chinese Collection
About the
Collection
Our Chinese Collection centres on magnificent bronze and ceramic ritual objects.
Produced over a period of over 1,500 years, under many different Chinese rulers, the bronzes date from the early Shang Dynasty (c.1500 to 1050 BCE) to the Tang Dynasty, (618 – 906 CE). This collection also houses The Taotie, a brand-new contemporary installation by artist Gayle Chong Kwan responding to our portrait miniature and Chinese collections.
The redisplay of this collection was made possible through grants from DCMS/Wolfson Museums & Galleries Improvement Fund and Arts Council England.
The work of Gayle Chong Kwan is the culmination of an 18-month residency at Compton Verney in partnership with the Decolonising Arts Institute projects ‘20/20’.
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As in Ancient Egypt, Chinese citizens believed that the dead required food and wine to sustain them in the afterlife, and that this should be served in vessels appropriate to their status and wealth. Some of the most extraordinary bronzes ever cast were made for this purpose.
The collection also includes pottery pieces, such as a set of twelve painted pottery equestrian figures made for placing in a tomb to guard the deceased. The forms and motifs of the works in our collection continued to be seen in Chinese culture for many thousands of years and were repeated in many different materials.
Discover more
Download our gallery guide to find out more the Chinese Bronzes collection
and the artworks on display in our galleries
Ritual wine vessel, hu
Ritual food vessel, gui
Ritual food vessel, ding
Ritual ewer and cover, he
Set of twelve painted equestrian figures
Ritual food vessel, fu
Ritual food vessel, Teng Hu gui
Cocoon-shaped vessel, hu
Ritual food vessel, ding
Ritual wine vessel, hu
Ritual wine vessel, zhi
Ritual food vessel and cover, dou
Vessel and cover, dou
Ritual wine vessel and cover, gong
Ritual covered wine vessel, fangyi
Large bell, nao
Ritual wine vessel in the shape of two owls, xiaoyou
Ritual wine vessel in the shape of a bird, lei
Vessel and cover in the shape of a xu
Ritual wine vessel, you
Wine Vessel and cover, fangjia
Wine vessel, fou
Silver and copper-inlaid bronze wine vessel, hu
Silver and copper-inlaid bronze wine vessel, hu
Two-sided chariot fitting
Pair of chariot wheel linchpins
Bow-shaped object
Two pairs of harness cheek pieces
Five T mirror
Xingyun (star and cloud) mirror
Square flying deity and crane mirror
Bell, bo
Ritual food vessel, gui
