The Barlow Gallery will be closed from 1 October for the duration of the Library refurbishment. All enquiries regarding the collection during this period should continue to be sent to barlow.gallery@sussex.ac.uk
Introduction
Bronze tripod food vessel (ding)
Shang dynasty, 11th or 12th century BC
The Barlow Collection of Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Jades is one of the most significant of its kind in the world. It is housed at the University of Sussex Library Building and is regularly open to the public, with about twenty per cent of its total of 450 objects on display at any one time.
Earthenware camel with sancai-glaze
Tang dynasty, 7th or 8th century AD
The collection is particularly strong in the ceramics of the Tang (618-907 AD) and Song (960-1279 AD) dynasties, with an emphasis on a simplicity of form and decoration that was very much the taste of its founder, Sir Alan Barlow. Objects in the collection span three millenia with most periods of Chinese history represented, from the ancient Shang dynasty (c.1700-c.1050 BC) to the last dynasty, the Qing (1644-1911 AD). Tang dynasty tomb figurines, outstanding fine lead-glazed earthenwares and stonewares and excellent examples of the world’s earliest porcelain form the highlights of the collection.
In 2006, the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded a project to put the catalogue of the collection on line and we invite you to browse and learn more about the objects in the collection.