Scientific Research on the Sculptural Arts of Asia

Throughout Asia’s history, sculptural arts have encompassed a variety of processes, including carving, modeling, casting, and assembling. Scientific investigations presented in this book include studies of Southeast Asian jade, Chinese bronzes, Mongolian deer stones, Japanese polychrome sculpture, and others. Scientific study of sculpture helps us learn more about why, where, and how these works were made as well as address concerns about the state of their preservation and conservation. This is the third in an ongoing series on the results of the annual Forbes Symposium sponsored by the Freer Gallery of Art on research in the field of Asian art. The first title, Scientific Research in the Field of Asian Art, edited by Paul Jett with Janet G. Douglas, Blythe McCarthy, and John Winter, was published in 2003 (ISBN 9781873132388, $95.00); the second, Scientific Research on the Pictorial Arts of Asia, edited by Paul Jett, John Winter, and Blythe McCarthy, was published in 2005 (9781873132746, $95.00). All three volumes are published by Archetype Books in association with the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.