Jade figure of a hound

Art History Proposal Chinese Art and architecture belong to the rich tradition of Asian Art. Within this scenario, the artwork d as Jade figure of a hound by an anonymous Chinese artist is symbolic of the growth and development of art during the reign of Ming Dynasty in China. The exact date of this artwork is not available, but one can guess the same as between the years 1368 and 1644. This artwork (see appendix-1) is displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum, under the title Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Gallery of China. Besides, this artwork belongs to The George Crofts Collection, 918. 21. 900. I chose this work because it is symbolic of the artist’s artistic creativity and the rich heritage of Asian Art.
The artwork is in three dimensional, and it is in the form of a small sculpture. For instance, the artwork is symbolic of the importance given to domestic animals in Ancient China. Michael Sullivan opined that, “ To many people “ Ming” means not painting-for only recently has Ming painting come to be appreciated outside China- but the decorative arts.” 1 Besides, one cannot identify any sort of sharp edges on the artwork because the edges are round in shape. The artwork can be divided as: dog’s head, body, and legs. To be specific, the head is pointed backwards and this fills the viewer’s mind with enthusiasm. To be specific, the dog’s head (especially the eyes) is the focal point of the artwork because the dog is expecting something and looking backwards. The next element in the artwork is the dog’s body, and the same is symbolic of the importance of proportion in art. The next element is the legs, symbolic of warmth and peacefulness. In short, the proportionate alignment of artistic elements proves that the artwork was produced by an artist who is interested in observing animals, especially their shape and size.
The artwork consists of curves, symbolic of the athletic shape of animals, especially among dogs and other domesticated animals. The overall size of the artwork is related to the normal size of a dog. One can see that the artist did not try to alter the natural colour of jade and the lines and curves on the artwork prove the same. To be specific, the artist made use of jade as a medium to produce his artwork, but did not try to alter its natural design. So, one can see that the dominant colours of the artwork are purple, coffee brown and light blue. Besides, the mixture of these colours provides neutrality to the artwork as whole. Still, the artist provided ample importance to final touch because the artwork is with glazing effect. One cannot see any visible damage on the artwork because the medium is hard enough to withstand any sort of natural pressure. In addition, the elements are not difficult to view because the three dimensional shape is helpful to perceive the artwork as a whole. So, the artwork is symbolic of the human interaction with domestic animals the crafty portrayal of animal images within the scenario of art.
Summing, the visual appeal of this artwork are related to its shape (curvature), size (scaled down size of a dog), and proper balancing of the basic elements of art. Besides, the proper combination of natural colours of jade helps the artwork to be unique historical product with ample visual appeal. I will market this artwork because the work comes from historically and culturally interesting context, i. e. the abode of ancient Chinese art.
Bibliography
Sullivan, Michael. The Arts of China. California: University of California Press, 1999.
Appendices
Appendix-1
Available at: -http://images. rom. on. ca/public/index. php? function= image&action= detail&sid=&ccid=