The 18th Century Chinese Art Book Essay

Dressed to rule, the 18th Century Court attire- John Vollmer

Vollmer (6) in Dressed to Rule contends that The Palace Museum in Beijing had a notable artistic peculiarity in the 18^th century. It had paintings and costumes of its kind. The book brings into perspective concealed messages of power and loyalty to powers that were. The lavish display of artistic features is used to do cover-ups for rigid judicial systems that are heavily influenced by underlying political forces of the Manchu Qing dynasty.

Interestingly, the ruling class that controlled a wide territory belonged to a minority ethnic community. The design was heavily borrowed from the Manchurian style but had a spectacular Chinese decoration. The robes had an extravagant luxury that is comparable to none in today’s fashion industry and an onlooker, the robes were a testament to the social, economic, and political status of the person who donned it. Vollmer appreciates that the robes were made from an illustrious piece of material and it would only be possible to master the workmanship by those who were present at the time they were made.

Before such robes could be used by the ruling class at that time, they had to undergo grueling inspection exercises. The care of the robes was bestowed on special servants whose sole responsibility was to take care of the royal wardrobe. These workers preserved these robes hence their excellent state. The book has myriad photographs of these robes. The book also invests some time in discussing socio-cultural and political developments that impacted fashion and image in 18^th century China.

The photograph of the coffee table is very relevant as it illuminates the philosophy that Manchu used in ruling his people. The book impresses upon the readers the idea that it was the sole responsibility of the royalty to set trends in the fashion industry. The book moreover reminds the reader that the robes had borne heavy political statements that enabled a minority ethnic community to remain in power for a protracted period hence the title of the book dressed to rule.

Children in Chinese Art- Ann Elizabeth Barott Wicks

In Children in Chinese art, Wicks informs us that children have had an important place in the history of Chinese art from as early as the 13^th century. She explains that it is rare to find books that offer a discussion of the role of children in ancient or contemporary Chinese art. Children in Chinese art give prominence to the themes and designs that have crossed the Chinese culture but have been neglected over the years, including the use of pictures of children for the strengthening of social morals as well as their amuletic role.

In the book’s introduction, Wicks and Avril offer us a provocative impression of the history of the portrayal of children, surveying both stylistic development and the appearance of particular themes. Teresa Bartholomew uses visual and textual aspects to illustrate art during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1644- 1911), such illustrations include portrayals of children’s games and the significance of depictions of boys participating in plays.

Ann Waltner explores gender topics and takes a fascinating look at mothers and children in woodblock arts from the Ming accounts of the traditional Lie nu Juan while Julia Murray reflects on the representation of the childhood of saints and intellects. Wicks summarizes two original essays on child guards and destroyers in Chinese tradition and family pictures and their rarity before the nineteenth century. The author uses numerous color and black-and-white pictures, some of which have never been printed in books.

Attractively written and comprehensively dependant on original works, Children in art is a significant addition to the literature in the domain of 18^th-century Chinese art. Its simplicity and numerous approaches to understanding pictures of children will be of interest to those with a liking for Chinese art.

Ten Thousand Things: Module and Mass Production in Chinese Art- Lothar Ledderose

In Ten Thousand Things, Ledderose illustrates the mass production of Chinese art. He informs us that the Chinese have always produced art forms in amazing quantities, for example, they created 7,000 life-sized figurines of soldiers to watch over the tomb of the First Emperor in the 11^th-century b. c. in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, they sold hundreds of millions of sculptures to the westerners.

Ladders further say that despite the large numbers, these art forms do not display any compromise on quality or affordability. How have they succeeded in doing this? The author informs us that these methods have been deeply rooted in the Chinese tradition for thousands of years, this relates to their belief that the universe is made up of ten thousand groups of things, this can further be evidenced by their social organization (74).

Ladders introduce us to the book by referring to the success of the Chinese script; a primeval organization of fifty thousand characters created from a selection of just about two hundred elements. He depicts how Chinese artists employed interrelated modular methods to produce ceremonial bronzes, to create the First Emperor’s life-size soldiers, and to produce the world’s first printing systems.

He surveys the stunning assortment of lacquerware and porcelain that the Europeans found so adorable, and observes how art forms as diverse as the royal palaces and paintings of heaven depended on the stylish variation of different components. He clarifies that Chinese artists, unlike those from the West, did not endeavor to reproduce lone objects, but opted to emulate nature’s ability to generate an unlimited number of objects. Ten Thousand Things provides detailed and numerous illustrations that point into the rich history of Chinese art over the ages up to and including the 18^th century.

Paradise and Plumage – Chinese Connections in Tibetan Arhat Painting- Robert N. Linrothe

Paradise and Plumage is a 104-page book that depicts a visually striking introductory catalog of the Rubin Museum of Art, New York. The book is a celebration of the Chinese and Tibetan artistic prowess between the 13^th and 18^th centuries, focusing on the Buddhist Arhat art piece as a crisp lens through which we view the greater consequences of artistic and cultural relations. Lindroth looks at the exchange of art forms such as motifs, compositions, and other forms of illustration, he exposes the creative change of meaning when Tibetan artists use features of art that may have been derived from ancient Chinese folklore and vice versa.

Lindroth points out that the interaction of the two traditions led to a hybrid of art forms popularly referred to as ‘Sino-Tibetan’ or ‘Tibeto-Chinese’ art. The hybrid art is the outcome of the interaction between the Chinese naturalistic scene artistry with the Tibetan application of strong color and Buddha –oriented works; it demonstrates how these two cultures have sustained one other from the 14^th to the 18^th centuries.

Works Cited

Ledderose, Lothar. Ten Thousand Things: Module and Mass Production in Chinese Art. 2000. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Linrothe, R. Paradise and Plumage – Chinese Connections in Tibetan Arhat Painting. 1952. New York: Rubin Museum of Art.

Vollmer, John. Dressed to rule, the 18^th Century Court attire. 2007. Alberta: University of Alberta Press.

Wicks, Ann Elizabeth Barott. Children in Chinese Art. 2002. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press.