The Shanghai Museum houses bronzes from various eras starting from the Xia Dynasty. Many of these are national treasures with clear provenance and have been recorded repeatedly. It has formed a collection with a complete system, a wide variety of types, and many exquisite pieces. The ‘Ancient Chinese Bronze Gallery’ in the East Branch is the sixth renovation of the exhibition in 50 years and will present to the audience a relatively complete exhibition of ancient Chinese bronzes at home and abroad.
The current exhibition features more than 500 exhibits, reflecting the 3,600-year period from the late Xia Dynasty in the 18th century BC to the mid-Qing Dynasty in the 19th century AD. The development, evolution, and transformation process of ancient Chinese bronzes. The exhibition hall takes the development history of Chinese bronze craftsmanship as a clue and is divided into seven sections: germination period, growth period, heyday, transformation period, renewal period, integration period, and revival period. The exhibits fully demonstrate the characteristics of bronze craftsmanship in different periods and jointly showcase the splendid glory of Chinese bronze art. There is also a section on bronze making technology, vividly showing how ancient working people, with their astonishing wisdom and dexterous hands, created the splendid and magnificent Chinese bronze culture. Compared with the museum building in People’s Square, the bronze exhibition hall in the East Branch has been adjusted and upgraded in terms of plate structure, plate content, unit descriptions and descriptions of vessel types, and exhibits. The opening hours are from 10:00 to 18:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays to Sundays throughout the year; closed all day on Tuesdays throughout the year; open from 10:00 to 18:00 on New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Labor Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Day. Service facilities: Toilets. Catering. Souvenir shop. Barrier-free service.
