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Description: | The scope of the Department of Asia is extremely wide: its collections cover the material remains of the whole Asian continent from the Neolithic up to the present day. The pre-Neolithic material is curated by the Department of Prehistory and Europe. There are exceptions, the biggest being Near Eastern archaeology before Islam, which is covered by the Department of the Ancient Near East, coins in the Department of Coins and Medals, and ethnographic material in the Department of Ethnography.
The interests of the Department covers a vast area geographically and historically, including Asian culture from China and Korea to Turkey, from Central Asia to Indonesia, and even in the case of Islam extending beyond Asia to North Africa and Spain. Focus is in particular on the cultures of China, India, and Islam.
Key areas of the collections include the most comprehensive collection of sculpture from the Indian subcontinent in the world, including the celebrated Buddhist limestone reliefs from Amaravati as well as an outstanding collection of Chinese antiquities, paintings, and porcelain, lacquer, bronze, jade, and other applied arts including the collection of Buddhist paintings from Dunhuang in Central Asia and the Admonitions Scroll by Gu Kaizhi and a broad range of Islamic pottery, paintings, tiles, metalwork, glass, seals, and inscriptions.
The Department also houses one of the most comprehensive collections of Japanese material culture in Europe, comprising about 25,000 objects. The collection includes early archaeological material; the arts of Buddhism; secular sculpture; netsuke and inro; lacquerware; swords and sword furniture;metalwork; secular paintings, prints and printed books; textiles; ceramics including porcelain and tea ceremony wares and utensils. For the pre-20th century, the decorative arts are among the finest in the Western world, while for paintings and prints the collection is pre-eminent within Europe, both for scope and quality.
- | Source: | Cornucopia - Discovering UK Collections | FAX: | 020 7323 8616 | Telephone: | (+44) 020 7323 8000 (switchboard) (+44) 020 7323 8 | Identifier: | oai:www.cornucopia.org.uk:5979 | Go to resource |
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