{"product_id":"a-bronze-menagerie-mat-weights-of-early-china","title":"A Bronze Menagerie: Mat Weights of Early China","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe catalog of a special exhibition held at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (October 2006 to January 2007) examining the artistic variety and associations of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/gift.gardnermuseum.org\/products\/mat-weight-bear\" title=\"Mat Weight Bear\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eancient Chinese mat weights\u003c\/a\u003e, principally from the Han dynasty. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1884, Isabella and Jack Gardner visited China on their journey around the world. For over two months, they toured Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Macau in high colonial style. Isabella kept a diary and compiled an elaborate scrapbook, but collected very little art on her journey. It was not until thirty years later, after she had acquired a vast collection of Western paintings and opened her personal museum in Boston, that she brought her first Chinese antiquities\u003cspan\u003e—the two bronze bears from the Han dynasty that inspired this exhibition. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Bronze Menagerie\u003c\/em\u003e was the first exhibition devoted to ancient Chinese mat weights, a genre of the Warring States Period and Han dynasty. This catalog explores the archaeological and literary evidence for the use of sculptures, discusses the structure of tombs, and investigates the cultural associations of the various animals depicted in the objects.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy Michelle C. Wang, with Guolong Lai, Roel Sterckx, and Eugene Yuejin Wang\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e136 pages\u003cbr\u003ePublished by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum\u003cbr\u003eDistributed by University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006\u003cbr\u003eHardcover\u003cbr\u003e10.9 x 8.4 inches\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ISGM","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":190622072876,"sku":"2777","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2654\/4574\/products\/2777_1.jpg?v=1743813417","url":"https:\/\/gift.gardnermuseum.org\/products\/a-bronze-menagerie-mat-weights-of-early-china","provider":"Gift at the Gardner","version":"1.0","type":"link"}