Unique in style, Chinese furniture has long been celebrated for its elegant, artistic lines and strong, durable structure. Ranging from pieces designed simply to display the beauty and texture of natural woods, to magnificent pieces decorated with lavish carvings, lacquer or precious metals and stones, Chinese furniture is an outstanding representative of the oriental arts. This book provides an accessible, illustrated introduction to the history, production techniques and rich variety of Chinese furniture, revealing the important part that this furniture has played in the development of China's culture.

The Chinese are famed as the first to have discovered and mastered the techniques needed to produce porcelain. Yet carefully crafted ceramics are valued not only for their beauty, but also as precious cultural artifacts shedding light on the period in which they were produced. Chinese ceramics represent works of art both in themselves and as a medium for painting, poetry, calligraphy and sculpture. This accessible, introductory survey takes the reader through the rich history of Chinese ceramics from primitive pottery to delicate porcelain, complemented by full-color illustrations throughout.

This volume investigates the artistic development during the Qing Dynasty, the last of imperial Chinese dynasties, and shows the importance of opera and playwriting during this time period. Further analysis is dedicated to the development of scroll painting and the revival of calligraphy and seal carving. A General History of Chinese Art comprises six volumes with a total of nine parts spanning from the Prehistoric Era until the 3rd year of Xuantong during the Qing Dynasty (1911). The work provides a comprehensive compilation of in-depth studies of the development of art throughout the subsequent reign of Chinese dynasties and explores the emergence of a wide range of artistic categories such as but not limited to music, dance, acrobatics, singing, story telling, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and crafts. Unlike previous reference books, A General History of Chinese Art offers a broader overview of the notion of Chinese art by asserting a more diverse and less material understanding of arts, as has often been the case in Western scholarship.

This volume examines the progress of Chinese art during the time period of the Five Dynasties, Northern and Southern Song, Liao, Western Xia, Jin Dynasties as well as the Yuan Dynasty. A special focus lies on the analysis of cultural policies adopted during the reign of the respective dynasties and their effects on the development of dance, court music and drama. A General History of Chinese Art comprises six volumes with a total of nine parts spanning from the Prehistoric Era until the 3rd year of Xuantong during the Qing Dynasty (1911). The work provides a comprehensive compilation of in-depth studies of the development of art throughout the subsequent reign of Chinese dynasties and explores the emergence of a wide range of artistic categories such as but not limited to music, dance, acrobatics, singing, story telling, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and crafts. Unlike previous reference books, A General History of Chinese Art offers a broader overview of the notion of Chinese art by asserting a more diverse and less material understanding of arts, as has often been the case in Western scholarship.

This volume covers Chinese art during the reign of the Sui and Tang Dynasties during which the various disciplines of plastic and performing arts all entered a stage of unprecedented prosperity and development. It also traces new explorations in calligraphy, painting, and mural art and highlights architectural achievements during the historic period. A General History of Chinese Art comprises six volumes with a total of nine parts spanning from the Prehistoric Era until the 3rd year of Xuantong during the Qing Dynasty (1911). The work provides a comprehensive compilation of in-depth studies of the development of art throughout the subsequent reign of Chinese dynasties and explores the emergence of a wide range of artistic categories such as but not limited to music, dance, acrobatics, singing, story telling, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and crafts. Unlike previous reference books, A General History of Chinese Art offers a broader overview of the notion of Chinese art by asserting a more diverse and less material understanding of arts, as has often been the case in Western scholarship.

This volume studies the evolution of Chinese art during the Qin and Han Dynasties, The Three Kingdoms, Eastern and Western Jin, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It traces the initial artistic vocabularies of Chinese calligraphy as well as the rapid development of the performing and the decorative arts. A General History of Chinese Art comprises six volumes with a total of nine parts spanning from the Prehistoric Era until the 3rd year of Xuantong during the Qing Dynasty (1911). The work provides a comprehensive compilation of in-depth studies of the development of art throughout the subsequent reign of Chinese dynasties and explores the emergence of a wide range of artistic categories such as but not limited to music, dance, acrobatics, singing, story telling, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and crafts. Unlike previous reference books, A General History of Chinese Art offers a broader overview of the notion of Chinese art by asserting a more diverse and less material understanding of arts, as has often been the case in Western scholarship.

This volume explores the prehistoric beginnings of Chinese art and its development during the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties. It analyses the conditions of the emergence of Chinese art and its transformation of form, content and function throughout the Three Dynasties, a historical period marked by important changes in the social and cultural Chinese landscape. A General History of Chinese Art comprises six volumes with a total of nine parts spanning from the Prehistoric Era until the 3rd year of Xuantong during the Qing Dynasty (1911). The work provides a comprehensive compilation of in-depth studies of the development of art throughout the subsequent reign of Chinese dynasties and explores the emergence of a wide range of artistic categories such as but not limited to music, dance, acrobatics, singing, story telling, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and crafts. Unlike previous reference books, A General History of Chinese Art offers a broader overview of the notion of Chinese art by asserting a more diverse and less material understanding of arts, as has often been the case in Western scholarship.

From starry-eyed fans with dreams of fame to cotton entrepreneurs turned movie moguls, the Bombay film industry has historically energized a range of practices and practitioners, playing a crucial and compelling role in the life of modern India. Bombay Hustle presents an ambitious history of Indian cinema as a history of material practice, bringing new insights to studies of media, modernity, and the late colonial city. Drawing on original archival research and an innovative transdisciplinary approach, Debashree Mukherjee offers a panoramic portrait of the consolidation of the Bombay film industry during the talkie transition of the 1920s-1940s. In the decades leading up to independence in 1947, Bombay became synonymous with marketplace thrills, industrial strikes, and modernist experimentation. Its burgeoning film industry embodied Bombay's spirit of "hustle," gathering together and spewing out the many different energies and emotions that characterized the city. Bombay Hustle examines diverse sites of film production-finance, pre-production paperwork, casting, screenwriting, acting, stunts-to show how speculative excitement jostled against desires for scientific management in an industry premised on the struggle between contingency and control. Mukherjee develops the concept of a "cine-ecology" in order to examine the bodies, technologies, and environments that collectively shaped the production and circulation of cinematic meaning in this time. The book thus brings into view a range of marginalized film workers, their labor and experiences; forgotten film studios, their technical practices and aesthetic visions; and overlooked connections among media practices, geographical particularities, and historical exigencies.

Surimono poetry prints are among the finest examples of Japanese woodblock printmaking of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Consisting of witty poetry combined with related images, surimono were often designed by leading print artists and were exquisitely produced using the best materials and most sophisticated printing techniques. Unlike the ukiyo-e prints of actors, courtesans and landscapes that were being commercially published around the same time, surimono were never intended for sale to the general public. Instead they were privately published in limited editions by members of poetry clubs, to present to friends and acquaintances on festive occasions, especially at the New Year. This book introduces over forty surimono in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum and provides readers with an insight into the refined and cultivated Japanese literati culture of the early nineteenth century. As well as exploring the customs, legends, figures and objects depicted, it presents new translations of the humorous poems (kyoka) that lie at the heart of surimono, and highlights the intricate relationship that existed between the poetry and accompanying images. This will be the first time that the Ashmolean's collection of surimono, mostly from the Jennings-Spalding Gift and containing a number of rare and previously unpublished prints, has ever been catalogued.

'You will have a moment of quiet delight and a mood of introspection to carry you away.' Edmund de Waal Prized by collectors from East to West, Japanese netsuke are tiny objects of wonder that originated as utilitarian accessories for traditional Japanese dress. Over the centuries these small carved toggles, designed to hook over the top of the kimono sash, evolved into high-fashion depictions of all aspects of Japanese life. In this richly illustrated and highly accessible book, Julia Hutt draws on the V&A's world-famous netsuke collection to explore the origins and techniques of this captivating art form.

Chinese Buddhist wooden sculptures of Water-moon Guanyin, a Bodhisattva sitting in a leisurely reclining pose on a rocky throne, are housed in Western collections and are thus removed from their original context(s). Not only are most of them of unknown origin, but also do lack a precise date. Tracing their sources is moreover difficult because of the scant information provided by art dealers in previous periods. Thus, only preliminary investigations into their stylistic development and technical features have been made so far. Moreover, until recently none of the Chinese temples that provided their original context, i.e. their precise/exact/specific position within those temple compounds and their respective place in the Buddhist pantheon, have been examined at all. In her study, Petra H Roesch investigates these very aspects, including questions about the religious position and function of the sculptures of this special Bodhisattva. She also looks at the technical construction, the collecting of Chinese Buddhist sculptures in general and those sculptures made of wood in particular. She uses a combination of stylistic, iconographical, buddhological, as well as technical methodologies in her investigation of the Water-moon Guanyin images and sheds light on the Buddhist temples in Shanxi Province, the works of art they once housed, and the religious practices of the eleventh to thirteenth centuries connected with them.

Featuring elegant designs and high-quality paper, Floating Worlds Japanese Prints Coloring Book is the perfect stress-reliever for fans of classical Japanese woodblock prints. The floating world of Geisha, Kabuki actors, cherry blossoms and the majestic Mt. Fuji--with this coloring book for adults you are there, recreating woodblock prints of people, landscapes, flora and fauna. This fine art, adult coloring book includes 22 woodblock prints from the Ukiyo-e genre, all ready for the touch of your colored pencils or fine markers. A copy of the richly-colored original print sits opposite your coloring "canvas" to use as a reference, or not. Before beginning, enjoy a little of the story behind the image, as each print comes with a brief yet fascinating introduction to the original work. Altogether, it's the perfect way to relax and have fun with art. When your masterpiece is complete, tear it out at the perforation to frame and display.

Ein erster Untersuchungsgegenstand dieses Buches sind die Vorstellungen, was die Renaissance sei, wie sie von Autoren des Zeitalters selber stammen und aus der spateren Forschung. Ausserdem wird eine UEbersicht uber die dominierenden Motive angelegt, die sich im Renaissance-Schrifttum nachweisen lassen. Der Abschnitt "die Renaissance als literarisches Motiv" ist der Renaissance-Rezeption vom 17. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert gewidmet, dessen Kennzeichen der Gegensatz der affirmierenden und der negierenden Renaissance-Rezeption ist. Die 'Revolutionen des Geistes' und ihnen verwandte Bewegungen erklarten sich gern zu Erben der Renaissance, wohingegen die Verfechter des Konservatismus aller Art sich der Renaissance entgegenstemmten und in Ablehnung der mit ihr aufgekommenen Ansichten einander uberboten.

The natural Japanese affinity for decorative art is apparent in this striking collection of 104 exquisite stencil designs, reproduced from a rare 19th-century publication. Motifs depict -- among other subjects -- lush florals, bamboo branches, birds on the wing, and rustic country homes. Captions identify the patterns.
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Im Mittelpunkt dieser Untersuchung steht die umfassende Analyse der Seebilder Jacob van Ruisdaels. Dabei wird die kunstlerische Leistung Ruisdaels unter dem Einfluss sowohl der Natur- und Kunstauffassung als auch der gesellschaftspolitischen Entwicklungen des Goldenen Jahrhunderts (der Niederlande des 17. Jh.) berucksichtigt. Gleichzeitig bietet diese Betrachtung einen Loesungsansatz fur die Interpretation bestimmter Bildmotive auf feste Sinnbilder, die in den Meereslandschaften anzutreffen sind. Die Gemalde enthalten emblematische Motive, ahnlich einem Gleichnis, so dass die Bildinhalte und ihre Bedeutung auf vielfaltige Weise interpretiert werden koennen. Daruber hinaus werden weitere spezifische Charakteristika der ruisdaelschen Marinen an den Gemalden selbst exemplarisch herausgearbeitet.

This beautifully illustrated history of Safavid Isfahan (1501 1722) explores the architectural and urban forms and networks of socio-cultural action that reflected a distinctly early-modern and Perso-Shi'i practice of kingship. An immense building campaign, initiated in 1590-91, transformed Isfahan from a provincial, medieval, and largely Sunni city into an urban-centered representation of the first Imami Shi'i empire in the history of Islam. The historical process of Shi'ification of Safavid Iran and the deployment of the arts in situating the shifts in the politico-religious agenda of the imperial household informs Sussan Babaie's study of palatial architecture and urban environments of Isfahan and the earlier capitals of Tabriz and Qazvin. Babaie argues that since the Safavid claim presumed the inheritance both of the charisma of the Shi'i Imams and of the aura of royal splendor integral to ancient Persian notions of kingship, a ceremonial regime was gradually devised in which access and proximity to the shah assumed the contours of an institutionalized form of feasting. Talar-palaces, a new typology in Islamic palatial designs, and the urban-spatial articulation of access and proximity are the architectural anchors of this argument. Cast in the comparative light of urban spaces and palace complexes elsewhere and earlier in the Timurid, Ottoman, and Mughal realms as well as in the early modern European capitals Safavid Isfahan emerges as the epitome of a new architectural-urban paradigm in the early modern age.

As an important part of Chinese culture, Lingnan culture, mainly those in Guangdong province, plays a key role in the world culture. Elegant Guangdong Series cover 5 subjects of the Lingnan cultural and traditional gems in South China. Each volume has used vivid and precious illustrations and portraits. Gambiered Canton Gauze outlines the birth, evolution, dyeing and finishing process, prospect of this ethereal silk fabric in South China.

Selected papers from the 16th Conference of the InternationalAssociation for Ladakh Studies (Heidelberg 17-20 April, 2013)1. Alchi Tsatsapuri: Notes on the History of an Early Monumentby Andre Alexander;2. Lost and Gone Forever: Notes on the Demolition of the Red Temple of Hunderby Noor Jahan Chunka and Gerald Kozicz;3. Fortifications of Ladakh: A Brief Chrono-Typology by Quentin Devers;4. The Munshi House in Leh: A Building History by John Harrison;5. Castles and Defensive Architecture in Purig: An Introduction, Survey andPreliminary Analysis by Neil Howard;6. The Old Stupa of Matho by Gerald Kozicz;7. Visual Representation of Ladakh and Zangskar in the British Library's WiseCollection by Diana Lange;8. Siddhas and Sociality: A Seventeenth-Century Lay Illustrated; Buddhist Manuscriptin Kumik Village, Zangskar (A Preliminary Report) by Rob Linrothe;9. Trees-of-Life, Aquatic Creatures and Other Enigmatic Motifs on Ladakhi WoodArt: What They Tell Us About Art History by Heinrich Poll;10. The Life of Buddha Sakyamuni in the Byams pa lha khang of Basgo, Ladakh byVerena Ziegler.

'The kind of history deserving of a cinematic blockbuster' Julia Lovell, Literary Review '[A] gripping and meticulously researched account of an epic effort to transport delicate scrolls, paintings and carvings thousands of miles under the threat of bombing and invasion' Rana Mitter, Times Literary Supplement 'Brilliant and thrilling... A tale of daring and adventure... A desperate race against time' Paul French, South China Morning Post _____ The gripping true story of the intrepid curators who saved China's finest art from the ravages of the Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Spring 1933. The silent courtyards and palaces of Peking's Forbidden City are tense with fear and expectation. Japan's aircraft drone overhead; its troops and tanks are only hours away. All-out war between China and Japan is coming, and the curators of the Forbidden City are faced with an impossible question: how will they protect the vast imperial art collections in their charge? The magnificent collections contain a million pieces of art - objects that carry China's deepest and most ancient memories. Among them are irreplaceable artefacts: exquisite paintings on silk, vanishingly rare Ming porcelain and the extraordinary Stone Drums of Qin, which are adorned with 2,500-year-old inscriptions of crucial cultural significance. For sixteen terrifying years, under the quiet leadership of museum director Ma Heng, the curators would go on to transport the imperial art collections thousands of miles across China - up rivers of white water, across mountain ranges and through burning cities. In their search for safety the curators and their fragile, invaluable cargo journeyed through the maelstrom of violence, chaos and starvation that was China's Second World War. Told for the first time in English and playing out across a vast historical canvas, this is the exhilarating story of a small group of men and women who, when faced with war's onslaught on civilisation, chose to resist. 'Fascinating... Brookes marries a reporter's grasp of detail with a novelist's narrative flair to bring clarity and readability to a complicated period of China's troubled history' Mail on Sunday

Presented in a style as stunning as the prints it celebrates, this survey of Hiroshige tells the fascinating story of the last great practitioner of ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating world." Hiroshige is considered to be the tradition's most poetic artist and his work had a marked influence on Western painting towards the end of the 19th century. Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Paul Ce zanne, and James Whistler were inspired by Hiroshige's serene depictions of the natural world. Arranged chronologically, this book illustrates through text and magnificent reproductions Hiroshige's youth and early career; his artistic development in the genre of landscape prints; his depictions of Edo and the provinces; the flower and bird prints; and his many popular books and paintings. It discusses the historic and cultural environment in which Hiroshige flourished and the many reasons his art continues to be revered and imitated. Filled with 300 color reproductions, and featuring a clamshell box and Japanese-style binding, this volume is destined to become the definitive examination of Hiroshige's oeuvre.

Zen art poses a conundrum. On the one hand, Zen Buddhism emphasizes the concept of emptiness, which among other things asserts that form is empty, that all phenomena in the world are illusory. On the other hand, a prodigious amount of artwork has been created in association with Zen thought and practice. A wide range of media, genres, expressive modes, and strategies of representation have been embraced to convey the idea of emptiness. Form has been used to express the essence of formlessness, and in Japan, this gave rise to a remarkable, highly diverse array of artworks and a tradition of self-negating art.In this volume, Yukio Lippit explores the painting The Gourd and the Catfish (ca. 1413), widely considered one of the most iconic works of Japanese Zen art today. Its subject matter appears straightforward enough: a man standing on a bank holds a gourd in both hands, attempting to capture or pin down the catfish swimming in the stream below. This is an impossible task, a nonsensical act underscored by the awkwardness with which the figure struggles even to hold his gourd. But this impossibility is precisely the point.