The Shape of Things: Chinese and Japanese Art from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection

Press Release

Asia Society concurrently presents two exhibitions of East Asian art from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, the Society’s permanent collection of traditional art. The Shape of Things: Chinese and Japanese Art examines the form and function of selected ceramics, metalworks, sculpture and painting while First Under Heaven showcases extraordinary stoneware and porcelain from Korea.

The Shape of Things: Chinese and Japanese Art from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection

The Shape of Things includes works dating from the Neolithic period through the nineteenth century and considers how the form of an object reveals a depth of information about its function and production. Divided into three sections, the exhibition considers the unique forms and materials of objects designed for ritual use, daily use, and decoration. Approximately 90 works from the Society’s permanent collection, several of which have been displayed only rarely, have been selected for this exhibition.

Objects for Ritual Use
Among the earlier pieces on display are earthenware sculptures and vessels believed to have been used for ritual and funerary uses. A clay female figure made in the northeastern region of Japan during the final phase of the Jōmon period (ca. 1000–300 B.C.E.), decorated with twisted cords pressed onto clay, is linked to magical healing. Elegantly formed and elaborate Chinese bronzes from the Shang (ca. 1600–1050 B.C.E.), through Han (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) period have forms derived from Neolithic ceramic prototypes. Examples of later Chinese imperial stem cups and plates on display also have ties to ancient ritual forms. Ming-period (1368–1644) imperial porcelains with specific colors and patterns were commissioned for temples where imperial ceremonies took place.

Objects for Daily Use
The exhibition includes sumptuous dishes, bowls, platters, cups, jars bottles and vases used for eating and drinking by the masses as well as by royals and elites. The development of strong, high-fired stonewares and porcelains with equally tough glazes has ensured that many of these wares have maintained much of their original beauty over hundreds of years. Exquisite lacquer objects played a central role in Japanese life and culture and were used on furniture and boxes for writing utensils and scripture. A Meiji-period (1868–1912) box cover on display is elaborately decorated with a flower surrounded by phoenixes, each of which holds a branch in its beak, a pattern that has links to an eighth century classical Japanese design. While most of the objects in this section were created for the domestic market, some of the objects were made expressly for export to Western markets as evidenced by their motifs.

Objects for Decoration
Carvings of wood and stone, ornamental ceramics, decorative metalwork and paintings in this section attest to the breadth of artistic output of purely decorative objects. Most of the decorative works on view were created for domestic tastes and markets. Paintings in the form of hanging scrolls, album leaves and screens feature symbolic imagery or visual narrative references to well-known stories or poems.

The Shape of Things is curated by Adriana Proser, John H. Foster Curator of Traditional Asian Art, Asia Society, with Xiaojin Wu, Asia Society Museum Fellow.