Later Chinese Bronzes for the Scholar’s Studio is a welcome addition to an area on which little has been published. It focuses on those later bronze objects, from the Song dynasty (960–1279) onwards, both utilitarian and for the scholar’s aesthetic pleasure, produced for the scholar’s studio.
Bromberg provides an overview of the form and function of these diverse objects, making ample uses of examples from his own splendid collection of later Chinese bronzes, and considers separately the various forms, hidden meanings and cultural allusions of later bronze paperweights—small, elegant, charming and whimsical artworks that would have graced the scholar’s desk.
The volume includes an Introduction by the scholar Rose Kerr, several informative and well-written essays, an impressive catalogue, detailed photographs, helpful image captions and provenance information.
Overall, this is a splendid compilation of scarce information on a relatively new and exciting collecting area – one that is worthy of scholarship in its own right.
LISTEN TO A PODCAST in which Paul Bromberg discusses Later Chinese Bronzes.
READ AN INTERVIEW with Paul Bromberg about the writing of Later Chinese Bronzes.
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
Collecting Later Chinese Bronzes
INTRODUCTION
Later Bronzes in the Chinese Scholar’s World
Later Bronzes for the Chinese Scholar’s Studio: Form and Function
Consideration of Later Bronze Paperweights
CATALOGUE
Desk Accoutrements
Incense Paraphernalia
Miscellaneous Objects
Chronology of China
Map of Main Cities in China
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
REVIEWS FOR ‘LATER CHINESE BRONZES’
Later Chinese Bronzes reviewed on the Asian Review of Books website.
ENDORSEMENTS FOR ‘LATER CHINESE BRONZES’
This is a rare volume, combining serious scholarship with delight. Hitherto, later Chinese bronzes have not received the interest and study that they deserve. Here they get both, with an introduction by Rose Kerr, a long-time authority in this unappreciated area, and studies by the collector, Paul Bromberg. The wide range of vessels, incense holders and above all paperweights presents us with the enthusiasm and enjoyment that Mr. Bromberg has brought to this important topic.
Dame Jessica Rawson, Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology and former Warden of Merton College, Oxford
Paul Bromberg has published approximately 120 top-quality Ming and Qing small bronzes, originally collected for the scholar’s studio. These chart changes in taste and production over a period of some 600 years. Combining with an essay by Rose Kerr, a pioneer in the study of later bronzes, the author delves into his collection, drawing out stories of owners and makers, markets and usage. There are interesting connections with the British Museum and other public collections. The catalogue entries that follow provide the reader with a fascinating array of tactile sculptures and vessels, with details of provenance and publications.
Jessica Harrison-Hall, Head of the China Section, Curator of the Sir Percival David Collections of Chinese Ceramics, and of Chinese Decorative Arts and Ceramics at the British Museum
This book is a welcome contribution to the little-known and little-published subject of later Chinese bronzes for the scholar’s studio. The author has been exemplary in his exploration of ‘collectable and affordable’ items and has admirably organised them into terrific compilations. The book is an excellent example of its type.
Professor Peter Y.K. Lam, Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, CUHK
The literati community in China represents a remarkable tradition of scholarly study undertaken in deliberately simple and often rustic circumstances. Later Chinese Bronzes for the Scholar’s Studio illustrates, and explains in fascinating detail, the defined range of small objects which an educated man required to accompany his escape to an idealised, tranquil environment where nothing mattered but scholarship.
Colin Sheaf, Chair of The Sir Percival David Foundation Trust
This book is very readable. Paul Bromberg has delivered what he has promised to do: namely, to provide an up-to-date overview of bronze objects made for scholars in late Ming/early Qing times. The essays and catalogue entries are informative and to the point, without overburdening the reader with superfluous or irrelevant details.
Ming Wilson, Formerly Senior Curator in the Asian Department, V&A
