Read an Excerpt:
The Forms and Functions of Mat Weights, by Michelle C. Wang, co-curator of the exhibition
Download the Introduction (PDF): Includes Table of Contents, Forward by Director Anne Hawley, and Introduction by Curator Alan Chong
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A remarkable and mysterious group of small bronze sculptures from China’s Warring States Period and Han Dynasty (475 BC–AD 220) depicts bears, felines, rams, deer, and other creatures both real and imaginary. Made in sets of four and often filled with lead, these sculptures were used to weigh down mats used for seating and for playing board games, and their internment in tombs suggests that they were as significant during life as after death. The Gardner Museum’s pair of bear mat weights were the first Chinese antiquities Isabella Stewart Gardner purchased for her collection and they have delighted visitors for decades. A Bronze Menagerie is the first exhibition devoted to mat weights and will consider their function, style, and broader cosmological significance—shedding new light on a fascinating art form.
The exhibition is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with generous support from the Leon Levy Foundation and JPMorgan Chase.
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