High Renaissance maiolica, produced in Italy in the orbit of Raphael and other artists, is widely known and has been extensively studied. This istoriato, or narrative, maiolica graces the collections of many of the world's greatest museums. But not for almost 100 years has attention been focused on magnificent works that preceded it in the 14th and 15th centuries, which were at times prized by contemporary patrons more highly than precious metals. Maiolica before the age of Raphael refocuses the spotlight of contemporary scholarship onto the birth of design in Italian maiolica, and its evolution from c. 1350 up until 1500. It was during this formative period that its characteristic tin-based glaze, with the pure and brilliant white surface it offered the late-medieval potter, engendered some of the most rapid and exciting innovations in all ceramic art. Potters began to decorate the surfaces of their earthenware vessels (of an increasingly varied spectrum of shapes and forms) with squirming, meticulous designs of unparalleled ingenuity and expression that incorporated multisensory influences from luxury contemporary textiles, metalwork, and exotic lustreware from Islamic Spain. Presenting over forty rare objects from the foremost centres of production that have survived in private hands, this catalogue explores the spread and evolution of the medium, as well as the history of collecting and the changing taste for Italian pre-Renaissance pottery in the modern era.

In this book, Xiaolong Wu offers a comprehensive and in-depth study of the Zhongshan state during China's Warring States Period (476-221 BCE). Analyzing artefacts, inscriptions, and grandiose funerary structures within a broad archaeological context, he illuminates the connections between power and identity, and the role of material culture in asserting and communicating both. The author brings an interdisciplinary approach to this study. He combines and cross-examines all available categories of evidence, including archaeological, textual, art historical, and epigraphical, enabling innovative interpretations and conclusions that challenge conventional views regarding Zhongshan and ethnicity in ancient China. Wu reveals the complex relationship between material culture, cultural identity, and statecraft intended by the royal patrons. He demonstrates that the Zhongshan king Cuo constructed a hybrid cultural identity, consolidated his power, and aimed to maintain political order at court after his death through the buildings, sculpture, and inscriptions that he commissioned.

Retrace the steps it took for the most famous potter in the Southwest, Maria Martinez, to produce one of her prized pieces of black on black pottery. The history of Maria, her husband Julian, and son Popovia Da, is noted. The book is a tribute to this family, renowned for its contributions to classic pottery.

Many books about ceramics provide technique upon technique, tool upon tool, recipe upon recipe. Mastery of gadgets and quick, tricky how-to-do-it techniques may seem the way to go. But this leaves no place for adventure. This book has good recipes, of course, but it is really for those who will ultimately create their own new recipes and forms. The motivation is in the mind. Guideposts are necessary and they must be visualized. This book is written in the belief that the motivation will find the method.

This selected bibliography is a guide for both the collector and the general reader who would like additional information about Native American pottery and potters.