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Ming Gilt Polychrome Terracotta Sculpture of a Horse

Circa 1368 AD to 1644 AD

Dimensions 10.125″ (25.7cm) high

Medium Terracotta

Origin China

Upon leading a victorious rebellion against the foreign Mongul rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, a peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang seized control of China and founded the Ming Dynasty in 1368. As emperor, he founded his capital at Nanjing and adopted the name Hongwu as his reign title. Hongwu, literally meaning “vast military,” reflects the increased prestige of the army during the Ming Dynasty. Due to the very realistic threat still posed by the Mongols, Hongwu realized that a strong military was essential to Chinese prosperity. Thus, the orthodox Confucian view that the military was an inferior class to be ruled over by an elite class of scholars was reconsidered. During the Ming Dynasty, China proper was reunited after centuries of foreign incursion and occupation. Ming troops controlled Manchuria, and the Korean Joseon Dynasty respected the authority of the Ming rulers, at least nominally.

Like the founders of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.), Hongwu was extremely suspicious of the educated courtiers that advised him and, fearful that they might attempt to overthrow him, he successfully consolidated control of all aspect of government. The strict authoritarian control Hongwu wielded over the affairs of the country was due in part to the centralized system of government he inherited from the Monguls and largely kept intact. However, Hongwu replaced the Mongul bureaucrats who had ruled the country for nearly a century with native Chinese administrators. He also reinstituted the Confucian examination system that tested would-be civic officials on their knowledge of literature and philosophy. Unlike the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), which received most of its taxes from mercantile commerce, the Ming economy was based primarily on agriculture, reflecting both the peasant roots of its founder as well as the Confucian belief that trade was ignoble and parasitic.

Culturally, the greatest innovation of the Ming Dynasty was the introduction of the novel. Developed from the folk tales of traditional storytellers, these works were transcribed in the everyday vernacular language of the people. Advances in printmaking and the increasing population of urban dwellers largely contributed to the success of these books. Architecturally, the most famous monument of the Ming Dynasty is surely the complex of temples and palaces known as the Forbidden City that was constructed in Beijing after the third ruler of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Yongle, moved the capital there. Today, the Forbidded Palace remains one of the hallmarks of traditional Chinese architecture and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the vast nation.

The importance of the horse in the history and culture of China can be viewed, in part, through the artistic legacy of this great civilization. In sculpture, painting, and literature, horses were glorified and revered. Furthermore, horses were believed to be relatives of the mythological dragon, reflecting their sacred status within society. The speed and endurance of horses enabled China to conquer new lands and govern far away provinces under a unified central government. Horses were and essential component of the Civic Letters Bureau, a modern postal service founded during the Ming Dynasty, which contributed to the dissolution of traditional smoke signal communications. This horse bears the broad, flattened face that is characteristic of horse sculptures during the transition from the Yuan to the Ming Dynasty. A burgundy numnah with tassels covers his back, resting under the bright orange saddle. Remnants of green pigment around the harness and bridal suggest that they may once have been painted, while the stirrups and bits still retain gilding. Overall, this sculpture is a testament to the revered status of the horse in Chinese culture, a love affair that was well over a fifteen hundred years old by the time this equestrian effigy was created.

Stucco Sculpture of a Standing Buddha

Circa 100 AD to 300 AD

Dimensions 15.5″ (39.4cm) high x 7.7″ (19.6cm) wide

Medium Stucco

Origin Afghanistan/Pakistan

Stucco sculpture of a Buddha standing in classical iconic posture, his head tilted forward,eyes half-closed, earlobes extended, holding the hem of his robe in his left hand, staring below with a serene, emotionless gaze with a gentle smile and casting his eyes downward to his devotees, in a gesture of apparent compassion.

His sharp wavy hair is drawn up over his usnisa into a chignon, which together with his long ear lobes are distinctive features (laksanas) of his buddhahood. The historical Buddha cut off his hair whilst renouncing the world and therefore would not have sported the ornately styled hair depicted here, but a traditional monk's tonsure. The influence on the treatment of the hairstyle, is therefore more Hellenistic than Indic, evident in the artfully arranged chignon, a recurrent feature in early Greek sculptures, also known as krobilos.

The Gandhara region had long been a crossroads of cultural influences. Geographically it included roughly northwestern India between the Khyber Pass and the Indus River and the region of the Kabul Valley in Afghanistan. During the reign of the Indian emperor Ashoka around 3rd century B.C., the region became the scene of intensive Buddhist missionary activity; and, in the 1st century AD, rulers of the Kushan empire such as Kanishka (AD 129-160) maintained contacts with Rome and employed foreign artists from the eastern centres of the Roman Empire to realise many sculptural works. The many archaeological discoveries of Alexandrian and Syrian workmanship at Taxila in the Punjab and Begram in the Kabul valley testify to the cultural and diplomatic connections with the Graeco-Roman West. Many artifacts, in particular sculptures, have survived and are now dispersed in major museums throughout the world.

The treatment of the robe of our stucco Buddha,imitating a classical himation, is intensely naturalistic, as the folds are shallowed to accommodate his expanded chest, demonstrating the mastership of the Gandharan sculptors. In between the pleats of his garment are traces of the original red pigment that would have once covered the whole surface, reminiscent of the elaborate chromatic palette these stucco statues would have originally been painted with. Both the sharp treatment of the folds, the Buddha's exceptional strength of expression and his hair fashioned into copious half-moon shaped waves would indicate an early date around the 2nd century AD.

Stone Plaque Depicting Ganesh

	Circa 1800 AD to 1900 AD
	Dimensions 5.15″ (13.1cm) high x 3.75″ (9.5cm) wide
	Medium Stone
	Origin Nepal

Stone Plaque Depicting Ganesh

Egypto-Philistine Terracotta Anthropomorphic Coffin Lid

Circa 1500 BC to 1250 BC

Dimensions 13.5″ (34.3cm) high x 16.25″ (41.3cm) wide

Medium Terracotta

Origin Israel

Throughout the Bronze Age, Egyptian culture strongly influenced the peoples of ancient Palestine, including the Philistines. Among the many customs borrowed from Egypt was the tradition of burying deceased individuals of high rank in coffins modeled after the human form. Most probably, those interred in this fashion were Philistine aristocrats who emulated Egyptian ways, though it is possible that they might have been provincial officials of the Egyptian kingdom. This rare and magnificent terracotta mask, a fragment of a full-sized casket, depicts the face of man who stares back at us from beyond the grave. Although his features reveal the influence of Egyptian mummy cases, the high headdress suggests that this coffin is of Philistine origin. The modeling and painting are lively and quick, a local variation of the more refined Egyptian style. This bold expressionism gives the fragment a vital presence. Though the portrait is hardly an accurate one, it conveys the energy of a real human life, an energy still felt thousand of years later.

Egypto-Philistine Terracotta Anthropoid Sarcophagus Lid

Circa 1400 BC to 1300 BC

Dimensions 24.4″ (62.0cm) high

Medium Terracotta

Origin Sinai

Throughout the Bronze Age, Egyptian culture strongly influenced the peoples of ancient Palestine, including the Philistines. Among the many customs borrowed from Egypt was the tradition of burying deceased individuals of high rank in coffins modeled after the human form. Most probably, those interred in this fashion were Philistine aristocrats who emulated Egyptian ways, though it is possible that they might have been provincial officials of the Egyptian kingdom. This rare and magnificent terracotta mask, a fragment of a full-sized casket, depicts the face of man who stares back at us from beyond the grave. Although his features reveal the influence of Egyptian mummy cases, the high headdress suggests that this coffin is of Philistine origin. The modeling and painting are lively and quick, a local variation of the more refined Egyptian style. This bold expressionism gives the fragment a vital presence. Though the portrait is hardly an accurate one, it conveys the energy of a real human life, an energy still felt thousand of years later.

Asante Wooden Akua’ba Doll

Circa 20th Century AD

Dimensions 16″ (40.6cm) high x 5″ (12.7cm) wide

Medium Wood

Origin Southern Ghana

This is a delightful example of one of Africa’s most recognisable fertility idols, the Asante Akuaba doll. Like most tribes, the Asante hold fertility in extremely high regard; those societies that do not grow are doomed to fail. As a result, women are, from an early age, constantly aware of the importance of conception and successful delivery of live children. Any failure to do so would be construed as a disgrace and ill-fortune not only for her, but for her family and tribe. So to negate any ill-fortune, she may visit the tribal medicine man to commission a piece such as this.

Endowed with magical properties, these dolls are treated as if they were real babies – carried around, dressed, washed, fed and even put to bed. It is likely that they do have a positive effect on the prevalence of successful conception, if only from a psychosomatic point of view. Once born, the child may be encouraged to play with the doll, thus promoting maternal sentiment; while a male child may be wished for, these dolls are almost always female, partly because of the matrilineal nature of Asante society. The Asante are one of six tribes (the others are the Fante, Aowin, Anyi, Akye and Abron) that go to make up the Akan group of the former Gold Coast – now Ghana. Their society, which was founded in the 14th century, has had a very turbulent history and was involved in the 18th century federation that took a golden stool as their emblem and rose up against the European invaders. Their society is highly ritualised, with numerous gods under the main deity known as Onyame (“the Supreme One”), and a host of spirits that include, for our purposes, the earth goddess of fertility – Asase Yaa.

Asante iconography and artistic design is among the most abstract and expressionist in Africa, and was immensely influential in the development of European art styles in the early days of the 20th century. Prestige pieces are uncommon, and are either made from rare materials such as ivory, or are adorned with trade beads or other precious objects. Akuaba dolls are not especially uncommon. However, well-carved examples of what is largely a symbolic amulet are infrequently found. Although they follow standardised stylistic trends, there is some variation. The most extreme versions come from outside the Asante range; Fante variants have elongated rectangular heads, while the Bono people carve smiling Akuabas with ornate hair and rather vacuous expressions. Even within the Asante tribal areas there are stylistic variants – that denote different geographical origins or sculptors – in the way details are carved, and it is probable that further research could identify the exact origin of this unusually-executed piece.

The format is conventional, with a tall, slim body and a large round head. The detailing, however, is unconventional. The hands are denoted by small peg-like eminences at the ends of the nugatory arms, while the base is carefully carved as a pedestal. The banded neck is very slim and elongated, and the piece is wrapped in a long string of yellow glass trade beads. The face is highly unusual, with elevated features standing proud of the surface. The eyes and mouth are arranged as a series of squares, counterbalanced by a square vertically-incised scarification above the nose. The brows and the nose are very gracefully executed as a T shape, with the brows swooping infero-laterally from the midline. This softens the blow of the figure’s geometric reductivism and echoes the smooth, fine lines of the doll’s head. This is a striking and attractive piece of Asante art.