Art from ritual. Ancient Chinese bronze vessels from the Arthur M. Sackler collections. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., April 23, 1983-September 6, 1983.

Ein gutes und sauberes Exemplar. - China, vast in size and population, rich in history and culture, is the very center of the geopolitical gravity of East Asia; it also possesses the oldest continuous cultural tradition in the world. For Westerners, there are few tasks more challenging than to comprehend the character, history, aspirations and ways of thinking of the Chinese people. During the past half-century, Western studies of Chinese art have proved to be an effective pathway not only into realms of extraordinary beauty but also to an understanding of the values that have dominated Chinese society. For China's early historical era, the period in which many of her ethical and social attitudes were formed, the most important artistic relic has been the ritual bronze vessel. During the first three decades of this century hundreds of vessels were heedlessly plundered from old tombs, sold on the antique markets and came to rest in museums and private collections. Often lacking any record of their place of origin, the vessels have been unusually difficult to arrange chronologically or to explain in terms of tlieir ritual or symbolic functions. The world's most comprehensive private collection of Chinese ritual bronze vessels today is that of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler of New York. Containing over four hundred items, it represents virtually every facet of the art form: the stages of its technical and aesthetic development, the different vessel types, the regional variations. ISBN 0916724557