All NewsSnapshotsChinese Wedding Balls, Opera Carvings at “Provincial Elegance” Exhibit Olivia DrakeApril 17, 20125minWesleyan’s Center for East Asian Studies is hosting an exhibit titled “Provincial Elegance” April 4 through May 27 in the Mansfield Freeman Gallery. The exhibit features Chinese antiques donated in honor of Houghton “Buck” Freeman ‘43 and his wife, Doreen. Patrick Dowdey, curator of the Freeman Gallery, spoke about the individual antiques during the show’s opening April 4. Taiki Sawabe '12 examines a root carving of birds in a blossoming plum tree. The wedding ball was used traditionally by girls in south China who would toss it to a group of her suitors on Lunar New Year or the Mid -Autumn Festival: whichever of the boys caught it would be her husband. Jean Shaw and Patrick Dowdey admire a set of four carvings of figures from traditional opera. The exhibit features carvings of a pair of martial figures who may have been local deities. Gallery-goers listen to Dowdey's gallery opening discussion. Vera Schwarcz, the Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies, professor of history, and Shawn Hill, desktop support specialist, browse the exhibition together. artsEast Asian Studiesgallery Related Articles All NewsCampus News & Events March 27, 2024 Mike Mavredakis Hugo L. Black Lecturers Establish What’s at Stake When Free Expression on Campus is Imperiled All NewsArts & HumanitiesStudents March 25, 2024 Andrew Chatfield Art Comes to Life through Student Partnership with the Center for the Arts All NewsAlumni March 25, 2024 Steve Scarpa True ‘Blue’: James Kaplan ’73 Documents a Key Collaboration in Jazz History