The University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong is honoured to present Handmade and Handheld: Song to Qing Dynasty Chinese Bronzes for the Scholar’s Studio. The ninety objects illustrate a remarkable cultural continuum that links ancient ritual traditions to a sophisticated literati aesthetic and intellectual life. These bronzes, having transcended their original ritual functions, became prized art objects, instruments of scholarly inquiry, and emblems of moral and political values. Their diverse forms—from ritual vessels to intimate incense burners and scholarly desk pieces—reflect the deep integration of bronze into the fabric of imperial and literati culture.
The technical innovations and stylistic diversity evident across these dynasties testify to the enduring creativity of Chinese bronze craftsmanship. At the same time, the reverence for antiquity that shaped both the collecting and production of bronzes anchored Chinese cultural identity in its historical and philosophical foundations, making scholar bronzes a vital medium of continuity and transformation within Chinese civilisation. Yet only a few museum exhibitions, collection catalogues, and scholarly publications have addressed the historical, artistic, and ritual significance of later Chinese bronzes, highlighting their diverse forms and functions from the Song through the Qing dynasties.