Page 11 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

The Phoenix Art Museum is very pleased that Robert D. Mowry has
joined with our Curator of Asian Art, Claudia Brown, as co-curator for China's
Renaissance in Bronze. As author of the present catalog, Robert Mowry,
Curator of Chinese Art and Head of the Department of Asian Art at the
Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, brings his broad expertise
in East Asian decorative arts, especially Chinese and Korean ceramics, to
the examination and analysis of later Chinese bronzes. Both curators, work-
ing with Robert Clague, have created a superb exhibition and catalog.
Although museums and private collectors in this country have begun
to acquire and display later Chinese bronzes in a limited way, the Clague
collection is America's premier private collection in this long neglected
field. Thus, first with Chinese cloisonne, then with Chinese glass and now
with bronzes, Robert Clague has opened our eyes to the beauty of works
hitherto neglected by museums and other private collectors and largely
ignored by scholars. Robert Clague is not only a discerning collector, he is a
pioneer who has legitimized not just one but three new fields of collecting
and has thus inspired new areas of scholarly inquiry. By engaging the
interest of museums and scholars in these areas he has had a tremendous
impact on the study and appreciation of Chinese art.

James K. Ballinger
Phoenix Art Museum Director