Excerpt from The Museum Journal, Vol. 7: March, 1916

The sculptures in the exhibition begin with the Han Dynasty (206 B. C. - 25 A. Extend through the Wei Dynasty (386 - 549 A. The T'ang Dynasty (618 - 907 A. And come down to the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1643 A. This extension covers the rise, culmination and decline of sculpture in China, which had its golden age in the period of the T 'angs. The range of this sculpture extends all the way from the genre type of clay statuettes, reminding one of the Tanagra figurines, and taken from the tombs of the T'ang period, to heroic figures in stone representing Buddhist divinities. In using clay as a vehicle and shaping this soft material into forms of lifelike eloquence, . Combining an easy grace of line with great power Of, expression, the knowledge and ability shown are at times startling. Technical skill, combined with imaginative genius, Is seen 'in many fine examples made by masters of the T 'ang period. It is seen in the figure of a horse and in the larger than life seated statue of a disciple of Buddha, both in the same medium, clay. The last named'superb piece of plastic art Shows in a remarkable way how the: lump of. Clay under the master's touch becomes instinct with life and quick with spiritual and intellectual fire.

Other sculptors of the same era, using hard stone as their medium, have handed down to posterity works that claim our greatest admiration and respect. Among the considerable number of stone sculptures in the Museum collection, which date from the Tang Dynasty, all of them on a very high plane of artistic and historic interest, there are at least Six statues that are very great masterpieces. Four of these are. Larger than life and two are under life size. All represent Buddhist conceptions of Divinity. They impress one at once with their latent qualities of immobile power and of energy in repose, qualities that seem to belong especially in the province of sculpture. These true impressions lose nothing on more intimate acquaintance. On the contrary they become associated with other qualities which combine to produce an effect of great dignity and power on the one hand and great refinement andcharm on the other.

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