"Recasting the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes, 1100–1900" opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on February 28.
Chinese bronzes made from the 12th to the 19th century are an important but often overlooked category of Chinese art. In ancient China, bronze vessels were emblems of ritual and power. A millennium later, in the period from 1100 to 1900, such vessels were rediscovered as embodiments of a long-lost golden age that was worthy of study and emulation. This “return to the past” (fugu) was part of a widespread phenomenon across all the arts to reclaim the virtues of a classical tradition. An important aspect of this phenomenon was the revival of bronze casting as a major art form. While archaic bronzes were used as containers for food or wine, these so-called “later bronzes” adapted antique shapes and decorative motifs to serve new functions as incense burners, flower vases, and all types of scholar objects. Later Chinese bronzes, however, have long been stigmatized as poor imitations of ancient bronzes rather than being seen as fundamentally new creations with their own aesthetic and functional character.
Jointly organized by Shanghai Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the exhibition features more than 200 artworks, varying precious Chinese bronzes from collections across Europe, America, and Asia, as well as paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, jades, lacquer ware, textiles, and furniture of the same period.
The exhibition, which took three years to implement, represents the most comprehensive review to date of the art of Chinese bronzes from 1100 to 1900.
Arranged chronologically, it renders a unique perspective of the social landscape and spiritual world of China at that time.
The exhibition has also received support from Chinese domestic institutions including the Palace Museum, Capital Museum, Liaoning Provincial Museum and Hebei Museum.
After the exhibition in New York closes on September 28, it will be re-curated by the Shanghai Museum and launched at the Shanghai Museum East Branch from November 12, 2025, to March 16, 2026.
Sources: SHINE,The Metropolitan Museum of Art