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In this half-length portrait, a young brunette woman peeks flirtatiously at the viewer from the corners of her almond-shaped eyes.  There is a hint of a smile on her closed lips, and a rosy hue tinges the contours of her high cheekbones. Her body is angled away from the viewer, and she tips her head ever so slightly forward.  A mound of thick, dark brown hair crowns her pretty, creamy-complexioned face, and a large black bonnet extends outward from the back of her head.  She wears a loosely painted maroon jacket and a gray, fur tippet—or scarf—around her neck.  A matching gray and white ...

The Norton Museum or Art's Chinese galleries present a fascinating array of expertly crafted jade objects ranging from prehistory to the eighteenth century. The long span of production – up to 7,000 years by some estimates – indicates the significance jade possessed among the inhabitants of China’s earliest cultures, as well as the resonance of the material and its meanings throughout Chinese history. In the Meyer Gallery on the Museum’s second floor, some of the earliest jade forms are based upon utilitarian blades (such as the ceremonial blade known as a zhang). Others, in the form ...

Upon entering the Hodroff Gallery at the Norton Museum, visitors are greeted by a deluge of colors sparkling from the surfaces of a multitude of porcelain objects. There are wares decorated solely in blue and white, with colors ranging from a deep violet-blue to paler hues. Elegant scrolling motifs, often depicting leaves and other floral designs, adorn these objects, as do narrative scenes, dragons and phoenixes. Deeper into the gallery, rich greens, pinks, golds, and reds accent flowers, animals, figures, and armorial designs. The shapes and sizes of these porcelains range from ...

Before a cozy hearth, an elderly couple sits in profile, backlit in warm yellows and oranges by an unseen flame.  The woman, nestled in her patterned easy chair at right, smiles down at her cup and saucer, which she holds daintily in her hands while a black and white cat slumbers comfortably on her lap.  Opposite her, the man wearing a long coat, cravat and plaid trousers appears to speak cheerfully as he examines his cup through his spectacles, perched squarely on the end of his bulbous nose.  He—evidently the owner of the tall silk hat, gloves and umbrella carefully discarded at his ...