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The Great Bronze Age of China: An exhibition from the People's Republic of ChinaRhinoceros Urn. Late Eastern Zhou-Western Han, late 3rd century BC. This rhinoceros-shaped vessel was discovered accidentally by a local farmer plowing his fields in Xingping Xian. It may have served as a container for wine or other liquids. Inside its hollow body were various bronze objects including a belt hook and miscellaneous tools. It appears that the urn held valuables temporarily buried for safety, but never recovered by their owner. The abstract patterns on the body of the rhinoceros suggest in a strange way, the rugged liveliness of the animal, while being beautifully decorative at the same time. This image introduces the photo-panel version of the exhibition, which was organized by Dr. Emily Sano for the Texas Humanities Resource Center, under grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Public Programs/Humanities Projects in Libraries, and the Texas Council for the Humanities, state partner of the NEH. This exhibit, presenting some of the most significant works in a major exhibition that toured the United States in 1980 and 1981, was developed in collaboration with the Kimbell Museum, Ft. Worth, Texas. The exhibition is made possible by grants from The Coca-Cola Company; the National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C., a federal agency; and the Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Charitable Trust. Under the Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Act, indemnity was granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Field Museum, Chicago Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth Los Angeles County Museum of Art Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |