Chinese gallery, Oriental Art Museum in Turin

The Chinese gallery now houses works of art from ancient China, dating from 3000 BC to c.900 BC, with Neolithic ceramics, sacred bronzes, and lacquered and terracotta ware that include over two hundred examples of burial art works from the Han and Tang periods.

In the Chinese collection it can be seen how much the millennial culture of China and its immense extension have generated a great variety of artistic representations. However, the cohesion of its social and political structure has favored the evolution of a homogeneous and strongly characterizing style. The collection includes Neolithic pottery, specimens of ritual bronzes and lacquers from the pre-imperial period to the Han and Tang dynasties.

China’s millennial history and its control of vast territories generated a great variety of art forms. However, thanks to its centralised political structure and the organic nature of its cultural models, it can be characterised in a generally homogeneous way.

The Chinese Gallery contains ancient Chinese art from 3000 BCE to appro11thmately 900 CE, with Neolithic pottery, ritual bronzes, pottery, c and terracotta. Over two hundred examples of funerary art from the Han and Tang periods are also on display.

Highlights works
Chinese gallery on the first floor, showcase funerary art in ceramic, bronze, wood and stone, from the 4th millennium BC to the 10th century AD.

Tripode “ding” pot for meat offers with cylindrical feet, 9th century bc approx
Curved neck bottle with garlic head, late 3rd – early 2nd century bc
Oval cup with cut half circle loops, 5; 3rd century bc
Camel with two baskets, first half of the 6th century ad
Sword and scabbard, end of 6th – 4th century bc
Anthropomorphic collar giara, majiayao culture, ca. 2300-1950 bc
Sword with braided cordic handle and sheath, 4th century bc
Male character on horse, second half of the 7th century a.d
Kinker “qin” keeper, second half of the 2nd century ad
Door of a tomb, oriental han, early 2nd century ad
Cocoon shaped vase with painted decoration, end 2nd; early 1st century bc
Flat bottom cup, ca. 3350-2650 bc
Lacquered vase with edge and “pushou” in bronze, 4th-2nd century bc
Horse with ribbon and knight decoration, 2nd beginning of the 1st century bc
Vase with short expanded neck and flat base, ca. 1200-950 bc
“boshanlu” perfume burner, 1st century bc – 1st century ad
“huzi” pitch with tiger shape, mid 3rd century ad
Lamp with double basin, 2nd century ad
“11thao” type knife with oval ring configured, ii – 1st century bc
Marine, 2nd century bc
Ax head with rounded triangular graft, 3rd-1st century bc
Bear shaped lamp, 1st-2nd century ad
Two-long vase and high neck, ca. 1200-950 bc
Ci6thl official on high pedestal, tang dynasty, late 7th – first half of the 8th century ad
Horse with ribbon and tassel decoration, 2nd, early 1st century bc
Two-long vase and faired belly, ca. 2300-1700 bc
“ge” blade of ax-dagger in fanone, ca. 4th century bc
Mythical tree, western han, 1st century bc
Tripode “ding” glass vase with lid, first quarter 1st century ad
“luohan” sitting, 10th century ad or later
“zhenmushou”, protect4the creature of the animal tomb, second half of the seventh century ad (?)
Straight knife with horse-shaped extremity, western zhou, 9th-8th century bc
Model of an oven, second half of the 3rd century ad
Urna for the soul (“hunping”), western jin, late 3rd century ad
Man (?) Kneeling, 2nd century bc
“ge” dagger-blade with “taotie”, 9th-5th century bc
Box of a ser6thce for drinks, second half of the 4th century bc
Luohan sitting in ardhaparyanka, 14th century ad
Marine, 2nd century bc
Bacile two loops, ca. 3350-2650 bc
Well model with square side, 1st century ad (?)
Tomb guardian unicorn animal, 1st-2nd century ad
Warrior with armor, 7th century a.d
Bodhisattva assiso in reverse 6thtarkamudra, 16th century ad
Horse with ciuffo and short mane, second of the second, beginning of the third century ad
Official in hearing, second half of the 7th century a.d
Giara funeraria “gang” with perforated base, ca. 4000-3500 bc
“mao” launch point, 3rd century bc
Courser, tang dynasty, second half of the 7th century ad
The buddha of medicine, x6th – first half of the x7th century
Ornamental plate in the shape of felino, ca. 5th century bc
Fence with grinder and pestle, 1st-2nd century ad
“jue” vase for cereal wine with decorat4the band, shang posterior, 13th-12th century bc
Buddha assisted with hands, 16th century ad
Fence with grinder and pestle, 1st-2nd century ad
“zhenmushou”, protect4the creature of the human face tomb, early 8th century ad
“hu” vase for cereal wine with engraved decoration, end 4th; early 3rd century bc
Cups twins, ca. 2200 bc
Two-wing giara with modeled face, ca. 2300-2100 bc
Dagger with straight handle and flat, 8th-7th century bc
Curved knife with ring end, 4th-3rd century bc
Dagger with straight handle and flat, 8th-7th century bc
Curved knife with ring end, 4th-3rd century bc
“hu” vase with painted decoration, western han, 2nd-1st century bc
Amphora with two dragon-shaped loops and “sancai” windows, late 7th century – early 8th century ad
Gasket of vase or lacquer box, ca. Second half of the third century bc
“ge” asymmetrical ax-dagger blade, shang dynasty, 12th-11th century bc
“hu” vase with lid and painted decoration, 2nd century bc
Large vase with grottesco character, 2nd century ad
Small “gui” tripod jug with staped spout, ca. 2900-2400 bc
Coin tree support, ii, early 3rd century ad
Vase basin model, 1st-2nd century ad
Hinged mask, 7th-x century ad (?)
Buddha on a lanceolated leaf background and two bodhisattva, late 6th century ad
Courtyard dame with belt, 8th century ad (?)
Oval cup with cut half circle loops, 5th, 3rd century bc
Glass with high cable foot, ca. 2550-2300 bc
Bodhisattva with ball in the left hand, second half of the 16th – 17th centuries
“jue” vase for cereal wine with long spout, 12th-11th century bc
Courtyard with v-neck, second quarter 8th century ad (?)
Small container on three feet “jiaodou”, 3rd century ad
Guanyin assisted in lotus meditation, ming dynasty, late 15th – first half of the 16th century

Oriental Art Museum in Turin
The Museum of Oriental Art (Italian: Museo d’Arte Orientale, also known by the acronym MAO) is a museum contains one of the most important collections of Asian art in Italy. The collection works represents cultural and artistic traditions from across the Asian continent.

MAO, the Museum of Oriental Art, is located in the historic 18th-century seat of Palazzo Mazzonis. The museum’s heritage encompasses some 1500 works, in part from the pre6thous collections amassed by various city institutions, in part acquired in the past few years. The Museum’s exhibition layout is di6thded into f4the cultural areas: South Asia, China, Japan, the Himalayan Region and Islamic countries. This layout corresponds naturally with the building’s physical structure which is di6thded into the same number of interlinked but structurally separate exhibition spaces used to house the various sections.

The museum opened on December 5, 2008, with the merger of the Asian collection of the Turin City Museum of Ancient Art at the Palazzo Madama and contributions from Turin City Hall, the Region of Piedmont, the Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli and Compagnia di San Paolo. Architect Andrea Bruno oversaw the restoration of the Palazzo Mazzonis to house the newly formed museum.

The exhibits now housed in the new Oriental Art Museum in Turin are mostly works already present in the city’s Ci6thc Art Museum. Others, however, were donated to the museum by the Piedmont Region, as well as by the Agnelli Foundation and the Compagnia di San Paolo.

The museum‘s exhibition space, which has been designed to host f4the different thematic areas, such as the entrance hall where you can observe typical Japanese Zen gardens. Each area, from this point on, enjoys a different characterization of the space and the works on display. On the ground floor you can admire artifacts from South Asia, most of which are very ancient, and from South-East Asia. On the first floor there are Chinese-made artifacts, including bronze and terracotta works dating back to 3,000 BC, and in the appropriate rooms, it is possible to admire numerous artifacts of Japanese art. But that is not all. In fact, on the third floor of the Oriental Art Museum of Turin there is also a collection of objects from the Himalayan region, while the top floor is entirely dedicated to Islamic art.