Manchester Museum 7/10/10
A Taste Of China
As we entered the exhibition the first thing we saw was a bronze bell presented to Manchester by its sister city in China, Wuhan. The bell was between 18" and 2ft tall, and the Chinese bells tend not to have a clapper but are stuck by a mallet, and the mallet was a beautiful lacquered black.
The curator Peter Brown described the other items in the glass cases as we moved around the exhibition. I found it a little difficult to see all of the detail because of some of the low lighting but Ann Hornsby who gives us our audio descriptions brought the items to life for us with her vivid details of what they looked like. There were even some 2000 year old biscuits shown on the beautiful porcelain plates and dishes, and the ability of the Chinese craftsmen centuries ago to create these wonderful items is absolutely amazing. We saw both ancient and modern examples of dishes and pots, and the most ancient were even more beautiful than the more up-to-date items.
After our tour of the exhibits we had the opportunity to handle various items assisted by Andrea, one of the curators, and volunteers Michelle, Collete, and Neil. Neil, who also helps out at Henshaws, was a young men who passed items to me and he described them to me as we looked at them. There was a Buddha which had been in a private collection in either Tibet or Burma which was made of bronze, and the Buddha was seated in the 'lotus' position. One of the oddest items was a teapot which was quite small, round, almost flat, with a very fine long spout and not handle. We were trying to guess how it would have been poured and can only imagine that it would have stood inside a bamboo holder. There was a most beautiful writing set complete with all of the brushes, ink pot, ink cake, seal, and wax. Peter told us that calligraphy was regarded as the very finest art practiced in China. There was a Chinese calender and I learnt that I was born in the year of the dog.
One of the exhibits in the glass case had been a most beautiful porcelain abacus with symbols on each bead, and amongst the items we handled was a wooden abacus commonly used by the Chinese even today.
A most fascinating item was an ancient Chinese compass; the pointer was in the shape of a small teardrop with a pointer on it, and the compass was divided up into various sections. It worked by allowing the compass to point North as we turned it to the right position. This was invented centuries ago and we learnt that the Chinese had been sailing the Oceans tens of thousands of years before we took to the sea.
After a most enjoyable morning we adjourned for a cup of tea and some yummy shortbread biscuits and would like to thank Peter and Andrea and all of the volunteers for their hard work in making our visit such a success. Thanks to Ann for her usual dynamic descriptions, and to Mary and all of her volunteers for getting us to the Museum and looking after us whilst we were there.
As we entered the exhibition the first thing we saw was a bronze bell presented to Manchester by its sister city in China, Wuhan. The bell was between 18" and 2ft tall, and the Chinese bells tend not to have a clapper but are stuck by a mallet, and the mallet was a beautiful lacquered black.
The curator Peter Brown described the other items in the glass cases as we moved around the exhibition. I found it a little difficult to see all of the detail because of some of the low lighting but Ann Hornsby who gives us our audio descriptions brought the items to life for us with her vivid details of what they looked like. There were even some 2000 year old biscuits shown on the beautiful porcelain plates and dishes, and the ability of the Chinese craftsmen centuries ago to create these wonderful items is absolutely amazing. We saw both ancient and modern examples of dishes and pots, and the most ancient were even more beautiful than the more up-to-date items.
After our tour of the exhibits we had the opportunity to handle various items assisted by Andrea, one of the curators, and volunteers Michelle, Collete, and Neil. Neil, who also helps out at Henshaws, was a young men who passed items to me and he described them to me as we looked at them. There was a Buddha which had been in a private collection in either Tibet or Burma which was made of bronze, and the Buddha was seated in the 'lotus' position. One of the oddest items was a teapot which was quite small, round, almost flat, with a very fine long spout and not handle. We were trying to guess how it would have been poured and can only imagine that it would have stood inside a bamboo holder. There was a most beautiful writing set complete with all of the brushes, ink pot, ink cake, seal, and wax. Peter told us that calligraphy was regarded as the very finest art practiced in China. There was a Chinese calender and I learnt that I was born in the year of the dog.
One of the exhibits in the glass case had been a most beautiful porcelain abacus with symbols on each bead, and amongst the items we handled was a wooden abacus commonly used by the Chinese even today.
A most fascinating item was an ancient Chinese compass; the pointer was in the shape of a small teardrop with a pointer on it, and the compass was divided up into various sections. It worked by allowing the compass to point North as we turned it to the right position. This was invented centuries ago and we learnt that the Chinese had been sailing the Oceans tens of thousands of years before we took to the sea.
After a most enjoyable morning we adjourned for a cup of tea and some yummy shortbread biscuits and would like to thank Peter and Andrea and all of the volunteers for their hard work in making our visit such a success. Thanks to Ann for her usual dynamic descriptions, and to Mary and all of her volunteers for getting us to the Museum and looking after us whilst we were there.
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