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Books > Arts & Architecture > Art forms, treatments & subjects > Decorative arts & crafts > Jewellery & jewellery-making
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Bringing Heaven to Earth - Silver Jewellery and Ornament in the Late Qing Dynasty (Paperback)
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Bringing Heaven to Earth - Silver Jewellery and Ornament in the Late Qing Dynasty (Paperback)
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The prowess of Chinese creative abilities in the decorative arts in
the 19th and early 20th centuries was well known globally, but,
while much has been written about Chinese textiles and on the
influence of the East on European styles of the time, the story of
the influence of Western formats and tastes on the manufacture of
Chinese jewellery in the period has, amazingly, never been told. In
examining 50 objects of exatraordinary quality from an important
private North American collection, this book seeks to redress the
situation and reveal the splendour of silver and silver-gilt
jewellery of the late Qing dynasty. An ancient and sophisticated
culture, the Chinese - who have since records begun made up about a
quarter of world's population - had almost everything they could
need or want within their own borders ...except for silver. The
metal had long cultural, commercial and governmental associations
but had to be imported largely from South America, after both
national and Japanese reserves were quickly exhausted by huge
Chinese demand. Beginning in the mid 19th century - where the story
told here begins - after two successive defeats in the Opium Wars,
sixteen treaty ports were established on coastal and inland cities,
enabling Western merchants freer movement and trade with the
Chinese. The 50 pieces of jewellery and ornament presented here
have been beautifully photographed and carefully documented. In
superb unrestored condition, the objects incorporate exotic
materials like tiger-shark teeth, teak wood, amber, precious and
semi-precious stones from India and Sri Lanka, enamel, as well as
finely carved and pierced nephrite, jadeite and lapis lazuli.
Daoist imagery and motifs dominate but with the inclusion of some
surprising Buddhist imagery as well. Though not from the imperial
collection of the Qing, these exquisite pieces were seemingly
commissioned and worn by prosperous members of the society from all
over the vast country. The differences in manufacture, even in this
varied sample of 50 items, is striking. Their appeal is more than
just aesthetic, and their design and decoration speak of the
social, religious, economic and political climate of their time.
Questions regarding the sale and consumption of these object are
discussed, and changing local and foreign tastes in the wake of the
fall of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republican
period are also addressed.
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