Excerpt from Oriental Collection of W. T. Walters: 65 Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore, 1884 We submit to our friends, and those generally interested in the subject, the result of our efforts for more than twenty years as collectors of Oriental objects of art, mainly Chinese and Japanese. Our interest and effort have been more in the direction of securing characteristic examples of the beautiful, either in form, color or material, than of the merely curious. Regarding the Ceramic Art from the standpoint Of true decorative principles, whether in its strongest character istics, or in the more subtle refinement and delicacy of treatment both of color and general manipulation, there can be no question that the Chinese have established their preeminence in this artistic development, compared with all that has been accomplished up to the present time; therefore the Collection will be found to be made up largely of the products of that remarkable people. In com parison with the productions Of all other countries, their colors will be found to possess less meretriciousness, greater strength and depth, as well as greater elegance. We refer, of course, to their ancient productions, say previous to the middle of the last century, when the decadence Of the art had become manifest, stimulated no doubt by the demands of European commerce, not for peculiar or single art objects, but for thousands of the mechanical reproductions of the same thing. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1884 edition. Excerpt: ... POTTERY AND PORCELAIN. Pere D'entrecolles. Pere d'Entrecolles, Missionary of the Society of Jesus, arrived in China in 1700, whence he wrote letters from Jao-tcheou, in the province of Feou-leam, and King-tetching, the imperial factory of porcelain. He writes under date of Sept. 1st, 1712, that while his curiosity would not have led him to study the subject of the production of porcelain, he feels that it may be of service to Europe, and therefore avails himself of his opportunities. He not only has converts among the merchants, but also among the workmen themselves, and collects all the information which they can give him, keeping them continually on the watch. "The town of King-te-tching," he writes, " is only three miles distant from, and a dependance of Feou-leam, which is a dependance of Jao-tcheou. A law exists in China that each city shall preserve in writing, the history of the province in which it lies. This history is to include the situation, extent, limits and nature of the country, together with the most remarkable places, manufactures, the manners and customs of the inhabitants, the persons who are distinguished in arms, in letters, or for great probity. Remarkable women even are recorded; for instance those who, through attachment lor their deceased husbands, remain widows. The Mandarin frequently revises this history, and adds or eliminates as he thinks proper. A strict record is kept of all merchandise exported or imported. The annals of Feou-leam record, that beginning with the Emperor Tang-ou-te, of the dynasty of the Tangs (A. D. 442), workmen in porcelain have furnished objects to the Emperors, and that one or two Mandarins were sent from the Court to overlook their work. A description is also given of the multitude...

Collecting China is a unique collection of essays that brings together theories of materiality and what collecting has meant to various peoples over time. Collecting China grew out of a simple question: how does a thing become Chinese? Fifteen essays explore this question from different angles, ranging from close examination of world-renowned private collections to critical reinterpretations of historical writings.

Surprisingly, the story of how William Walters and his son Henry created one of the finest privately assembled museums in the United States has not been told."--BOOK JACKET.

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Collecting Italian Renaissance paintings during America’s Gilded Age was fraught with risk because of the uncertain identities of the artists and the conflicting interests of the dealers. Stanley Mazaroff’s fascinating account of the close relationship between Henry Walters, founder of the legendary Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, and Bernard Berenson, the era’s preeminent connoisseur of Italian paintings, richly illustrates this important chapter of America’s cultural history. When Walters opened his Italianate museum in 1909, it was labeled as America’s “Great Temple of Art.” With more than 500 Italian paintings, including self-portraits purportedly by Raphael and Michelangelo, Walters’s collection was compared favorably with the great collections in London, Paris, and Berlin. In the midst of this fanfare, Berenson contacted Walters and offered to analyze his collection, sell him additional paintings, and write a scholarly catalogue that would trumpet the collection on both sides of the Atlantic. What Berenson offered was what Walters desperately needed—a badge of scholarship that Berenson’s invaluable imprimatur would undoubtedly bring. By 1912, Walters had become Berenson’s most active client, their business alliance wrapped in a warm and personal friendship. But this relationship soon became strained and was finally severed by a confluence of broken promises, inattention, deceit, and ethical conflict. To Walters’s chagrin, Berenson swept away the self-portraits allegedly by Raphael and Michelangelo and publicly scorned paintings that he was supposed to praise. Though painful to Walters, Berenson’s guidance ultimately led to a panoramic collection that beautifully told the great history of Italian Renaissance painting. Based primarily on correspondence and other archival documents recently discovered at the Walters Art Museum and the Villa I Tatti in Florence, the intriguing story of Walters and Berenson offers unusual insight into the pleasures and perils of collecting Italian Renaissance paintings, the ethics in the marketplace, and the founding of American art museums.