Western scholars of ancient Chinese ceramics have long thought blue and white porcelain manufactured before the Ming (1368-1644 A.D.), dates to the Yuan (1279-1368 A.D.). Even in China today these porcelains are still termed “Yuan Blue and White.” Based upon first-hand surveys of sites in Inner Mongolia, Adam T. Kessler’s Song Blue and White Porcelain on the Silk Road demonstrates that blue and white was made during the Song (960-1279 A.D.) ended up in the hands of the Xi Xia (1038-1226 A.D.) and the Jin (1115-1234 A.D.). Blue and white found today in hoards was buried prior to Mongol invasions of China in the 1200s. Sites from the Philippines to Egypt have yielded Song blue and white. Also reviewed is the cobalt-bearing ore used by Song China to create blue and white.

In Colours and Contrast Clarence Eng covers the social history of architectural ceramics in China, their development both aesthetically (as ornament) and technically (as durable, protective components) in ancient Chinese architecture from palaces and temples to pagodas and screen walls.

Eleven cozy mystery stories in one volume featuring the sculptor-turned-sleuth brought to life by the award-winning author and illustrator. It’s murder at the flea market! Evildoers and crazed collectors beware. Daisy Summerfield, a crime-fighting sculptor with a severe case of artist’s block, is on the case. Will Daisy untangle the riddle of the missing Fiestaware, the cute bear, the flea market poisoner? And will she get her art back on track? In M. B. Goffstein’s homage to art and artists, and to light, cozy, lovable, dimwitted mysteries, you’ll delight in the intrigue of whodunits and in the endless romance of finding treasure in boxes marked “$1.” Set in the years between 1989 and 2000, and ranging from New York City to Westchester County, this series of stories includes: A Little Cracked, Death Goes Dutch, The Little Notebook, The Blue Glow, The Chantilly Box, The Cute Bear, The Covered Jar, The Best Art, The Big Show, An Evening Skirt, and Farewell, Mr. Flea. A special section bibliography lists the author’s favorite books on china. This is one of four volumes in the collected writing of M. B. Goffstein series: Words Alone: Twenty-Six Books Without Pictures, Art Girls Together: Two Novels, Daisy Summerfield’s Art: The Complete Flea Market Mysteries, and Biography of Miss Go Chi: Novelettos & Poems.

Surveys the art of the Age of Exploration in Europe, the Far East, and the Americas

This book presents the first comprehensive study of the collecting, consumption and display of Chinese porcelain in Britain from the 16th to the 20th century, as well as the impact of this activity on British culture. Beginning with the early porcelains acquired as objects of exotica and vessels for the consumption of tea and coffee, followed by porcelains for display in the country house interior, the first part of this book reveals the role of porcelain in Britain's developing economic relations with China and the impact of this material on both daily life and interior design. The subsequent diplomatic and political conflicts of the 18th and 19th centuries provide a framework for an examination of British consumption of Chinese porcelain as both spoils of war and iconic representations of China, material which helped to shape and influence British perceptions of China. The final section demonstrates how these perceptions of China and its porcelain began to change significantly in the 20th century with porcelains acquired as works of art and displayed publicly in museums. Collectors in Britain began to specialise in this area and actively invented a 'field' of Chinese ceramics that was promulgated by learned societies and culminated in the founding of a museum of Chinese ceramics in London by one of the foremost British collectors, Sir Percival David, who donated his world class collection to the University of London in 1950.

We think of blue and white porcelain as the ultimate global commodity: throughout East and Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean including the African coasts, the Americas and Europe, consumers desired Chinese porcelains. Many of these were made in the kilns in and surrounding Jingdezhen. Found in almost every part of the world, Jingdezhen's porcelains had a far-reaching impact on global consumption, which in turn shaped the local manufacturing processes. The imperial kilns of Jingdezhen produced ceramics for the court, while nearby private kilns manufactured for the global market. In this beautifully illustrated study, Anne Gerritsen asks how this kiln complex could manufacture such quality, quantity and variety. She explores how objects tell the story of the past, connecting texts with objects, objects with natural resources, and skilled hands with the shapes and designs they produced. Through the manufacture and consumption of Jingdezhen's porcelains, she argues, China participated in the early modern world.