Eye to the East

Including ceramics, bronzes, and sculptures, the seventy-nine pieces in the Columbia Museum of Art's Turner Collect of Chinese Art represent a monumental holding for the institution, second only to its permanent Kress collection of European art in both size and importance. Robert Y. Turner, a native of Winnsboro, South Carolina, donated the collection between 2003 and 2007, effectively transforming the museum's modest collection of Asian art into an enviable permanent exhibit and the only one of its kind in South Carolina.
The Turner Collection is exceptional in that it covers a broad historical span with excellent examples from many geographic areas. The works range from rare painted ceramics and bronzes of Neolithic times (ca. 8000-2000 B.C.) to superb ceramics, vessels, tomb figures, and Buddhist works from the Golden Age of China, the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-907). Beautiful works from almost every intervening period are also included. The volume includes a contextualizing essay on the artistic practices and techniques represented in the collection, a pragmatic user's guide, and an illustrated checklist of these impressive works of art. This book--like the collection itself--aims at providing insight and understanding into ancient and vibrant traditions given form in Chinese art.