author describes and assesses the variety of roles and functions, ritual and ceremonial, which jade has played in China. Recent discoveries from hitherto little known neolithic cultures of around 3000 BC have highlighted the extraordinary skills of the craftsmen and the complexity of the cultures that supported them. Other remarkable finds include the precursors of the famous jade suits, which range from jade plaques and shrouds dating from about 900 BC to superb pendants and sword fittings carved for a king buried near Canton in around 122 BC. This catalogue describes over 300 outstanding pieces from Sir Joseph Hotung's collection, which spans the history of jade in China. Drawing upon the very latest archaeological reseach to set jade in its historical and artistic context, this work will stand as a definitive reference for many years to come. In her wide-ranging introduction to the catalogue the author analyses the arguments and sets out new views, supplementing this major essay with a series of shorter introductions to the chronological sections into which the jades of different types, shapes and functions have been divided. The book is fully illustrated throughout with specially commisioned photographs of each piece from the collection, all in color, along with comparative examples from the rich collection of the British Museum.

Drawing on the British Museum's extensive collection, this book explores the traditional hierarchy of materials and techniques reaching back as far as the Han Dynasty in the third century BC. In the history and character of the works under scrutiny, this sumptuously illustrated book conveys an understanding of Chinese art in all its great variety.

FOREWORD RECUMBENT HORSE Chinese, Ming Dynasty. 1 Length: 3 /2 in (9 em). The formation of the head with its marked convexity of outline resembles that of one depicted on a mural painting in a Northern Song tomb, discovered at Pai-Sha in Honan. Despite its size, this horse has a strong sculptural quality. Worked from pale green jade with light brown markings. t has been said that a single daily issue of a newspaper effort to survey the jade scene worldwide. These volumes such as The New York Times, Neue Zurcher Zeitung or Le were bigger than was necessary considering the amount of Monde contains more information than someone text included (measuring 24 x 18 inches, 61 x 46 cm, and living in the 17th century would have faced in a lifetime. weighing 110 lb (50 kg) together), and Bishop was not Jade scholarship cannot escape the information explosion interested in wide dissemination of the subject. He printed of our century. Our knowledge on the subject of jade has only 106 copies, none of which was for sale, and then des been radically expanded in two directions, from the past troyed the plates. The copies were sent to important libra and in the present, and a definitive survey bringing together ries, museums and crowned heads around the world. As the latest research from around the world is long overdue.