Asian Art - Chapter 6

Head, Hongshan culture, 4000-3000 BCE, earthenware and jade

Tripod Pitcher, Longshan culture, 3000-1700 BCE, earthenware

Cloudlike plaque, Hongshan culture, 4700-2920 BCE, jade

Square Tube (Cong) with Masks, Liangzhu culture, 3300-2250 BCE, jade

Wine Vessel (Zun), Shang dynasty, 1300-1100 BCE, bronze

Mask with Hooked Cloud Ornament, Shang dynasty, 1300-1100 BCE, bronze

Master Lai’s Bell, Western Zhou dynasty, 900-800 BCE, bronze

Disc (Bi), Warring States period, 400-200 BCE, jade

Bowl, Warring States Period, 300-200 BCE, wood with lacquer

Hill-shaped Incense Burner, Han Dynasty, 113 BCE, bronze and gold

stoneware / earthenware

non-porous hard clay fired at higher temperatures / clay fired low temperatures and is porous.

slip / glaze

mixture of clay and water used to join clay parts  or decorate ceramics / mineral solution applied to ceramics after first firing to make them glossier or keep out water

naturalistic / abstract

representation that strives for accurate representation of reality / representation that rejects accurate representation of reality

relief / registers 

design elements that project forward from surface / vertical level

animistic

relating to the belief that everything has a soul or spirit, including natural phenomenon and ininanimate objects

divination / Mandate of Heaven

practice of foretelling future / Chinese practice stating Heaven grants a ruler the right to rule so long as he is virtuous.

lacquer

medium made from pigments of heated sap of lacquer tree, used to paint wood, cloth or paper

fengshui

art of choosing auspicious site for new construction

tumulus

funerary mound

material culture

Confucianism

political philosophy promoting filial piety and adherence to power structures of society

Daoism

philosophical - nature, unconventional thinking / religious - deity worship, immortality, dualism, divination

Buddhism

material culture

objects suggestive of the culture of a particular group

piece-mold casting process

create a clay model, create molds of clay from clay model, pour molten metal into molds

lost-wax casting

create wax model, fire wax model and clay mold together, causing wax to melt, pour molten bronze in gap left by wax.

inlay technique

create shallow recesses in material, pour new material in the gaps left