The varied arts of Asia offer collectors a unique opportunity to identify with ancient and venerable cultures - some long gone, all radically different from today's modern industrialized societies. Asian art includes work created for the aristocracy as well as objects made for everyday use, from peoples as diverse as nomadic Mongolian horsemen and tribes in the humid Philippine jungle.
China is the oldest continuous civilization in the world and was for centuries the most advanced.
Chinese artisans working under strict imperial guidelines created objects of great rarity for the emperor and his court. These include beautifully fashioned ceramic vessels, bronzes, and sensuous carvings of jade and other hard stones. Kilns throughout China made simple, elegant clay vessels for everyday use and bold figural models for inclusion in elaborately outfitted tombs. In Japan, master craftsmen created sophisticated objects which, while related to those of China, also expressed the cultural differences between the two countries. The Japanese excelled at metalwork, making sword fitting and armor, as well as finely cast and finished bronze sculpture for both the domestic and overseas markets.