early Chinese has been an interest of Swope’s since Harvard, where he saw the Winthrop collection and was exposed to the great bronzes and jades and Buddhist sculptures in it.   He feels that in the past few years it has become an area of great opportunity for collecting. There is a great deal of new material coming onto the market, it is not well understood, and is undervalued at present.  With the jades you get museum quality, complete objects of great aesthetic and historic interest and importance for much less than what other collecting areas cost. The early Buddhist sculptures are the equal of any sculptures produced by the ancient world, austere, beautifully carved but restrained and elegant.   

All the  pieces in the gallery have been examined by the leading experts in the world for Chinese art and jades, most will come with a report confirming their authenticity for the new buyer.

Chinese art of the archaic period is shamanic, the product of visions induced by drugs and trances, and these objects reflect the spirit world of the ancient Chinese.  As such these small objects pack a lot of punch, and have much to offer us.