Page 13 - Lally Bronzes 2014
P. 13
“In this kingdom they make much of antique things; and yet they have no
statues nor medals, but rather many vases of bronze which are highly
valued, and they desire them with a certain particular corrosion. Without it,
they are worth nothing.”
Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), Italian Jesuit missionary in China, one of the first Western scholars
to become fluent and literate in classical Chinese, quoted in Craig Clunas, Superfluous Things
(p. 94).
