The study of art history necessarily emphasises the material at the expense of the immaterial. In China, this has resulted in the neglect of many significant aspects of her ancient culture, such as music and dance. Scent, the subject of this autumn's exhibition, is also an area that has hardly been studied, in spite of its numerous references in historical texts and literature.

The character xiang (香) has its prototype in oracle bone inscriptions more than 4000 years old and denotes a pleasant smell, referring specifically to the sweet smell of rice stalks with its associations of a bountiful harvest. Another character found on oracle bones, the prototype to the modern character zi (紫), is drawn as a man holding burning wood stalks. This is defined in the Shuowen jiezi as "burning wood in sacrifice to heaven". As far back as the Neolithic times, the smell from dried mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), which the ancients used to start fire, was supposed to have medicinal as well as purifying properties. Thus from the earliest records it can be seen that scent was used in China for worship, medicine and pleasure.

The creation of objects from the dried sap of lacquer trees (Rhus verniciflua), like silk and porcelain, was a medium invented by the Chinese people. From the dawn of their civilisation, dating back to Neolithic times, the Chinese used it to great effect, creating some of the most astonishing works of art in the history of mankind, and it is not until the first century B.C. do we find evidence of it being produced by other peoples.

However, unlike silk or ceramics, producing lacquer wares was not only extremely labour intensive but also poisonous to the craftsmen (although the Chinese discovered antidotes to relieve this from very early on), therefore the scale of production was relatively small, and they were always highly valued luxury items. Lacquer's preciousness meant that unlike silk or ceramics, it was not widely exported but remained largely for local use.