The China Coast

 Asian Art and Antiques

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Bill of Lading - Chinese New Year 2012

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon!

The most powerful of all Zodiac signs.

Dragon people are said to be born leaders, colorful personalities
and to frequently help others.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear China Coast Friends,

Best Wishes for the Year of the Dragon!

May we all become more peaceful and wiser in this year.

Please look at the "dragons" and dragon-related animals the China Coast has to offer. Go straight to our Dragons!

Asian Art is everywhere! The OCS (Oriental Ceramic Society) in London always offers the most splendid lectures and shows. On February 21st: a survey of Modern Chinese Ink Paintings at the British Museum, by Dr. Clarissa von Spree, curator of Chinese calligraphy, paintings, prints and the Central Asian collection at the BM.

Probably my all time favorite lecture would be Visions of Canton, 1700-1850, on May 8th, by Dr. Patrick Connor (Martyn Gregory Gallery) who in his books introduced me many moons ago to China Trade paintings, to the hongs (factories) and the Bund in Shanghai, and to artists like Chinnery, Alexander and Allom.

For information on these presentations, email ocslondon@btinternet.com or go to www.ocs-london.com

At the Shanghai Museum a special exhibition takes place May 1st to June 30th, Art of Bamboo Carving. Check it out at http://www.shanghaimuseum.net/en/history/history.html


We associate Jingdezhen with antique Chinese porcelains but contemporary ceramic artists continue to work in Jingdezhen. Four porcelain artists display their works at the Victoria & Albert, London, until March 25th. Ah Xian, Roger Law, Felicity Aylieff and Takeshi Yasuda. Go to www.vam.ac.uk

One of the most important Asian art fairs takes place in New York, Arts of Pacific Asia New York, March 16th to March 24th. http://www.caskeylees.com/NY_Asia/NY_Asia.html

And not to miss is the San Francisco Tribal & Textile Arts Show, http://www.caskeylees.com/SF_Tribal/SF_Tribal.html, in February.

I have been meaning to recommend that you visit the Linden Centre - http://www.linden-centre.com/ in Xizhou, Yunnan, Southwest China. I met the owners Brian and Jeannee Linden by chance several years ago in Door County, Wisconsin where they had a fantastic Asian art gallery. Over the last five years or so they build, reconstructed, preserved, restored architectural buildings, opened a wonderful hotel in an old mansion, and now the entire facility is a nationally protected heritage site. Their goal is to preserve the rich culture and ethnic diversity of this place where the busy China tea, silk and horse trading routes ran between Thailand, Burma and Central China. The weather is balmy, the foothills of the Himalayas are close and programs are offered all year round. Please visit their website at
http://www.linden-centre.com/


Much closer for some of us is the San Antonio Museum of Art offering a seminar about Sensational Color:A Global Heritage of Pigments and Dyes, February 4th, from 9:30AM to 4:00PM, by a panel of international experts. And do not forget the exhibit 5000 Years of Chinese Jade shown until February 19th which brings together extraordinary pieces from several museums including the National Museum of History of Taiwan; John Johnston Curator of Asian Art will give a talk January 31st about Dragons in Chinese Jade. More info at www.samuseum.org

I also wanted to alert you about a future exhibit at the Houston Museum of Fine Art, Elegant Perfection: Masterpieces of Courtly and Religious Art from the Tokyo National Museum, February 19th-April 8th. Twenty-five rarely seen objects including designated National Treasures will be shown at the museum's new Arts of Japan Gallery. http://mfah.org/

The Denver Art Museum - http://denverartmuseum.org/home --- has two important exhibits - I think I mentioned the Xu Beihong Paintings before but Threads of Heaven shows Qing dynasty textiles, court robes and insignia badges from the museum's collection but closes January 29th.

And as a final note - I recently rediscovered the Textiles Asia Journal, www.textilesasia.com published three times a year with very timely articles including one Celebrating the Year of the Dragon, by John Vollmer whose book In the Presence of the Dragon Throne about Qing dynasty costumes in the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) was one of my first Asian textile books.

Let me know if you are looking for anything I could help you find or if you would like me to handle a sale for you.

Cheers!

Elisabeth

Chinese Hardstone Dragon

Chinese Jade Fondling Piece

Chinese Embroidered Silk Altar Frontal

Chinese Architectural Dragon Fragment

Pair of Burmese Temple Carvings

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