Chinese Pottery Burial Objects of the Sui and T'ang Dynasties

Hugh M.Moss Ltd., London, 1970 Book. Fair. Soft cover. 1st Edition. English text; Paperback; 20 x 25.5 cm; 0.376 Kg; 80 pages with black and white illustrations; Signs of wear in the back cover, front cover and spine. Mark on the cover, spine and back cover due to the removal of an old sticker. No highlighting or writing is text. Good readable copy.; Catalogue from the exhibition Chinese Pottery Burial Objects of the Sui and T'ang Dynasties with special reference to the scientific testing of pottery wares, and the works of the forger. Arranged in conjunction with the Research Laboratory for Archaeology, Oxford.; "When one thinks of T'ang ceramics it is not the wares which were in everyday life use during the period which spring to mind, but the prancing horses and camels, and the dancers and musicians, together with the exotic, partially glazed bowls, ewers and vases. These are the wares recovered from tombs when the railways ploughed their way across China. The point which has never been stressed strongly enough is that they were essentially burial objects and not items of everyday use. It is conjectural whether these vessels bore any relationship to the secular wares in use at the time-any more than did the animals, with their strikingly weird glazes and pigments, resemble their living counterparts. The wares of Yueh and Hsing, in use at the time, were much more suitable for household use by virtue of their shapes and impervious bodies (achieved by firing at high temperatures) than were the partially glazed burial obejcts. These burial wares do not form any sort of link with the wares of the Sung, which were to follow, as do the Yueh and Hsing pieces; and so the burial objects of the T'ang may perhaps be considered as an art form with less domestic and more ritual significance than is normally associated with ceramics. Because of this, far more emotive creativeness was entailed in their manufacture and these intense feelings are able to reach out over the centuries to excite a kind of appreciation today which is not aroused by any type of pottery. With this in mind, this exhibition has been assembled to attempt to crystallize and enhance the spiritual aura which surrounds its contents." excerpt from the introduction by Adrian M. Joseph and Hugh M. Moss, June, 1970..