In May of 1980 we did an exhibition and sale in our 77th Street galleries entitled Gentlemen Prefer Bronze.

It was a time when everything seemed disposable, then as now, we lack the stabilizing assurances offered by substantial and permanent objects. One thing that has always drawn me to East Asian Art is its ability to maintain lasting interest as well as the dependability of excellence. This leads us to the history of bronze in China.

Some bronze vessels have been attributed to a pre-Shang dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.) date. Alloy chemistry did not exist. Magical elements with different physical properties, are blended and subjected to intense heat, a wonderful material, bronze, emerges which becomes a ritual object. The vessels carry the mystical properties of earth and fire. The Yellow Earth from which its raw materials have been taken combined with heat judged by its color to forge the substance which was then cast in parts and then assembled into the best bronze ritual vessel ever made on Earth.

The people who... read more