From sacred rituals to the emperor’s court: 3 ways to explore Chinese arts and traditions

Spanning more than three millennia of Chinese history, Ritual, Cosmos, and Imperial Splendor: Important Chinese Art from a North American Private Collection brings together 65 exceptional works that illuminate the richness and diversity of Chinese decorative arts. Offered on 17 September 2026 at Christie’s New York, during Asian Art Week, the sale showcases a collection assembled over decades, ranging from archaic ritual bronzes and Buddhist sculptures to imperial porcelains, textiles and huanghuali furniture.

Yet despite its breadth, shared ideas emerge across the works. Ritual shaped court and ancestral life. Religious belief gave form to the unseen. Imperial patronage inspired objects of extraordinary technical and artistic refinement. Organised around these three themes — ritual, cosmos and imperial splendour — the sale invites a deeper understanding of the values and traditions that animated Chinese decorative arts across the centuries.

Ritual: ceremony and tradition

Ritual permeated life in ancient China. Wine was poured. Bells were struck. Offerings were presented in sacred ceremonies. Bronzes of extraordinary sophistication gave material form to these practices, their artistry inseparable from their function. ‘Archaic bronze vessels played a central role in court life and ancestral rituals, where wine, food and other gifts were presented to the gods or ancestors,’ says head of sale Rufus Chen.

The bronzes provide some of the clearest evidence for the ritual life of ancient China. ‘We know about many of these rituals through inscriptions found on similar archaic bronzes,’ Chen explains. ‘The works in this sale would have served the same purpose. You can imagine them being used during festivals or other ceremonial occasions, when offerings of food and drink were made to ancestors or the gods to pray for longevity, good fortune or domestic peace.’

Richly cast with boldly projecting animal masks, animated horns, sinuous serpent motifs and sculptural bovine heads, the late Shang–Western Zhou you showcases the achievements of early Chinese bronze casting. Created to hold the fragrant ritual wine known as juchang, vessels of this type were used by the aristocracy during ceremonial banquets, offerings and other sacred gatherings.

Ritual found expression in music as well. ‘Music was an important part of court life,’ Chen adds. ‘Chinese musicology was remarkably advanced, reflected in both the craftsmanship of these instruments and the roles they played during court ceremonies.’ Bells formed the visual and sonic centrepiece of ancient Chinese musical ensembles, a tradition unique to China in the ancient world. Cast in graduated sizes, this set of nine bianbo ritual bells produces two distinct tones from each bell, demonstrating an exceptional understanding of pitch, tonal structure and acoustics.

Cosmos: Buddhism, Daoism and the spiritual realm

Cosmos traverses a different dimension in Chinese life. Protective bodhisattvas, Daoist immortals and celestial landscapes reveal a world where art gave form to the unseen. Across centuries, Buddhism and Daoism offered different paths toward spiritual understanding, yet in Chinese visual culture their imagery frequently converged, shaping a rich and enduring vision of the universe.

‘Cosmos explores the lasting importance of spiritual belief and religious practice in Chinese imperial culture,’ says Vicki Paloympis, head of the Chinese Works of Art Department in New York. ‘In Chinese decorative arts, Buddhism and Daoism have long been intertwined, with their symbols appearing alongside one another to create a shared visual language of spirituality, longevity and auspiciousness.’

With its richly gilded surface, elaborate Five Buddha Crown and thunderbolt sceptre, the gilt-bronze Vajrapani underscores the extraordinary refinement of the Xuande imperial workshops. Known in Chinese as Jin’gangshou Pusa, or ‘holder of the thunderbolt’, Vajrapani is the protector of the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni, embodying the Buddha’s power as both guardian and symbol of spiritual strength. Created for the imperial court, the sculpture reflects the artistic and religious exchange between China, Nepal and Tibet that flourished under the early Ming dynasty.

While Vajrapani represents the protective ideals of Buddhism, the ten monumental kesi panels turn to one of Daoism’s most celebrated spiritual landscapes: the paradise of the Queen Mother of the West, Xiwangmu. Woven during the Qing dynasty, the panels unfold across the mythical peaks of Mount Kunlun, presenting an unusually expansive vision of Xiwangmu’s celestial realm — an impressive scene that may have been commissioned for an imperial celebration.

‘What makes these panels so remarkable is their scale and completeness,’ Paloympis explains. ‘Individual kesi panels depicting Daoist immortals are relatively well known, but this appears to be the only surviving example of such an elaborate cycle. Rather than offering a single glimpse, they reveal an entire vision of the Queen Mother of the West’s paradise, populated by immortals, attendants and auspicious imagery.’

Imperial Splendour: objects for the emperor

Imperial patronage was essential to Chinese decorative arts. Produced for the emperor, these remarkable objects united impeccable craftsmanship with artistic refinement and luxury. ‘Imperial splendour focuses on the finest objects made for the emperor’s palace: exceptional white jade, jadeite, superb porcelains and an extraordinary panel inlaid with gemstones, pearls and lacquer,’ notes Paloympis. ‘They represent the very highest achievements of Chinese decorative arts.’

Animated by three playful Buddhist lions, the Qianlong garlic-mouth vase combines imperial finesse with an unexpected sense of vitality. Its distinctive bulb-shaped neck, which gives the vessel its popular ‘garlic-mouth’ name, was among the most celebrated forms of the Qianlong period. Yet the vase’s greatest distinction lies underneath it. ‘This piece has a very interesting Qianlong reign mark on its base,’ says Paloympis. ‘We often see Qianlong marks on imperial ceramics, but this one is written in a slightly atypical way. Marks like this are widely associated with the great imperial ceramicist Tang Ying.’ As one of the most accomplished supervisors of the imperial kilns, Tang Ying oversaw the production of some of the dynasty’s finest porcelains, lending the vase exceptional historical significance.

Throughout the palace, sumptuous furnishings surrounded the emperor and his court, filling ceremonial and everyday spaces with symbols of good fortune. The Daji panel offers a glimpse into the ceremonial life of the Qing court. Centred on a double gourd bearing the characters Daji, or ‘Great Auspiciousness’, it combines wishes for prosperity, longevity and dynastic continuity in a lavish display of lacquer and precious materials. ‘Imperial splendour looks at how the emperor and the elite lived with these objects in their daily lives,’ says Chen. ‘This magnificent Daji panel would have been hung on the palace walls during Chinese New Year. The central double gourd is a Daoist emblem, helping to tie these themes together.’

From ritual bronzes and sacred cosmic imagery to the splendour of the imperial palace, these works reveal how Chinese decorative arts permeated every aspect of life. They were vessels for ceremony, expressions of belief and enduring symbols of imperial authority, each reflecting the extraordinary skill of the artisans who created them.