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Harness and trappings  

J. H. Crouwel, Mary A. Littauer, Christopher Gravett, Tom Richardson, Walter Smith, William Lancaster, and Fidelity Lancaster

From an early stage, horses were used both as mounts and for pulling chariots in warfare or hunting. Most evidence for forms of harness in the ancient world comes from depictions in art, the earliest figural evidence dating from before 2000 bc in the Near East, although in a few contexts actual harness elements have survived. Even for later periods, secondary sources tend to provide the best evidence for the perishable leather and cloth parts of horse harness and trappings. More durable equipment, such as the horse armour used in medieval Europe, sometimes survives intact.

Ancient chariot horses were attached to their yokes by means of neck or breast straps and backing straps or girths that ran under their bellies, just behind the forelegs. Mounts often wore saddle-cloths or, in later antiquity, primitive saddles held on by girths, breastbands and breechings or cruppers. Both chariot horses and mounts were controlled by bridles, consisting of headstalls and reins and, usually, bits. This equipment was often decorated in varying degrees....

Article

Nianhua  

James Flath

[Chin.: “New Year pictures”]

Genre of popular woodblock prints known for their bold colors and folkloric content. Prior to the mid-20th century these prints were widely used throughout China to decorate the home, as calendars, and to conduct domestic rituals in advance of the lunar New Year festival.

The most common production method for nianhua uses three to five relief printing blocks. In this technique an outline block is used to print an image in monochrome, and additional blocks are then used to apply individual colors. Finally the prints may be touched up by hand. In some examples all colors are applied using brushes. The subject matter of nianhua is diverse. Although the variety of gods appearing in nianhua is virtually unlimited, domestic deities such as the Stove God, Door God, and the God of Wealth are common. The image of the Stove God in particular was believed to embody the deity and protect the household. The act of burning the print at the end of the year was traditionally intended to send the deity to Heaven, and its subsequent replacement was to welcome him back to the home. Themes of wealth, good fortune, and scholarly success leading to official promotion are popular, as are images relating to fertility and the birth of male children. Narratives scenes drawn from historical classics and the theater are among the most widely produced items in the genre. More rarely, ...

Article

Restitution  

Noémie Goldman and Kim Oosterlinck

Term for the return of lost or looted cultural objects to their country of origin, former owners, or their heirs. The loss of the object may happen in a variety of contexts (armed conflicts, war, colonialism, imperialism, or genocide), and the nature of the looted cultural objects may also vary, ranging from artworks, such as paintings and sculptures, to human remains, books, manuscripts, and religious artifacts. An essential part of the process of restitution is the seemingly unavoidable conflict around the transfer of the objects in question from the current to the former owners. Ownership disputes of this nature raise legal, ethical, and diplomatic issues. The heightened tensions in the process arise because the looting of cultural objects challenges, if not breaks down, relationships between peoples, territories, cultures, and heritages.

The history of plundering and art imperialism may be traced back to ancient times. Looting has been documented in many instances from the sack by the Romans of the Etruscan city of Veii in ...

Article

Pan Yuliang  

Sandy Ng

(b Yangzhou, 1895; d Paris, 1977).

Chinese painter and sculptor. Pan graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and undertook further studies at the Accademia in Rome before bringing back her artistic training to China. She came from a poor family and was sold to a brothel in Anhui by her uncle following her parents’ death. Some sources suggest that she was a servant in the brothel, while others claim that she was forced into prostitution and attempted suicide more than once. Life improved when she met Pan Zanhua (?1885–1960), an open-minded government official. She eventually married him, adopting his surname, and moved to Shanghai. He recognized his wife’s artistic talent and encouraged her to study painting.

Pan acquired painting skills at the Shanghai Art Academy under the tutelage of the pioneering modernist Liu Haisu. Like many of her contemporaries, she in time found the domestic resources inadequate and went abroad to Europe to solidify her oil painting training and learn to sculpt. Nevertheless, she was not impressed with the academic methods taught at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and preferred styles outside the formal system, especially Fauvism whose leading exponent was Henri Matisse. Her works from this early period already displayed a penchant for bright colors, bold brushworks, acute observations, and female figures, including women of different races and classes....