A circular celadon-glazed dragon box made at the Yue kilns purchased by The Norton Museum of Art.
The circular celadon-glazed dragon box made at the Yue kilns is, according to Laurie Barnes, Norton’s Elizabeth B McGraw senior curator of Chinese Art, the sole piece of “Secret Colour” Yue stoneware in the US.
One of the dragon’s horns is inscribed with a single character, Wang. The inscription indicates that the box may have been a special tribute ware from the Princess of Wu-yue, given by her to rulers of neighboring kingdoms.
The box, dating to between 907-early 1000s, will be added to the Norton’s collection of more than 700 objects and artworks from China.
Barnes added that “works of quality and rarity command high prices and this masterwork was no exception.”
A view of the circular celadon-glazed dragon box.
The museum also recently received a promised gift of almost 700 prints spanning 500 years from collector Jonathan “Jack” Frost. It will enlarge the institution’s holding of prints by almost 40%, and includes works by Durer, Gauguin, van Dyck and Rembrandt.
Frost, president of Commerce Consulting, began building his collection in the 1990s. He worked with dealer-collector Dorothy Braude Edinburg who advised acquiring at least one print from all the major names in the field.
A selection of 75 of the works go on show from April 20-August 11 in The Paper Trail: 500 Years of Prints from the Jonathan “Jack” Frost Collection, and immediately after the exhibition, 60 of the works will enter the museum’s collection.
The Norton Museum of Art’s collection includes more than 8200 of artworks largely European, American and Chinese art as well as in contemporary art and photography.
