The
Renaissance
Society

As in Western Europe, the Chinese artists and artisans of the 18th Century produced an enormous quantity of objects designed with exquisite taste and executed with a careful and sensitive feeling for detail which died out with the coming of the Industrial Revolution. The objects in this exhibition--textiles, lacquer, hardstone, carvings, enamel, and glass--are types which could be deemed useful, but all illustrate as well a concern for shape and decoration that goes far beyond the needs of an ordinary functional object. Whether a lavish embroidery to tickle the fancy of an emperor accustomed to luxurious furnishings or a simple object of humble use in an ordinary scholar's study, there is a consistent attention to variety and quality.

This exhibition was organized by Harrie Vanderstappen, Professor of Oriental Art, University of Chicago, and Ross Edman, Instructor in Art History, University of Illinois Circle Campus.