China : a history in objects / Jessica Harrison-Hall.

"The British Museum."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 342-345) and index.
Text copyright 2017. "First published in 2018 in harcover in the United States of America"--colophon.

Introduction -- Early China : 5000-221 BC -- Empires : 221 BC-AD 960 -- Emperors, scholars and merchants : 960-1279 -- Mongols and Ming : 1271-1644 -- Qing: the last dynasty : 1644-1911 -- Modern China : 1911-present.

This illustrated introduction to the history of China offers a fresh understanding of China's progress from the Neolithic age to the present. Told in six chapters arranged chronologically, through art, artifacts, people, and places, and richly illustrated with expertly selected objects and artworks, it firmly connects today's China with its internationally engaged past. From the earliest archaeological relics and rituals, through the development of writing and state, to the advent of empire, the author charts China's transformation from ancient civilization into the world's most populous nation and influential economy, offering historical insights and cultural treasures along the way. This accessible book presents an eclectic mix of materials including Chinese theater, the decorative arts, costume, jewelry, and furniture-making, running through to the most recent diffusion of Chinese culture.

Local access dig.pdf. [Harrison-Hall-China : a history in objects.pdf]

In 2010, the BBC and the British Museum embarked on an ambitious project: to tell the story of two million years of human history using one hundred objects selected from the Museum's vast and renowned collection. Presented by the British Museum's Director Neil MacGregor, each episode focuses on a single object--from a Stone Age tool to a solar-powered lamp--and explains its significance in human history.
Read by Neil MacGregor.

Physical copy (London : Allen Lane, 2010) at Gleeson Library.

Seeing the divine -- Dress -- Rulers -- Violence and war -- Mythical beasts -- Death -- Animals -- The word -- Eating and drinking -- The human form -- The power of objects.

Ming : 50 years that changed China : the BP exhibition [London, British Museum, 18 September 2014 to 5 January 2015] / edited by Craig Clunas and Jessica Harrison-Hall

1. A second founding: Ming China 1400-1450 / Craig Clunas -- 2. Courts: palaces, people and objects / Jessica Harrison-Hall -- 3. Wu: the arts of war / David Robinson -- 4. Wen: the arts of peace / Craig Clunas -- Beliefs: miracles and salvation / Marsha Haufler -- Commerce: the Ming in the world / Timothy Brook.

"Published to accompany a major exhibition at the British Museum and drawing on the latest research, this magnificent book explores the extraordinary history of early Ming China: the fabulous imperial courts, the military and cultural achievements, the complex belief systems, and diplomatic and trading missions. Over 2500 objects from museums across China and the rest of the world are illustrated here, including spectacular recent archaeological discoveries and some of the most beautiful works of art ever made"--Cover flap.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

This book is a catalogue of an exhibition about the Scythians, who were an ancient nomadic people, who lived in the Russian steppe from 900 to 400 BC. They established a rich, nomadic civilization stretching from their homeland in Siberia as far as the Black Sea and the edge of China. Mobility and mastery of local resources were central to their culture and their achievements. Forerunners of the Sarmatians, the Huns, the Turks and the Mongols, the Scythians were feared adversaries and respected neighbours of the Assyrians, the Persians and the Ancient Greeks. Much of what we know about them comes from the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus, as they left no written records of their own. Many of the objects found are exceptionally well preserved because of the permanent frost in the high Altai mountains, and they offer unique insights in to the life and funerary customs of the Scythians. Drawing on the latest research this book will appeal to anyone interested in the ancient world and Russian culture.

Treasures of heaven : saints, relics, and devotion in medieval Europe / edited by Martina Bagnoli [and others].

Issued in connection with an exhibition held Oct. 17, 2010-Jan. 17, 2011, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Feb. 13-May 15, 2011, the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, and June 23-Oct. 9, 2011, the British Museum, London.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 238-246) and index.

From tomb to altar -- Gathering the saints -- Ritual and performance -- Matter of faith -- Beyond the Middle Ages.

Drawing together an array of treasured objects from collections throughout Europe and the United States, this beautifully illustrated volume examines the medieval cult of relics- the physical remains of holy men and women, and things associated with them. Relics connected Christian faithful with sacred places and people who died as martyrs of their faith. Believed to contain the same power that had animated saints during their lifetime, relics bridged the gap between heaven and earth. To signal their sacred nature, medieval artists fashioned special containers for relics in precious materials and encrusted them with gems. Enshrined in alters of churches and used in the liturgy as well as in public rituals, relics functioned as objects of public and private devotion, carried home from pilgrimages to the Holy Land and sites throughout Europe or worn on the body as protective amulets enclosed in rings or pendants. In essays and catalogue entries, an international group of scholars traces the making of reliquaries from the earliest days of Christianity to the apogee of the practice in the sixteenth century, exploring how medieval artists invented new ways to express the power of sacred remains and the role that relics played in the development of the visual arts in both Eastern Christianity (Byzantium) and Western Christendom. This book also tracks the fate of relics and reliquaries in the wake of the Reformation, anti-clerical movements, and the French Revolution. This book sheds fascinating new light on some 140 extraordinary and rare reliquaries and related objects, including precious metalwork, paintings, sculptures, and illuminated manuscripts, from sources ranging from the Lateran Palace in Rome to European cathedral treasuries and small parish churches. -- from Book Jacket.