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Battle Scene Hide Painting
This piece was a part of the collection earliest buffalo-hide robe illustrates a battle fought in 1797 and went until 1800. This was a war in which five nations took part of. The hide is made from tanned buffalo skin, dyed porcupine quills, and black, red, green, yellow, and brown pigments that were used on the hide. The original painter tried to show the complete war so he separated the war into 22 episodes each depicting an important moment happening.

Background
In this time, the men of the plains recorded their exploits in both symbolic and narrative form in paintings on tepee linings, covers, and buffalo hide robes. The people of the North American Plains were also predominantly nomadic, living in large territories that were home to great herds of buffalo thus granting them access to a great number of hides to document their life on.

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James Lawrence Kearny
The ahuula was first sent by King Kamehameha III to James Lawrence who was in Perth, New Jersey at the time, but later  inherited by the child of Commodore Kearny. The piece was then passes from there to his cousin, James Lawrence Boggs of New Jersey. James decided that the piece needed to be returned to the people of Hawaii. The Ahu' Ula was presented before the governor for the Makaainana of Hawaii. The governor then thanked James and the people who helped transport the piece and he sent it to the museum to inherit a spot in the Bishop Museum of Hawaii's gallery.

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Bishop Museum, Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI, USA

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Ahu' Ula
The Bishop Museum in Hawaii is home to the Ahu' Ula otherwise known as the Feather Cloak or Keary Cloak. This cloak was created in 1843 to be gifted as a present to Jonathan Lawrence Keary. This cloak was created out of rare bird feathers. The red feathers are from the "i'iwi" bird and yellow feathers are from the "o'o" bird. The colors used in this piece identify that it was made for a high ranking official.

Background History
Feather cloaks were commonly believed to be used as warfare attire or ceremonial use because they were viewed as means of protection given by the gods. Red represents royalty, yellow signifies a prosperous future. Red represents royalty, yellowsignifies a prosperous future

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Origins of The Royal, Ahu Ula
King Kamehameha III, also called Kauikeaouli, (born March 7, 1814, Hawaiian Islands—died Dec. 15, 1854, Honolulu, Oahu) was the initial owner of the Ahu Ula that was given to Lawrence Kearny in the year of 1843.  This gift was given to Commodore James Lawrence Kearny of the warship Constellation, by Kamehameha III, because Lawrence saved Hawaii from the subjugation of George Paulet (officer of the Royal Navy). King Kamehameha III gifted this to Lawrence to show his gratitude and as a sign of respect.

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The Palace Museum, Dongcheng, Beijing, China

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Man Riding A Horse
The Palace Museum that is located in Dongcheng, Beijing, China holds the piece created by Zhao Mangfu called Man Riding A Horse. The piece is 30 x 52 cm big and is made out of ink, paints and colors on paper. This piece was painted by Zhao Mengfu for his younger brother Mengyu, who was about to take up a new post. The person in the painting displays a wispy beard and is dressed in an official robe and hat. He can be seen in this piece, calmly controlling his horse even though its spirited nature can be seen by the stance it is in and the forward tilt of its ears. This is suspected to show that his brother is regarded as someone who is in control of his surroundings and well respected.

Calligraphy and Background
This piece not only showcases his painting skills but also showcases techniques common to the time such as calligraphy.  Zhao Mengfu rejected the very common gentle brushwork style of his time and rather focused on the more harsh and crude style of Calligraphy that the Jin and Tang dynasties had mastered. In his early years, Zhao Mengfu studied the style of the Song dynasty emperor Gaozong, but later turned to the styles of Wang Xizhi and Li Yong. His form of Script is considered to be one of the top four in the Chinese history. He showcases this writing style in many of his pieces, including Man Riding A Horse. In this piece Zhao's title is written in calligraphy along the right margin and his signature and date on the left. Zhao also added two more inscriptions to the painting that were written in response to his brother and praising his brother in a public way.

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Home of Zhao Mengfu in Zhejiang, China. 

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Home of Zhao Mengfu in Zhejiang, China. 

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Zhao Mengfu otherwise known as Zi'ang or "Daoist of the Crystal Palace", was a prince and descendant of the Song Dynasty, and a Chinese scholar, painter, and calligrapher during the Yuan Dynasty in 1271–1368. He was a native of Wuxing however he moved to his palace in Zhejiang where a large portion of his works were created. He served in the Mongol court as an official in the Hanlin Academy, and later was honored as an early master within the tradition of the literati painters, who sought personal expression rather than the representation of nature.
Zhao is popularly remembered as a painter of horses in the manner of the Tang dynasty which was located in Zhejiang, China.
Along with painting what he saw on his property, he also painted other animal groups, landscapes, and bamboos. Referring to the antique, he generally avoided superficial beauty by utilizing  simplified color and compositions. His works often display a great variety of brushwork and sometimes incorporated a mixture of art and calligraphy.

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Painting as a Personal and Political Statement - Zhao Mengfu

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Metropolitan Museum of Art, 5th Avenue, New York, NY, USA

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Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA) 

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Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA) 

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Human Headed Winged Lion Sculpture "The Lamassu"
The Metropolitan Museum of Art houses the sculptures of these Human Headed Winged Lion figures, also known as the "Lamassu." These sculptures were created in order to symbolize how the king viewed himself. It wears a cap that symbolizes its divinity, and it has five legs to show the kingdom constantly moving however being firm and steady. The Lamassu also was created with eagle eyes, a body of a lion and a head of a human in order to show that they have the mind of a man, the sight of an eagle and the strength of a lion.
The sculpture was crafted out of Alabaster and stands 10 feet and three inches high so it can overlook the humans surrounding it as it "guards" the palace.

Background
The Lamassu first appeared in Assyrian culture between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE. The Assyrians envisioned it as a protective spirit that was part bull and part human (and sometimes part eagle)
In 883- 859 B.C. the Great Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II created a building program where he enlisted people to build his grand palace. The Lamassu pictured were then constructed by the people involved in the building program and placed outside the palace in order to watch over the palace.

Ashurbanipal wasn't just an Assyrian king, he was a propaganda king. The layout, decorations and even the landscaping of his palaces were all made to point to one major fact - he was more powerful than you.
- Carine Harmand, Curator for the British Museum of Art BP Section

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The Human Headed Winged Lion Sculptures stood proudly outside of the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II which is located in present day Nimrud, Iraq (formerly known as Nimrud, Mesopotamia).