The British Museum Book of Chinese Art

by Anne Farrer, Jane Portal, Anne Farrer

For more than 1000 years Chinese silks and porcelain have been coveted and sought by peoples around the world. This survey describes the origins of these achievements and sets them in context alongside the other arts of China, including lacquer, cloisonne and glass.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, China

Paperback

First published November 1, 1992

Reviews

[Jbondandrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an enjoyable book, with lovely pictures although one page is missing. The Chinese were such remarkable craftsmen and made wonderful art pieces and I hope to visit the country one day and see it up close.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been one of my favorite surveys of Chinese art history so far. It’s organized thematically rather than dynastically, which was refreshing. The chapters on bronze works and ceramics were some of the best I’ve come across.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jessica Rawson and others put together a catalogue reflecting the British Museum collection of Chinese material culture, and gives some insight into the different objects from different periods. I was hoping for more detail on the history of collecting these objects in the museum itself, but it is a good place for beginners to learn about Britons collecting Chinese culture, and their point of view is inevitably reflected in the catalogue.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume cover a vast range of Chinese art from painting to sculpture and calligraphy to ceramics. Each chapter (of which there are six) deals with the genre or medium of art individually and with a wealth of pictures charts its development.

This is one of the clearest and most accessible introductory studies to the vast field of Chinese art available; it causes the reader to simultaneously want to visit both China and the British Museum where the collections portrayed are displayed.