Ships of the Silk Road

An informed and beautifully illustrated new history of the Silk Road camel in Chinese jade.

For hundreds of years, the Bactrian camel ploughed a lonely furrow across the vast wilderness of Asia. This bizarre-looking, temperamental yet hardy creature here came into its own as the core goods vehicle. This animal would resolutely and reliably transport to China – over huge and unforgiving distances – fine things from the West while taking treasures out of the Middle Kingdom in return. Where the chariot, wagon and other wheeled conveyances proved useless amidst the shifting desert dunes, the surefooted progress of the camel – the archetypal ‘ship of the Silk Road’ – now reigned supreme.

The Bactrian camel was a subject that appealed particularly to Chinese artists because of its association with the exotic trade to mysterious Western lands. But the camel enjoyed cachet and status as more than just the chief conduit of thriving intercontinental commerce. After Buddhism arrived in China from India in the third century AD, via the Gandharan civilisation on the boarders of what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan, this new and vital religion stimulated the peaceful insemination of foreign ideas and culture as well as products. The camel was thus the harbinger not just of new things, but of entirely new ways of thinking.

In his lavishly illustrated volume, Angus Forsyth explores diverse jade pieces depicting this iconic beast of burden. Almost one hundred separate objects are included, many of which have not been seen in print before. The author also offers the full historical background to his subject, presenting a strong appeal to collectors and art historians alike.