One Hundred Treasures from China on View in Israel

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Leading cultural institutions in the People's Republic of China have agreed to lend a selection of their most important patrimonial treasures to the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, for an exhibition opening this month. China: One Hundred Treasures is the first exhibition of masterworks from China ever to be presented in Israel. On view from August 14, 2001 through January 15, 2002, the exhibition spans over 5,000 years of China's artistic achievement, reflecting a long tradition of skilled artisanship in jade, bronze, gold and silver, ceramic, and porcelain.

The exhibition includes objects drawn from eight museums across China and has been selected to present a comprehensive overview of one of the world's oldest and most venerated non-Western cultures. More than half of the objects are drawn from among the treasures of the National Museum of Chinese History in Beijing, the main repository of China's cultural patrimony. Ranging from Neolithic (CA. 3,000 BCE) ceramics through Ming (13th-16th centuries CE) porcelains, works have been selected for their artistic and historical significance and for the insights which they offer into the social and cultural developments of the times in which they were created and used.

Highlights of the exhibition include: 3,000-year-old bronze vessels from the tomb of Fu Hao, the Warrior Queen; life-size terra cotta soldiers and a horse from the tomb of the First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi in the 3rd century BCE; and a 2,000-year-old jade burial suit from the Han dynasty. Each object, and its accompanying story, offers an insight into the magnificence of the rich history of Chinese civilization.

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