This summer, I spent two weeks visiting seven museums across Canada and the US: Casa Loma, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum in Canada, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Cranbrook Art Museum in Michigan, and the de Young Museum and the Asian Art Museum in California.
Having spent my childhood in the Detroit and San Francisco areas, I had visited these local museums many times over the years, but enjoyed exploring the Canadian museums for the first time. The ROM was especially a delight for its extensive Chinese collections and the inclusion of the only complete Ming Dynasty tomb outside of China. As an Asian antiques specialist, I am biased in favoring the substantial Asian art collections at the Royal Ontario Museum, the DIA, and the Asian Art Museum. There are too many Chinese highlights across the museums to discuss here, so I will share three favorites from the ROM and the Asian Art Museum.
Although blue-and-white porcelain carries a global appeal and is widely considered the most popular type of Chinese ceramics, I have always had a soft spot for red-and-white porcelain, which I feel is often overlooked for its more mainstream counterpart (I am definitely in the minority on this one!). At the ROM, I saw a gorgeous Qianlong red-and-white cong vase (a rectangular vase with a round interior). The cong shape is archaistic, paying homage to Neolithic Chinese ritual bronzes and jades. The Qianlong period, when this vase was made, saw a large production of Neolithic shape revivals. The ROM vase displays auspicious motifs on each side, including bats, clouds, and archaistic geometric patterns. While Neolithic cong vases were created for ritual use, Qing versions were decorative. Authentic Qianlong comparables are extremely valuable, with sales in the 75,000 GBP – 100,000+ GBP range, but for collectors with smaller budgets, there are later Qing options available made for the export market (which are still antiques), selling for roughly 1,000 GBP – 2,000 GBP.
While at the ROM, I was absolutely smitten with a Ming rooftile I found in the shape of a celestial attendant with a fishtail (similar to a mermaid). The ROM has an impressive collection of Ming sancai wares (sancai means “three colors” and is a ceramic painting technique dating to the Tang Dynasty) and an entire wall dedicated to temple rooftiles. The market for sancai rooftiles is not very strong at the moment, often selling for under 2,000 GBP, making them an accessible entry point for novice Chinese ceramics collectors.
I would be remiss to write an article covering the Asian Art Museum without acknowledging (what is in my humble opinion) the museum’s most prized object: China’s earliest known Buddha sculpture, commissioned by a Chinese monk in Hebei during the Later Zhao period (319 – 351 CE). Dated 338 CE, this gilt bronze sculpture captures a significant moment in Buddhist history. The Buddha sits in a meditative pose on a large base, with folded hands in his lap and a serene expression. He shows strong Gandharan influences, including Graeco-Roman style robes and a tall topknot ushnisha (instead of the later spiked ushnisha, which would later become more common in East and Southeast Asia), features that would have reached China via the Silk Road. Yet, his physiognomy and style of hands are distinctly Chinese, signaling a diversion from Buddhism’s Indian origins and the establishing traces of China’s own Buddhist tradition. As this is the earliest known Chinese Buddha, there are no direct comparables on the market. For interested collectors, there are a handful of slightly later Buddhas available in a similar style, but these are still rare on the market.
If you’re traveling in North America this summer, museums in Ontario, Detroit, and San Francisco have plenty of Asian art to offer. I’m looking forward to my next visit!
Originally from San Francisco, California, Ashley Innes (née Crawford) is an experienced Asian art valuer and provenance researcher. Her specialties include ceramics, Buddhist antiques, Indian miniature paintings, Southeast Asian art, and musical instruments.