Page 13 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

INTRODUCTION AND NOTES TO THE READER

HIS VOLUME, THE SECOND IN THE SERIES to catalogue the Gallery's collection of decorative arts, focuses primari-
ly on Chinese ceramics from the Qing period. Also included are rugs and carpets from the collection of Peter
TA. B. Widener, two Chinese paintings dating from the nineteenth century, and a seventeenth-century coro-
mandel screen. Medieval and Renaissance metalwork, enamels, and ceramics are discussed in Western Decorative Arts,
Part I, published in 1993. A third volume, cataloguing textiles, furniture, and rock crystals is forthcoming.
The single largest group in the present volume, Qing-dynasty porcelains, is arranged according to color
and shape. In most cases we have illustrated the foot-rings and reignmarks on the bottoms of pieces. Technical exam-
inations were carried out by the conservation department and the results are recorded here.
The rugs and carpets were examined by the conservation department and dye analysis was carried
out by the scientific research departemt. In the case of the Scenic Animal Carpet, these tests led to new discoveries
in attribution.
Before 1983 decorative arts in the National Gallery collection received accession numbers beginning with
C-. These old numbers are given in parentheses following the new ones assigned, in keeping with more recent
museum practices, based on the year when each work was accessioned.
Dimensions are given in centimeters, height preceding width preceding depth, followed by the dimen-
sions in inches in parentheses. They represent a maximum measurement in the stated direction. Inch measure-
ments have been rounded off to the nearest one-eighth inch, with exceptions being made (to one-sixteenth inch)
for objects whose largest overall dimension is less than five inches.

The following conventions for dates are used:
1700 executed in 1700
c. 1700 executed sometime around 1700
1700-1725 begun in 1700, completed in 1725
1700/1725 executed sometime between 1700 and 1725
c. 1700/1725 executed sometime around the period 1700 to 1725

In the provenance section parentheses indicate a dealer, auction house, or agent. A semicolon indicates
that the work passed directly from one owner to the next, while a period indicates either that we have not been
able to establish a direct link or that there is a break in the known history of ownership. In the list of references we
have tried to be inclusive of all scholarly discussions, but have not attempted to cover all publications. Shortened
references throughout the text, notes, and references sections are cited in full in the master bibliography.
The five authors who contributed to this volume are: Virginia Bower (VB), Josephine Hadley Knapp
(JK), Stephen Little (SL), William Sargent (WS), and Robert Wilson Torchia (RWT).

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