Review by Choice Review
Impressive in size and scope, this book is the ultimate reference on Chinese ceramics. Its content spans centuries, chronologically, from the Paleolithic period through the Qing Dynasty including export ware. The editors' introduction sets the historic perspective and the stage for how ceramics affected the life and culture of China throughout the dynasties. Contributors are international senior scholars including professors, curators, art historians, and archaeologists--all with notable reputations. Helpful maps allow one to trace the centers of ceramic production. This book is lavishly illustrated, including support diagrams of form profiles. The pieces represent collections from prestigious museums such as the National Palace Museum, Shanghai Museum, British Museum, and Metropolitan Museum of Art. The technical progression from the use of earthenware to stoneware to porcelain clay is outlined, with a focus on the role Jingdezhen played in the development of porcelain and its global impact. The worldwide desire for Chinese porcelain affected trade and caused wars. The chapter on the authentication of Chinese ceramics is an interesting bonus. Overall, this book raises the level of scholarship on the subject to a new high. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. A. Calluori Holcombe University of Florida
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
This is the first English-language study of the full range of Chinese ceramic history from the Stone Age to the 20th century that is based on solid archaeological evidence and illustrated with examples, which can be positively dated. There are shelves of books on specific aspects of Chinese ceramics, many of them drawing on nebulous concepts of connoisseurship relating to stylistic variation or details of decoration, but this volume, written by scholars from the People's Republic of China as well as the United States and Japan, is firmly committed to evidence derived from datable tomb excavations and the investigation of the original kiln sites. Edited by Li Zhiyan (senior research fellow, National Museum of China), Virginia L. Bower (adjunct associate professor, Univ. of the Arts), and He Li (associate curator, Chinese art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco), the text corrects the attributions of various types of ware, which have been described only from private collections in China or museums in Japan and the West. The influence of geology on the location of kiln sites and the technical side of producing artistic ceramics are well handled. Chapters on export ware and the difficulty of detecting fakes add to the value of the nine sections chronicling the history of making pottery and porcelain. VERDICT This is essential for scholars and admirers of Chinese ceramics, the history of Asia, and art in general.-David McClelland, Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
