Author Description

One of the world's finest collections of Chinese art is housed in Toronto at the Royal Ontario Museum. For the first time, many of its most important and spectacular treasures are published in full colour with accompanying text. From a prehistoric jade bird 5000 years old to nineteenth-century scrolls, nearly 300 objects are illustrated in 140 large, full-colour photographs specially taken for this volume. The selection of objects and the accompanying text have been prepared by curatorial staff of the Museum's Far Eastern Department. There is a general introduction to the collection. Thereafter, each section has an introduction discussing the medium concerned, and each illustration has its own extensive description. Full notes and catalogue entries, with a detailed bibliography, make this a valuable book for scholars and serious collectors as well as a joy to the eye for anyone who delights in the arts of China's past.