If you've been collecting or are just interested in Chinese art and antiques you've no doubt heard of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. You've probably also have heard of Avery Brundage and how his collection was the stimulus for the creation of and building the museum which was completed and opened in 1966 on land donated by the city of San Francisco.
The deal Mr. Brundage offered was just as simple and straight forward as the man himself, if a museum could be built in San Francisco for his collection of over 7800 objects, he would donate it in it's entirety period. READ MORE ABOUT MR. BRUNDAGE CLICK HERE
Keep in mind, this was no ordinary collection, but was the largest and finest collection in private hands in the entire world.
So, build it they did! Good to his word, he followed through with the donation and thus created one of the truly greatest institutional collections anywhere in the world. It instantly joined the ranks of the MET, MFA Boston, British Museum, the Guimet-Paris and the Rijksmuseum.
Since then, the collection has grown further, building on the foundation laid by Mr Brundage, the museum has since become an important educational center for early and cutting edge contemporary Asian Art. It's roots however are forever inextricably linked to the initial gift by a very generous man.
You can find direct links to the ASIAN ART MUSEUM on our Home Page in the yellow Research Objects Block area DROP Down Menu.
If you've never been there, below is a film we did on the museum, it's history and a good well deserved bit about Mr. Brundage and how he became one of the worlds greatest collectors.
Just a few highlights to the Asian Art Museum collection.
Below are just a few of the thousands of objects online from this collection.
Date: prob. 1100-1050 BCE
Historical Period: Shang dynasty (approx. 1600-1050 BCE)
Object Name: Ritual object
Materials: Bronze
Dimensions: H. 9 in x W. 9 in x D. 14 1/2 in, H. 22.8 cm x W. 22.8 cm x D. 32.8
Credit Line: The Avery Brundage CollectionThe only bronze work in the form of a rhinoceros made during the Shang dynasty, this vessel is the most famous object in the Asian Art Museum’s collection and among the most celebrated ancient Chinese bronzes in the world.
The rhinoceros exemplifies a type of luxurious object befitting aristocrats in the Chinese Bronze Age (2000– 220 bce). This vessel, originally with a now-missing lid, likely functioned as a container for alcohol, offered as a sacrifice to the gods or ancestors at rituals that incorporated ancient Chinese religious and philosophical beliefs.
The rhinoceros’s flesh-like representation distinguishes it from other animal-shaped vessels of the same period, which have dense geometric motifs. It features a round belly and muzzle, animated eyes, and life-like folds of skin around its head and shoulders, creating an effect of dynamic energy and animation.
Historical Period: Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Reign of the Jiajing emperor (1522-1566)
Materials: Porcelain with underglaze cobalt and overglaze multicolor decoration
Style or Ware: Wucai
Dimensions: H. 19 1/2 in x Diam. 15 3/4 in, H. 49.5 cm x Diam. 40.0 cm
Credit Line: The Avery Brundage CollectionAs polychrome decoration gained widespread popularity during the reign of the Jiajing emperor (1522-1566), advances in the technique were made. Potters learned to mix finely ground minerals—such as iron, copper, and cobalt—to obtain subdued color hues. Color themes were broadened and enriched from those of previous eras.
This jar illustrates a method of polychrome decoration in which both painting and firing occurred twice, before the piece was glazed and after an initial firing. Underglaze blue was used together with overglaze pigments as color shading to complete the design. The pictorial scene on the covered jar presents an exuberant theme with seven tones in overall harmony. That the potter sought out new color hues is evident in the attenuated greens and overlapping oranges and reds. Here the potter mastered the use of tone, clay, and design.
Historical Period: Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722)
Materials: Porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze polychrome decoration
Dimensions: H. 13 1/2 in x Diam. 13 in, H. 34.3 cm x Diam. 33.0 cm
Credit Line: The Avery Brundage CollectionIn wealthy households, the garden seat is usually padded and covered with a piece of brocade. The decoration on the seat replicates a piece of brocade with two dragons contending for the flaming pearl, above longevity rocks and waves. The Eight Auspicious Buddhist Symbols are scattered throughout the seat, also recognized in Chinese as symbols of longevity. They are the Wheel of the Law, conch, standard of victory, parasol, lotus blossom, vase, twin fish, and endless knot. The center decoration takes the shape of an ancient coin, a symbol for wealth.
Historical Period: Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Reign of the Qianlong emperor (1736-1795)
Materials: Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration and yellow overglaze
Dimensions: H. 1 3/4 in x Diam. 8 3/8 in, H. 4.4 cm x Diam. 21.3 cmTo set off the underglaze-blue decoration on this dish, a layer of overglaze yellow enamel was applied on the ground, a technique invented by the Xuande imperial kiln in the fifteenth century. A close copy of the Xuande style, this piece replicates every feature of the original wares, including the color, motif, and composition. The bundle of lotuses on the interior bottom is accompanied by floral scrolls on both the interior and exterior. A narrow cloud scroll and meandering band were employed to border the rim. The one feature uncharacteristic of Xuande ware observable on this dish is its yellow-glazed base.
Materials: Cinnabar lacquer
Dimensions: H. 3 1/2 in x Diam. 5 in
Credit Line: The Avery Brundage Collection
Department: Chinese Art
Collection: Decorative ArtsSeveral designs of flowers and figures-in-landscape found on fifteenth-century lacquerware continued to be used well into the Qing dynasty. One of these design series, represented here by a box, is decorated in vigorously carved shallow relief depicting a boy playing in the landscape at the top of the box. The character for happiness alternating with melon petals—a symbol of fertility— along the lid’s borders indicates it was made for a celebration.
Date: approx. 1300-1050 BCE
Historical Period: Shang dynasty (approx. 1600-1050 BCE)
Object Name: Ritual wine vessel
Materials: Bronze
Dimensions: H. 11 in x W. 9 3/4 in x D. 7 1/2 in, H. 27.9 cm x W. 24.8 cm x 19 cm
Credit Line: The Avery Brundage Collection
This vessel appears to be in direct line of descent from the Middle Shang lihe (see Pl. II) while displaying some important structural modifications. The long, tubular spout now stems from the shoulder of the vessel, the movable lid is connected to the top of the handle by a chain, and the proportions of the various components of the body reflect a state of normalization, which is typical of the Late Shang period taken as a whole.
Except for its neck, its chain and the lower parts of its legs, this vessel is decorated with geometric and animal designs. The main motifs bear incised details and appear in fairly high relief against a background of raised spirals. The casting is unusually crisp and precise. The knob of the lid is divided into six vertical sections by six deep grooves joining at the top. Each section is incised with three tiers of what might be an imaginative version of the scale motif. A large, coiled dragon with fangs, talons and a scaled body occupies the major part of the dome of the lid. Within its coils are two small turning dragons while under its tail is located yet another one with a bottle-shaped horn. All these dragons are gaping. The shoulder band contains three groups of two confronted dragons with gaping mouths, fangs and talons. The axes of these groups are the handle and two plain ridges. After a short interruption, these ridges span the entire height of the lobes where, together with the lower part of the handle, they serve as axes for the three large taotie masks with fangs and horns shaped like silkworms. The spout is incised with four rising blades containing nondescript animal shapes and also with a band of barbed spirals. The bow-shaped handle is crowned by a bovine head with its ears in full round, while its lower part is incised with geometrical motifs. The same four-graph inscription is cast inside the lid and behind the handle. The top two graphs represent an ax over a beheaded man, possibly a clan sign. The remaining two graphs read (Fu Yi or "Father Yi," a posthumous name).
Historical Period: Northern Song period (960-1127)
Materials: High-fired ceramic with white glaze and minor crackle
Style or Ware: ding ware
Dimensions: H. 16 3/4 in x Diam. 10 1/4 in, H. 42.6 cm x Diam. 26 cm
Credit Line: The Avery Brundage Collection It has become increasingly apparent that ding vases from the Song onward were formed taller and broader at the shoulder. A tall version with a dish-shaped mouth and a short neck in a rounded profile of the middle Northern Song (CGK Zenshu 1981 vol. 9: pl. 56) is the forebearer of the meiping shape that was to become widely produced later on. The shape, referred to in a twelfth-century text as jingping (elongated vase), is described as a wine bottle with a small, round-edged mouth on an elongated body (CGK Zenshu 1981 vol. 9: pl. 78).
Historical Period: Tang dynasty (618-907)
Object Name: Tomb figure
Materials: Glazed low-fired ceramic
Dimensions: H. 23 7/8 in x W. 23 in x D. 7 in, H. 60.6 cm x W. 58.4 cm x D. 17.8 cm
Credit Line: Transfer from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Department: Chinese Art
Historical Period: Tang dynasty (618-907)
Materials: Low-fired ceramic with three-color glaze, including two friezes in dark green containing cream-colored prunus blossom
Style or Ware: Sancai
Dimensions: H. 9 1/2 in x Diam. 7 in, H. 24 cm x Diam. 17.8 cm
Credit Line: The Avery Brundage Collection
Aesthetic ideals during the High Tang reflect the flourishing culture and economy of the period, as forms developed with a sense of fullness, symbolic of nobility and wealth. Among three-color glazed wares, this type of jar with a rounded rim and a short neck matching the full body on a flat base powerfully expresses the Tang ideal of plumpness. Pieces of this shape, sometimes accompanied by a cover, were beloved by potters, who decorated them with a variety of patterns adopted from exotic textiles (Luoyang 1980: 122-3; Li 1989: pl. 42).
If you're doing reasearch and needa great resource of a superb collection, always think of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
If you like what you see and want to become part of this great organization, consider joining. Mr Brundage would applaud you for it..
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