He Li - Chinese Ceramics : The New Standard Guide - 1996

Note: We are offering to you the hardcover version of this book, which is out of print! The hardcover version is very difficult to find on the current market.
The Paperback version costs by Amazon $423, - see photo #2. The hardcover version has more value.

With over 850 illustrations, 704 in color, and six maps.

Item Weight: 2,3 kg.
Height: 33 cm. Wide 25 cm.

This book has it all: a well-balanced collection covering Chinese ceramics from Yangshao culture to the Republic period, presented with an informative text that gives an overview of history, materials and techniques. Kasuhiro Tsuruta deserves special mention for the many superb colour photographs; they show texture and detail of glazes hard to capture on film.
The text and maps include information obtained from recent excavations of kiln sites, which makes this useful as a supplement to older books on Chinese ceramics. Attributions of provenance for some pieces have changed due to recent research. Besides a glossary and the usual list of dynasties and reigns, there is a very useful list of the Chinese characters for proper names, place names, descriptive phrases and technical terms.
The collection itself, largely the bequest of the late Avery Brundage, is absolutely stunning in its taste and range. Monochrome glazes, for example, are well represented. The connoisseur's eye is evident. This is a very useful overview of historical Chinese ceramics, but it would be of interest to anyone with a taste for the beautiful and subtle.

Additional information:
*For centuries Chinese ceramics have been the objects most coveted in the West by collectors with an interest in the arts of Asia. The extraordinary innovations of Chinese potters court among the most outstanding accomplishments in the cultural heritage of the world since the Neolithic era. Systematic study of Chinese ceramics, begun in the eighteenth century with the French Jesuit Pere d'Entrecolles, has been greatly enlarged in the twentieth century, and since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, extensive excavations at kiln sites have yielded invaluable new insights into the chronological development of ceramic forms, glaze types and decorative styles. This remarkable book cites all the latest scientific and archaeological evidence, examining provenance, technique, archaeological and historical context, and ancient traditions of Chinese connoisseurship and patronage to provide an integrated and highly detailed approach to the subject.
In over 700 color photographs specially taken for this book, a wide range of imperial and regional, decorative and practical, export and domestic, ceremonial and funerary wares are fully represented.
* amazon

Note: It will be professionally packed and safely sent in a wooden crate within 3 working days by Fed. Ex or DHL. Shipped with Insurance!

Condition: Used, wear. Almost as new. Hardcover!