Shang and Zhou Bronzes from Hunan Provincial Museum Exhibited in Shenzhen

On January 1st, 2013, the exhibition of the essential bronze collection from Hunan Provincial Museum is on display at Shenzhen museum until May 1. The exhibition presents 121 bronzes from Shang and Zhou dynasties of Hunan Provincial Museum.

The exhibition consists of three sections “Exotic bronzes from Shang and Zhou dynasties”, “Romantic bronzes from the Kingdom of Chu” and “Typical bronzes of Yue ethnicity”,  representing the unique design and typical local characteristics of Shang and Zhou bronzes of Hunan province.

Several objects are of great importance, including the only known ding decorated with human masks, the elephant-shaped bronze zun with aesthetic and functional value, the bronze you(wine vessel) with swinging handle and phoenix design and inscription ‘ge,’ the bronze nao(musical instrument) with tiger design, bronze ge with inscriptions ‘Chu gong jia’——the earliest known inscribed bronze ge from the Kingdom of Chu.

Hunan Shang and Zhou bronzes are of typical characteristics in Chinese Bronze culture. It is the first time the essential collection of bronzes unearthed from Hunan is exhibited in other province although many of them had ever been exhibited in the United States. Hunan bronze exhibition in United States was ever highly praised by the New York Times. The museum hopes visitors may get a glimpse of the ritual civilization and humanities spirit embodied in the collection while at the same time enjoying the beauty of bronzes.