TIe Holung OaIIev al lIe BvilisI Museun.

London
Beviev I J. C. Y. Wall
TIe BuvIinglon Magazine, VoI. 135, No. 1079 |FeI., 1993), pp. 158-159
FuIIisIed I TIe BuvIinglon Magazine FuIIicalions Lld.
SlaIIe UBL http://www.jstor.org/stable/885470 .
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Exhibition Reviews
London
The
Hotung Gallery
at the British
Museum
Since the mid-1980s most museums in
the
English speaking
world with
major
collections in the art of Asia have
opened
or re-installed their Asian art
galleries.
The Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston,
re-
opened
its Asian
wing
in 1983 and the
Indian and South-east Asian Galleries
at the
Metropolitan Museum,
New
York,
will be unveiled in
early 1994;
meanwhile
the Harvard
University
Art
Museum,
the
Freer-Sackler Galleries in
Washington,
D.C.,
the Victoria and Albert
Museum,
the
Art
Gallery
of New South
Wales,
the Art
Institute of
Chicago
and the British Mu-
seum have or will have installed or re-
installed all or
part
of their Asian
holdings.
These installations reflect both the
recog-
nition of
growing public
interest in the
arts of Asia and the
approach
to the
study
and
interpretation
of Asian art on the
part
of the
present generation
of scholars and
curators
(the
third
generation
in the case
of the British Museum and the Boston
Museum and the second in most
others).
They
also reflect the
growing
economic
strength
of
Asia,
as a
large proportion
of
these new installations have been financed
from Asian sources.
The recent re-installation of the British
Museum's Chinese and Indian collections
in the
Joseph
E.
Hotung Gallery
of Oriental
Antiquities (Fig. 104),
which
opened
its
doors to the
public
in
early
November last
year,
can
only
be described as a
great
success. The character of the old
gallery
in the
King
Edward
Wing
has been
pre-
served. The
mahogany
cases which divide
the
long gallery
into
bays
have been re-
tained,
refurbished and fitted with a new
lighting system which,
as if
by magic,
has
suddenly
made
every object
on
display
visible. The addition of standard-size free-
standing glass
cases in front of each
bay,
and some in the
centre, provides
an order
and
uniformity
which was not there before.
The
ceiling
has been restored to its
original
condition,
with
gilding
on
parts
of its white
stucco. The
only
minor modification to
the
original
decoration of the
gallery
is
the use of
Japanese gold paper
on the
walls above the cases. The reason was
given
that these walls were
originally gilded.
In
spite
of the unobtrusive
light
colour of the
gold
leaf and its matte
finish,
the
patchwork
appearance
of the
gold
leaves does
suggest
a
Japanese
touch which is somewhat in-
congruous
with the Chinese and Indian
art
displayed
in the
gallery. However,
as
most visitors will be
looking
at the art
objects
rather than the
upper walls,
this
point
is of minor
consequence
-
except
perhaps
in the room
housing
the Amaravati
stone
sculptures
some of which are mounted
quite high up
on the walls.
As to the
installation,
the Chinese
section,
occupying
the eastern half of the
gallery,
is the more
satisfactory, partly
because
the
objects
are
generally
smaller and more
manageable.
The mixed media
display
is
organised chronologically
from the Neolithic
period
down to the nineteenth
century.
The
great advantage
of this
arrangement
is that it
gives
a
general impression
of the
artistic
styles
of each historical
period
and
allows the curators to demonstrate the inter-
change
of form and decoration between
different media such as
metal, lacquer
and
ceramics
-
which, incidentally,
is one of
the favourite themes in the
writings ofJessica
Rawson,
the
Keeper
of the
Department,
and is a
subject
to which she has made
significant
contributions.
Generally speak-
ing,
the
masterpieces
are
given greater
prominence
in the
free-standing
cases while
the
multi-layer display
in the
large
wooden
cases
provide
the main flow of the chrono-
logical display.
The
glass
shelves in the
old wooden cases allow several
layers
of
exhibits to be
adequately
lit while mini-
mising
the effect of
overcrowding.
In the
case of certain ceramic and
lacquer objects,
it is
possible
for the
viewer, by adopting
an
inelegant posture,
to see
something
of
the bottom of the
pieces
-
an
important
part
of the activities of
connoisseurship
and
appreciation
of the works of art.
However,
the smooth and
slippery
surface
of the
glass
shelves does allow the
objects
to slide with the
slightest
tremor so that a
few small
objects
look as if
they
have been
casually placed.
There are two
ways
of
showing,
or
showing off,
a
great
collection:
by
the
selective
display
of
masterpieces
in
optimum
settings
and thus
directing
the
spectator
to look at a
single object
at a
time,
or
by
showing masterpieces
en masse thus demon-
strating
the
strength
of the collection and
providing
the viewer with as much infor-
mation as
possible.
The curators at the
British Museum have chosen the latter
course. There are
naturally advantages
and
disadvantages
to this
(or any other)
approach.
In the case of the
eighth-century
'three-colour'
glazed earthenwares,
it is
most instructive to see the
great variety
of
shapes
and
decoration,
some of them show-
ing
unmistakable Central Asian influences.
When it comes to the
group
of six blue
and white
bowls,
all
bearing
the mark of
Chenghua (1465-87),
and all of the
quality
of the so-called
'palace bowls',
while the
104.
TheJoseph
E.
Hotung Gallery
of Oriental
Antiques. (The
British
Museum, London).
105. Relief
depicting
the
great
Buddhist
stupa
at
Amaravati,
Andhra
Pradesh,
India. c.3rd
century
A.D.
Limestone,
136.25
by
111.25 cm.
(The
British
Museum, London).
158
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EXHIBITION REVIEWS
107.
Kanghougui.
Early
western Zhou
period,
late-eleventh
to tenth
century
B.C.
Bronze,
21 cm.
high.
(The
British Museum,
London).
106.
Khatvanga.
Yongle period,
1403-25. Silver,
44 cm.
long.
(The
British
Museum, London).
cognoscenti
would marvel at the remarkable
concentration of rare and fine
porcelain,
the
great rarity
and
significance
of the
pieces might
be lost to the
general public.
In the
eyes
of museum
professionals
from
areas such as North America or
Japan,
the British Museum's
display
of Asian
antiquities
is
certainly
too clustered. But
then the British Museum is not an art
museum such as those found in the United
States or
Japan.
From its
beginnings
in
the
eighteenth century
it has had a
strong
archaeological,
or what we
might nowadays
call
anthropological, component
to its
character and tradition. The mission to
inform and
educate,
as
opposed
to that of
affording delectation,
is the
stronger
factor
in
determining
the manner of
display.
If
one starts from these
premises,
the new
installation is
entirely
successful. The
public
is well served
by
clear and accurate
labelling
for
every single object, augmented by
what
in American museum
parlance
are called
'chat labels'
-
explanatory
notes on indi-
vidual or
groups
of
objects providing
cul-
tural,
historical and art-historical context.
Such labels are
placed
in each of the flat
cases at the end of each
bay
below the
window,
and are devoted to
special subjects
such as
mirrors, jade carvings
and numis-
matics. Other cases are devised for the
purpose
of
explaining topics
such as
'reign
marks' on Chinese
porcelain
and other
works of decorative art. These
provide
answers to some of the most common
ques-
tions that the casual visitor is
prone
to
ask,
and the labels themselves are often illus-
trated with
drawings, maps
and
photo-
graphs.
These flat cases can be
regarded
as small-scale exhibitions on
special
sub-
jects, serving
also as footnotes to the
general
display.
Useful information is also
provided
in the
free-standing
cases
housing
im-
portant objects,
such as the
pair
of in-
scribed bronze vessels from the
early
western
Zhou
period (late
eleventh to tenth
century,
B.C.)
the
Kanghou gui (Fig.107)
and the
Xinghou gui.
In this
particular case,
the
label
quotes
Arthur
Waley's
translation
from the ancient Chinese
anthology,
the
Book of
Songs,
thus
evoking
the
atmosphere
of ritual activities in bronze
age
China
while
adding
a touch of local
(Bloomsbury)
colour.
In a few
instances, especially
in the
display relating
to later
periods,
the anthro-
pological approach
detracts somewhat from
the aesthetic
enjoyment
of some
objects.
In a case
featuring
Buddhist
paraphernalia,
nineteenth-century porcelain figures
are
mixed with
finely wrought
metal
imple-
ments of the
early
fifteenth
century.
The
garish
colours of the enamel decoration in
late
Qing
Buddha
figures might
cause the
visitor to turn from the case before he or
she
caught sight
of the bronze and silver
khatvanga (a
ceremonial
staff)
of the
Yongle
period (1403-25),
an
object
that deserves
more than a casual
glance (Fig. 106).
Never-
theless,
no one can
deny
that the
porcelain
Buddha
figures
are
representative
of the
popular
art of China in the late
Qing
period.
The tension between the
anthropological
and the aesthetic
approaches
is more evi-
dent in the western half of the
Hotung
Gallery housing
the South and South-east
Asian collections. The
display, consisting
mainly
of
religious sculptures,
is
organised
to
give
an
exposition
of the
development
and
propagation
of the three
great religions
that
originated
on the Indian sub-continent:
Buddhism,
Hinduism and
Jainism.
Master-
pieces
of
sculpture
are shown
together
with
minor
objects
in order to
provide
a visual
narrative on these
religious systems.
Be-
cause of the
relatively large
size of the
objects,
it is not
possible
to use the flat
cases
along
the walls to mount small dis-
plays
as footnotes to the
general display
as
in the Chinese section. The
gain
in narrative
coherence of the
display
is somewhat
counterweighed by
the diminished
clarity
in
showing
the artistic traditions. Some of
the
objects
shown in the
free-standing cases,
such as the ceramics of South-east
Asia,
are of such indifferent
quality
that
they
can
be of interest
only
to academic archae-
ologists.
The centre of the South and South-east
Asian section is
occupied by large
stone and
bronze
sculptures,
which are
impressive
in their sheer number.
However,
as this
area of the
display
is less amenable to
cultural
interpretation,
one could
perhaps
suggest
that the installation
might
have
been more effective with fewer Chola
stones,
which would have allowed more
space
for
masterpieces
such as the
tenth-century gilt-
bronze Sri Lankan Tara and the
very
fine
early
stone
sculptures
from Sarnath. Here
the dilemma between
showing
the col-
lection and
showing
the artistic traditions
of cultures is most acute.
The
great
attraction of the South and
South-east Asia section is the
spectacular
room
housing
the stone
sculptures
from the
Great
Stupa
at Amaravati
(Fig.105).
These
large
slabs of
sculptured
stones, forming
part
of the exterior of the
stupa
and the
railings
that surround it date from the
first
century
B.C. to the third
century.
Having
been in
storage
for some
thirty
years they
are now back on
display
in an
installation that
conveys
the relative
pos-
itions of the
sculptured
stone slabs. With
the
help
of
explanatory
texts, photographs
and
drawings,
the viewer can
gain
an idea
of the
magnificence
of one of the
grandest
and oldest of Buddhist monuments in India.
This
room,
known as the Asahi Shimbun
Gallery
of Amaravati
Sculpture
in ac-
knowledgement
of the donation towards
its construction
by
the
Japanese newspaper
organisation,
is
separated
from the rest of
the
Hotung Gallery by
a
glass partition
which also serves a climate control
purpose.
The curators of Oriental
Antiquities
at
the British Museum have
certainly
achieved
their aims in
installing
the
Hotung Gallery.
Whatever minor
shortcomings
it
may have,
when viewed with other
approaches
to
museum
display
in
mind,
stem from the
traditions of the museum and from the
limitations
imposed by
the
spatial
con-
figurations
of the
gallery
and
by
the col-
lections
themselves,
and are not the result
of lack of
learning
or
sympathetic
awareness
of what the
public
needs in order to enable
them to learn about and
appreciate
the
ancient artistic traditions of Asia. Mr
Hotung
and the Asahi Shimbun can rest
assured that their
support
has resulted
in a great
service to the museum-going
public.
J.C.Y. WATT
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
*Three books have been published by the British
Museum Press to coincide with the opening of the
Gallery:
The British Museum Book of Chinese Art. Edited by
Jessica Rawson. 394 pp.
mcl. 122 col.
pls.
+ 133
b. & w. ills. ?14.95. ISBN 0-7141-1453-7.
Hindu Art. By T. Richard Burton. 240 pp. incl. 100 col.
pls. and 50 b. & w. ills. ?14.95. ISBN 0-7141-1442-1.
Amaravati. Buddhist Sculpture from the Great Stupa. By
Robert Knox. 248 pp. incl. 100 col. + numerous
b. & w. ills. ?40. ISBN 0-7141-1452-9 (HB).
159
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