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Early decorative textiles
Book by Volbach, Fritz
157 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1969
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October 13, 2016
This little book, the 1969 English translation of a 1966 Italian original, has 71 color plates of early textiles. Some are archaeological finds from Egypt, but more are from church treasuries in Europe, including the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Vatican, which had only been recently opened to outsiders at the time of publication. The reason to buy the book is the photos -- and the color reproduction is surprisingly good for a book published 50+ years ago. I'll see if I can find some samples online -- but if you're interested in textiles from this period, you need this book, which is available for the price of shipping.
While some of the textiles illustrated are fragmentary, most are in pretty good shape. The textiles are predominantly Egyptian, Syrian and Byzantine, with some Italian and Spanish copies of the Syrian and Byzantine styles. The text is scholarly but indifferently translated (I think). The captions are better-done. The major drawback to the illustrations: no sizes for the textiles!
There's not much in print on these textiles, so this would be a good (and inexpensive) starting point.
While some of the textiles illustrated are fragmentary, most are in pretty good shape. The textiles are predominantly Egyptian, Syrian and Byzantine, with some Italian and Spanish copies of the Syrian and Byzantine styles. The text is scholarly but indifferently translated (I think). The captions are better-done. The major drawback to the illustrations: no sizes for the textiles!
There's not much in print on these textiles, so this would be a good (and inexpensive) starting point.
Displaying 1 of 1 review