Jessica Rawson is Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology and Warden of Merton College, Oxford. She began her career at the British Museum working on ancient China, later moving to Oxford to become Warden of the College in 1994. As warden she is concerned with the administration of the College, with its academic achievements, and its life as a community of students and academics. Her principal area of research is the Han period (206 BC-AD 220), and within this area she concentrates on the development of religion and belief as seen in the material record, in tombs and other remains. In addition, she studies the creation of ornaments and patterns in Chinese art of all periods, most especially the designs of birds and flowers seen on ceramics and on textiles exported to many parts of the world. She has a particular interest in the role and significance of Chinese ritual bronzes. She is the author of numerous works in her field, including Ancient China: Art & Archaeology (1980); Chinese Ornament: The Lotus and the Dragon (1984); Chinese Bronzes: Art and Ritual (1987); Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing (1995); Mysteries of Ancient China (1996); and China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795 (2005).

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