【Upcoming Exhibition🩶展覽預告】

The University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong is delighted to present “Japanese Jewels: Imperial Silver Bonbonnières”, an exhibition of precious boxes that illustrate a well-documented tradition in Japan, which rose to prominence during the Meiji era and became formalised in imperial ceremonies. These containers, often made from pure silver and adorned with gold inlays and enamel, regularly display motifs that symbolise auspicious elements such as longevity, prosperity, and harmony. The story of Japanese imperial bonbonnières is a story of both creation and reception—of the master artisans who made them and the carefully selected recipients who received them. Makers like Kobayashi, Miyamoto, or Muramatsu upheld court traditions through exacting craftsmanship, while recipients, from nobles to foreign envoys, engaged in a socially meaningful system of imperial recognition.

Stylistically, Japanese silver bonbonnières exemplify artefacts shaped by encounters with European court practices, refined through technical and aesthetic adaptation, and ultimately transformed into powerful symbols of modern Japanese sovereignty. They demonstrate how a foreign object type, reinterpreted through national traditions of craftsmanship and ceremonial use, became an enduring component of Japan’s imperial identity. Their evolution from Meiji modernisation to Reiwa minimalism tells a larger story about the material culture of power, the visual language of the Japanese court, and the role of objects in mediating historical memory. Though modest in scale, the bonbonnière encapsulates the convergence of courtly patronage, artisanal expertise, symbolic visual culture, and ritual within modern Japanese history. ...

【Upcoming Exhibition✨展覽預告】

The University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong is honoured to present Handmade and “Handheld: Song to Qing Dynasty Chinese Bronzes for the Scholar’s Studio”. The ninety objects illustrate a remarkable cultural continuum that links ancient ritual traditions to a sophisticated literati aesthetic and intellectual life. These bronzes, having transcended their original ritual functions, became prized art objects, instruments of scholarly inquiry, and emblems of moral and political values. Their diverse forms—from ritual vessels to intimate incense burners and scholarly desk pieces—reflect the deep integration of bronze into the fabric of imperial and literati culture.

The exhibition opening ceremony and book signing will be held on October 23, 2025. At the event, you may purchase the catalogue “Later Chinese Bronzes for the Scholar’s Studio” and meet the author in person.

香港大學美術博物館欣然呈獻「掌中造物——宋至清代中國文房青銅器」展覽，精選九十件青銅器物，勾勒出由古代禮儀傳統至文人美學思想延展的文化脈絡。這些青銅器超越了原本的禮制功能，而是被視為藝術珍品、文人探究的對象，以及承載着道德與政治的理念。它們的形態多樣，從莊重的禮器到精緻的香爐與書齋文房，反映青銅工藝如何融入帝王與文人文化之中。

展覽開幕禮暨簽書會將於2025年10月23日舉行，屆時各位可於現場購買《Later Chinese Bronzes for the Scholar`s Studio》圖錄並與圖錄作者現場交流。
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Handheld: Song to Qing Dynasty Chinese Bronzes for the Scholar’s Studio
《掌中造物——宋至清代中國文房青銅器》
📆 October 24, 2025 - February 8, 2026
🎟️ 免費入場 Free Admission
📍香港大學美術博物館 馮平山樓1樓
📍 1/F, Fung Ping Shan Building, University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong
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