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Agate belt set

This agate belt set consists of one tail piece and eight squ…
Archaistic jade gui (ritual sceptre)

A gui , a rectangular tablet with a pointed end, was an embl…
Archaistic jade ring

Archaism (Chinese: fang-gu ) is an important aspect of Chine…
Belt hook

This arched belt hook is made from silvered and gilt bronze …
Bronze belt hook

From an early date Chinese men used girdles to hold up their…
Bronze bull head

This bull's head and a dragon-like head (now at the Freer Ga…
Bronze ding (ritual food vessel)

Bronze vessels were first cast in China during the Shang dyn…
Bronze dui inlaid with gold and silver

Bronze vessels of the Eastern Zhou period (770-221 BC) diffe…
Bronze gui (ritual food vessel)

In 1050 BC, King Wu established the Zhou dynasty, having con…
Bronze leaping feline

This bronze cat-like creature stands arched, with tail point…
Bronze you inlaid with gold and silver

Bronze vessels were first cast in about 1600 BC. They were u…
Ceramic Liubo players

It is an ancient Chinese belief that the world one passed in…
Ceramic tomb model

From ancient times, the Chinese believed that life after dea…
Chen Shun, Zhoujintang ('Hall of Daytime Elegance'), followed by the Zhoujintang ji ('Record of

The sixteenth-century artist Chen Shun was an accomplished p…
Chinese seals

These two seals once belonged to the great collector Sir Han…
Cloisonné jar

The Chinese perfected the cloisonné enamel technique in…
Cloisonné mandala

This miniature building represents a Buddhist mandala in t…
Coral snuff bottle

Coral, the calcium-like deposit left by certain marine anima…
Ding Yunpeng, The God of Literature, a hanging scroll painting

Ding Yunpeng (active about 1584-1638) was from Xiuning, Anhu…
Earthenware model of a cart with bullock and human figures

From the time of the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) tomb models…
Emperor Huizong (attributed to), Gardenia and Lichee with Birds, a handscroll painting

This realistic painting depicts birds amid clusters of liche…
Gilded comb top

The semi-nomadic Qidans (or Khitans) took advantage of the c…
Gilt bronze mandala

This exquisite bronze mandala is an example of the Sino-Tibe…
Gilt-bronze figure of Padmapani

Buddhism was introduced to China before AD 65, though it was…
Gilt-bronze figure of Shakyamuni

In the eighth century AD, a Tibetan king, Khri-song, invited…
Glazed pottery pond with figures

The ancient Chinese believed that the afterlife was like thi…
Gold dagger handle

In ancient China, gold and silver were not the prestigious m…
Gold garment plaque

In the Yuan dynasty (AD 1279-1368), some Mongol officials wo…
Iron sword in a lacquered scabbard with carved wood fittings

Lacquer vessels have been used in China since Neolithic time…
Ivory figure of Chi She

Chi She is shown a woman suckling an old woman (her mother-i…
Ivory figure of Xiwangmu

Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, is one of China's mo…
Ivory snuff bottle, a foshou citrus fruit

The Chinese have used ivory since the Shang dynasty (about 1…
Ivory snuff equipment

Snuff is powdered tobacco, flavoured with various herbs and …
Jade bi

The Qianlong emperor (reigned 1736-95) was a great collector…
Jade brush pot

The dense, detailed carving on this substantial brush pot de…
Jade cicada

The cicada often appeared on birthday gifts in China, repres…
Jade cicadas

The people of the Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) appear to ha…
Jade coiled dragon

It was long believed that Chinese civilization began in the …
Jade cong

Cong , essentially tubes with a square cross-section and a c…
Jade demon mask

This powerful, half-human face has an open jaw with fangs. V…
Jade disc, or bi

Stone rings were being made by the peoples of eastern China …
Jade dish

Jade has always been highly prized in China, for its rarity,…
Jade eye plaques

Jade has traditionally been the most highly prized of all ma…
Jade face

This jade carving combines a human-like face with large tusk…
Jade figure of a crouching animal

The people of the Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) believed tha…
Jade figure of a horse

This impressive horse belongs to a small group of carved jad…
Jade figure of a standing man

Small carvings of human figures were made intermittently dur…
Jade ge

China had a large stone industry in Neolithic times. As earl…
Jade hair ornament

This hair ornament was used to hold a hair bun, or topknot, …
Jade headdress ornament

This is an exceptionally well carved example of a type of he…
Jade mountain

Reproduction of the world in miniature is a recurring theme …
Jade ornament

These four discs of jade were for the decoration of a belt o…
Jade ornament for a weapon hilt

Jade sword fittings of the Eastern Zhou period (770-221 BC) …
Jade ornament for the top of an axe shaft

Whereas graves of the Hongshan culture (about 3800-2700 BC) …
Jade ornament in the shape of a flying deity

This small figure is carved in openwork. His body, shown fly…
Jade pendant in the shape of a dragon

In ancient China, jade pendants were strung with beads to ma…
Jade pendant in the shape of an animal face

During the Shang (about 1500-1050 BC) and early Western Zhou…
Jade pendants in the form of dragons

Apart from variation in the alteration of the stones, these …
Jade pendants in the form of stags

These two animals are very similar; their only significant d…
Jade phoenix ornament

In Western legend, the phoenix, or Red Bird, rises from the …
Jade plaques

This set of ornately carved belt plaques comprises sixteen p…
Jade rhyton

This cup takes the form of the traditional horn-shaped rhyt…
Jade slit rings (jue)

Slit rings, later named jue , along with discs, rings and ar…
Lacquer snuff bottle

Snuff is tobacco which has been ground into powder with perf…
Landscape by Dong Qichang, a hanging scroll painting

This example of a hanging scroll by Dong Qichang (1555-1636)…
Landscape by Zhu Xiuli, a handscroll painting

In this handscroll, Zhu Xiuli (born 1938) reinterprets tradi…
Landscape in 'boneless' style by Hu Youkun, an album leaf painting

In this album leaf, the artist uses colour wash only, with n…
Landscape in the style of Ni Zan by Wang Hui, a fan painting

Although this painting is by the artist Wang Hui (1632-1717)…