Later Chinese Bronzes for the Scholar’s Studio

Author: Paul Bromberg

Publisher: Arts of Asia Publications Ltd

USD $80.00

By Paul Bromberg, Introduction by Rose Kerr

This new book focuses on those later bronze objects, from the Song dynasty (960–1279) onwards, both utilitarian and for the scholar’s aesthetic pleasure, produced for the scholar’s studio. Utilising his own exceptional collection of later Chinese bronzes, the author provides an overview of the form and function of these diverse objects, and also considers separately the various forms, hidden meanings and cultural allusions of later bronze paperweights—small, elegant, charming and whimsical artworks that would have graced the scholar’s desk.

Combining an Introduction by Rose Kerr, informative essays, an impressive catalogue and detailed photographs, this volume thus provides a single reference source on the subject matter.

Published by Arts of Asia Publications Ltd.

Hardcover with 227 colour images, 172 pages, English with Chinese captions, 31 x 23 cm, published in 2025

ISBN: 9789887093602

Description

CONTENTS

FOREWORD
Collecting Later Chinese Bronzes

INTRODUCTION
Later Bronzes in the Chinese Scholar’s World
Later Bronzes for the Chinese Scholar’s Studio: Form and Function
Consideration of Later Bronze Paperweights

CATALOGUE
Desk Accoutrements
Incense Paraphernalia
Miscellaneous Objects

Chronology of China
Map of Main Cities in China
Bibliography
Acknowledgements

————

This is a rare volume, combining serious scholarship with delight. Hitherto, later Chinese bronzes have not received the interest and study that they deserve. Here they get both, with an introduction by Rose Kerr, a long-time authority in this unappreciated area, and studies by the collector, Paul Bromberg. The wide range of vessels, incense holders and above all paperweights presents us with the enthusiasm and enjoyment that Mr. Bromberg has brought to this important topic.
—Dame Jessica Rawson, Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology and former Warden of Merton College, Oxford

This book is very readable. Paul Bromberg has delivered what he has promised to do: namely, to provide an up-to-date overview of bronze objects made for scholars in late Ming/early Qing times. The essays and catalogue entries are informative and to the point, without overburdening the reader with superfluous or irrelevant details.
—Ming Wilson, Formerly Senior Curator in the Asian Department, V&A

Paul Bromberg has published approximately 120 top-quality Ming and Qing small bronzes, originally collected for the scholar’s studio. These chart changes in taste and product­ion over a period of some 600 years. Combining with an essay by Rose Kerr, a pioneer in the study of later bronzes, the author delves into his collection, drawing out stories of owners and makers, markets and usage. There are interesting connections with the British Museum and other public collections. The catalogue entries that follow provide the reader with a fascinating array of tactile sculptures and vessels, with details of provenance and publications.
—Jessica Harrison-Hall, Head of the China Section, Curator of the Sir Percival David Collections of Chinese Ceramics, and of Chinese Decorative Arts and Ceramics at the British Museum

This book is a welcome contribution to the little-known and little-published subject of later Chinese bronzes for the scholar’s studio. The author has been exemplary in his exploration of ‘collectable and affordable’ items and has admirably organised them into terrific compilations. The book is an excellent example of its type.
—Professor Peter Y.K. Lam, Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, CUHK

The literati community in China represents a remarkable tradition of scholarly study undertaken in deliberately simple and often rustic circumstances. Later Chinese Bronzes for the Scholar’s Studio illustrates, and explains in fascinating detail, the defined range of small objects which an educated man required to accompany his escape to an idealised, tranquil environment where nothing mattered but scholarship.
—Colin Sheaf, Chair of The Sir Percival David Foundation Trust