"'I have tried to formulate a criterion by which good pots may be judged.. a pot in order to be good should be a genuine expression of life. It implies sincerity on the part of the potter and truth in the conception and execution of the work.'"

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""Bernard Leach (1887-1979) is generally reckoned to be the 'father of British studio pottery.' Born in Hong Kong, profoundly influenced by both an upbringing and studies in Japan, Leach developed a vision of pottery that interwove art, craft, design and philosophy. In 1920 he co-founded the Leach Pottery in St Ives, Cornwall, and "A Potter's Book" was first published in 1940. Within these pages Leach communicates his deeply-held convictions, through an account of the standards and materials essential to English slipware, stoneware, Japanese raku and Oriental porcelain.

Faber Finds is devoted to restoring to readers a wealth of lost or neglected classics and authors of distinction. The range embraces fiction, non-fiction, the arts and children's books. For a full list of available titles visit www.faberfinds.co.uk. To join the dialogue with fellow book-lovers please see our blog, www.faberfindsblog.co.uk.

This volume, the second in the series to catalogue the Gallery's collection of decorative arts, mainly draws from the renowned collection of the Widener and Steele families. It focuses primarily on Chinese ceramics from the Qing period, including earthenware, stoneware, and polychrome porcelain. In addition, rugs and carpets from the collection of Peter A.B. Widener are catalogued and published here for the first time.

This is the first major book on English blue and white porcelain since the early 1970s. Not only is it the latest and most up-to-date work, but it includes types not previously studied and extends the range of wares into the early years of the nineteenth-century. It is a unique, comprehensive study. The number of instructive illustrations exceeds seven hundred, including helpful comparison photographs and details of identifying features - footrims, handle forms, manufacturing characteristics and marks. Apart from introductory chapters on collecting blue and white and on the introduction and development of this popular mode of decoration, this unique coverage comprises details of over twenty distinct makes, including the relatively newly researched eighteenth century factories at Isleworth, Limehouse and Vauxhall. The inclusion of the several post-1790 factories covers new ground. The section on fakes and reproductions will also prove instructive and helpful. Guidance is given on the popularity o

2019 marked the 40th anniversary of Barbara Nanning's graduation in ceramics from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Over those forty years, Nanning (b.1957) has become an internationally respected artist with work in countless public and private collections in the Netherlands and around the world. Originally, her reputation was due mainly to her pioneering ceramics and installations, which had completely abandoned the container form that had so long dominated studio pottery. But for the last 25 years Nanning has worked chiefly in a different medium: glass, in which she has created an amazing and multi-faceted oeuvre. Each year she spends an extended period in the Czech Republic, where expert glassblowers help her to conjure up the most extraordinary and thrilling objects in that material.

Originally sold in five-and-ten-cent stores during the 1940s and 1950s, expertly modeled and colorfully decorated Royal Copley figurines, banks, planters, and other items have become one of today's hottest ceramic collectibles. In this first new book on the subject in 10 years, Mike Schneider uses more than 500 color photos to present 875 pieces of Royal Copley, including many previously unknown examples that have never appeared in a book before. Estimated values, based on the current market, are included in the captions, along with measurements and information about marks. Also included is a brief history of the Spaulding China Company, the Sebring, Ohio, pottery that manufactured Royal Copley. Whether you are a collector, historian, or simply someone who would like to take a nostalgic stroll through the decorative accessories of your parents' or grandparents' homes, you will find this latest volume in Schneider's repertoire of books on mid-twentieth century pottery a pleasing and important addition to your library.

An in-depth look at the dynamic cultural world of tea in Japan during its formative period Around Chigusa investigates the cultural and artistic milieu in which a humble jar of Chinese origin dating to the thirteenth or fourteenth century became Chigusa, a revered, named object in the practice of formalized tea presentation (chanoyu) in sixteenth-century Japan. This tea-leaf storage jar lies at the nexus of interlocking personal networks, cultural values, and aesthetic idioms in the practice and appreciation of tea, poetry, painting, calligraphy, and Noh theater during this formative period of tea culture. The book's essays set tea in dialogue with other cultural practices, revealing larger cultural paradigms that informed the production, circulation, and reception of the artifacts used and displayed in tea. Key themes include the centrality of tea to the social life of and interaction among warriors, merchants, and the courtly elite; the multifaceted relationship between things wa (Japanese) and kan (Chinese) and between tea and poetry; the rise of new formats for display of the visual and calligraphic arts; and collecting and display as an expression of political power.

Ceramics are an unparalleled resource for women's lives in ancient Greece, since they show a huge number of female types and activities. Yet it can be difficult to interpret the meanings of these images, especially when they seem to conflict with literary sources. This much-needed study shows that it is vital to see the vases as archaeology as well as art, since context is the key to understanding which images can stand as evidence for the real lives of women, and which should be reassessed.
Sian Lewis considers the full range of female existence in classical Greece - childhood and old age, unfree and foreign status, and the ageless woman characteristic of Athenian red-figure painting.

After Glow documents the New Nordic Porcelain Forum, a project which focuses on the Nordic tradition of porcelain production. The focal point is the collaborative work of 13 ceramic artists from the Scandinavian regions, who gathered for a residency in Denmark in 2019 and in 2021 for a two-week stay in various workshops associated with porcelain production in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. This publication not only serves as an exhibition catalogue, it offers insights into the important industrial and design histories of northern Europe, as well as into today's use of porcelain as an artistic medium. In doing so, it is hoped that the production of Nordic contemporary ceramics will advance to a new collaborative practice in order to transform and therefore preserve this important cultural heritage.

In this book the author explores the work of the fifth-century BC Athenian vase-painter, Sotades, one of the most familiar names in vase painting. Previous scholarship has dealt mainly with questions of attribution, style, and iconographic interpretation, but Dr Hoffman concentrates on inherent meaning: what does the imagery of these decorated vases really signify? He argues that, contrary to widely held conceptions, there is an underlying unity of meaning in Greek vases and their imagery, a unity rooted in the religious beliefs and ritual practices of the society from which they spring. Each chapter discusses a specific aspect of the artist's iconology, placing it in the context of fifth-century BC Greek philosophical and religious thought.

The Ceramics Reader is an impressive editorial collection of essays and text extracts, covering every discipline within ceramics, past and present. Tackling such fundamental questions as "why are ceramics important?", the book also considers the field from a range of perspectives - as a cultural activity or metaphor, as a vehicle for propaganda, within industry and museums, and most recently as part of the 'expanded field' as a fine art medium and hub for ideas. Newly commissioned material features prominently alongside existing scholarship, to ensure an international and truly comprehensive look at ceramics.

Ancient Greek buildings were renowned for their terracotta roofs, an invention which may have first occurred in prehistoric times and been rediscovered in the seventh century BC. This is the first book to look in detail at the complex variations in tile shape, technical features, and decorative motifs which occurs across Greece, particularly during the Archaic period. Inscriptions refer to Corinthian and Spartan tiles, and two different types of tiles characterizing the roofs of Corinth and Sparta confirm these nomenclatures. A careful analysis of the preserved elements or roofs found in each major city or district, however, reveals considerably more variation, and shows that there were regional styles which distinguished the roofs of north-western Greece. Arcadia, the Argolid, Central Greece, Attica, and the Aegean islands as well. The importance of this new work is not only that it brings a fresh approach to the topic, revealing the regional styles of roofs as of pottery and sculpture, but also that it shows exactly how ancient roofs were assembled, by providing detailed drawings of several characteristic roofs for each regional system. The book is illustrated with numerous photographs, figures, and maps. It should be invaluable for excavators, surveyors, and architectural historians.

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of traditional Japanese ceramic culture as interpreted by today's leading designers The art of Japanese porcelain manufacturing began in Arita in 1616. Now, on its 400th anniversary, Arita / Table of Contents charts the unique collaboration between 16 contemporary designers and 10 traditional Japanese potteries as they work to produce 16 highly original, innovative and contemporary ceramic collections rooted in the daily lives of the 21st century. More than 500 illustrations provide a fascinating introduction to the craft and region, while the contemporary collections reveal the unique creative potential of linking ancient and modern masters.

This title gives a clear, thorough and practical account of firing, but goes further and explains the techniques and ideas behind this magical stage of making. It highlights commonly-overlooked details that can lead to disastrous results and shares tips to help you achieve the best from your kiln. With over 100 photos, it also profiles leading makers and shows how their use of kilns contributes to their unique and beautiful work. Whether read from cover to cover by the novice or used as a reference book by the more experienced, this book will be your handbook to successful and confident firing.

The most pervasive gods in ancient Rome had no traditional mythology attached to them, nor was their worship organized by elites. Throughout the Roman world, neighborhood street corners, farm boundaries, and household hearths featured small shrines to the beloved lares, a pair of cheerful little dancing gods. These shrines were maintained primarily by ordinary Romans, and often by slaves and freedmen, to whom the lares cult provided a unique public leadership role. In this comprehensive and richly illustrated book, the first to focus on the lares, Harriet Flower offers a strikingly original account of these gods and a new way of understanding the lived experience of everyday Roman religion. Weaving together a wide range of evidence, Flower sets forth a new interpretation of the much-disputed nature of the lares. She makes the case that they are not spirits of the dead, as many have argued, but rather benevolent protectors--gods of place, especially the household and the neighborhood, and of travel. She examines the rituals honoring the lares, their cult sites, and their iconography, as well as the meaning of the snakes often depicted alongside lares in paintings of gardens. She also looks at Compitalia, a popular midwinter neighborhood festival in honor of the lares, and describes how its politics played a key role in Rome's increasing violence in the 60s and 50s BC, as well as in the efforts of Augustus to reach out to ordinary people living in the city's local neighborhoods. A reconsideration of seemingly humble gods that were central to the religious world of the Romans, this is also the first major account of the full range of lares worship in the homes, neighborhoods, and temples of ancient Rome.

The history of ceramics is rooted in the history of mankind. Jamaican Ceramics: A Historical and Contemporary Survey is a comprehensive examination of the development of ceramics from pre-history to the present day. This visually rich, exciting and authoritative book is an unprecedented survey which sheds light on the fascinating historical and modern contemporary Jamaican ceramics. Norma Rodney Harrack, herself a practicing ceramic artist, offers an expert's insight and provides a valuable resource to ceramists, students, collectors, enthusiasts and users of ceramics. The chapters each focus on key thematic areas - from early ceramic history to the influence of European ceramic practices to the syncreticism and continuity of African Jamaican pottery traditions - with full discussions on how the canon of Jamaican ceramics has developed over centuries. Harrack's many years of teaching and investigation have guided much of the primary research for this project.

Jun Kaneko, born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1942 and based in Omaha, Nebraska, since 1986, is revered for his role in establishing modern ceramic art, yet he has been equally prolific in a range of other media. This book offers an entirely new and detailed survey and analysis of nearly six decades of Kaneko's work in ceramics, drawing, painting, installation art, and opera design. Tracing the career of this dynamic artist from his early training and subsequent association with the pivotal California Clay Movement to his important public commissions and philanthropic concerns of the present, it focuses in particular on the past 20 years, which have previously not been the subject of a comprehensive volume. Drawing extensively on interviews he has conducted with Jun Kaneko since 2002, Glen R. Brown reflects on the principal concepts that have shaped Kaneko's art, situating them in the space between a Japanese Shinto ethos and the aesthetic tenets of Western Art Informel and Post-Painterly Abstraction. He discusses in-depth Kaneko's art, from the colossal glazed-ceramic Dangos to the sensitive colouristic stage and costume designs for operas. The book provides fascinating insights into Kaneko's unique, relentlessly self-sustaining creative process and the multiple conceptions of space that inform it. Featuring more than 200 colour illustrations and substantial information not previously available in published form, this book offers an up-to-date definitive critical survey of this important artist's life and work.

This book is the first completely detailed and descriptive companion to the museum's holdings of Vincennes and Sevres porcelain. The porcelain is catalogued in chronological order by factory. Each entry provides a complete bibliography and provenance, as well as details on factory listing, artist, date, measurements, distinguishing marks, and much more. The catalogue is beautifully and extensively illustrated. Each work is shown in color with a selection of black and white details. Incised and painted marks are also illustrated.

The Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna holds a unique collection of Italian maiolica from the 15th to the 18th century, which is now being published almost in its entirety for the very first time. Maiolica tableware, Italy's luxury export, spread to the courts of northern Europe from the early 16th century. Today, the MAK's holdings from former imperial, ecclesiastical, aristocratic, and private ownership enter into a dialogue with maiolica from well-known Austrian and Central European collections. Timothy Wilson, professor emeritus at Balliol College Oxford and former Keeper of Western Art at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and Rainald Franz, curator at MAK, together with other experts provide an extensive insight into the development of maiolica in its cultural and historical context. Thus a scholarly exploration of one of the best collections of maiolica in the world has now been scientifically examined for the very first time. With contributions by Rainald Franz, Michael Goebl, Nikolaus Hofer, and Timothy Wilson.

This publication reflects upon the celebrated collection at the internationally renowned Gardiner Museum, Toronto, which has grown to become one of the world's great speciality museums with its devotion to the ceramic arts. Featuring more than 100 images, the book focuses upon 30 objects that reflect the temporal and geographical breadth of the Museum's collection, as well as the universality of the medium it celebrates. An international body of scholars and curators share their insights and expertise within the book's essays telling the story of ceramic production throughout history and with reference to a vast array of approaches to the medium. Featuring works by such illustrious names as Marc Chagall, Betty Woodman, Marilyn Levine, Wedgwood and Delft, this book provides a fascinating insight into one of the greatest collections in the world of ceramics.

Originally published in 1937, this book surveys the underlying scientific principles that produce the chief glaze effects on Chinese ceramics. Hetherington provides a general introduction on the nature of a glaze before describing how glazes with various chemical contents can be manipulated to produce striking effects in terms of colour and texture. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Chinese ceramics and the history of art.

The first comprehensive study of the most important ceramic innovation of the 19th century Colorful, wildly imaginative, and technically innovative, majolica was functional and aesthetic ceramic ware. Its subject matter reflects a range of 19th-century preoccupations, from botany and zoology to popular humor and the macabre. Majolica Mania examines the medium's considerable impact, from wares used in domestic settings to monumental pieces at the World's Fairs. Essays by international experts address the extensive output of the originators and manufacturers in England-including Minton, Wedgwood, and George Jones-and the migration of English craftsmen to the U.S. New research including information on important American makers in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia is also featured. Fully illustrated, the book is enlivened by new photography of pieces from major museums and private collections in the U.S. and Great Britain.

The works in porcelain and colourful shades of stoneware by Doris Banks might be modest and reduced in form, colour, and decoration yet they still possess a remarkable impact and presence. All the objects are one-offs - modelled, formed, pressed, folded, glazed, and decorated by hand. As a result, the natural character of the material remains vivid. With a minimalist aesthetic beholden to Asia, the ceramic artist's works are characterised by a virtuoso play of form and surface that allows a tactile experience of textures on the exterior surface. This monograph is an in-depth appraisal not only of these works but also of an artist who despite her early death achieved remarkable things in studio ceramics. Text in English and German.

What was the impact of Romanisation on non-elite life in central Italy during the late third and second centuries BC? Focusing on the increasing spread of black-gloss pottery across the peninsula, this 2007 text demonstrates the importance of the study of such everyday artefacts as a way of approaching aspects of social history that are otherwise little documented. Placing its subject within the wider debate over cultural identity in the Roman world, the book argues that stylistic changes in such objects of everyday use document the development of new forms of social representation among non-elite groups in Roman Italy. In contrast to previous accounts, the book concludes that, rather than pointing to a loss of regional cultural identities, the ceramic patterns suggest that the Romanisation of Italy provided new material opportunities across the social scale.

What was the impact of Romanisation on non-elite life in central Italy during the late third and second centuries BC? Focusing on the increasing spread of black-gloss pottery across the peninsula, Dr Roth demonstrates the importance of the study of such everyday artefacts as a way of approaching aspects of social history that are otherwise little documented. Placing its subject within the wider debate over cultural identity in the Roman world, the book argues that stylistic changes in such objects of everyday use document the development of new forms of social representation among non-elite groups in Roman Italy. In contrast to previous accounts, the book concludes that, rather than pointing to a loss of regional cultural identities, the ceramic patterns suggest that the Romanisation of Italy provided new material opportunities across the social scale.