Design

Contrary to what one might expect a calico button to be, such as a calico cloth covered button, this book refers to a china button with printed calico designs. A calico textile pattern was printed in ink on paper that was then laid on top of a tray of fired china buttons. As the tray made a second trip through the kiln, heat transferred the inked pattern onto the surface of the button and the paper was burned away. The author, Mr. Wilfred Morgan, was the first person to publish a catalog of calico button patterns.

El Lissitzky (1890-1941) was a Russian avant-garde artist, designer, photographer, typographer, and architect whose work greatly influenced the Bauhaus and constructivist movements. His experimentation with techniques and styles went on to dominate 20th Century graphic design. Lissitzky designed this cover of Wendingen, an international Dutch magazine focusing on modern architecture, art, and design from 1918-1931. This issue was dedicated entirely to Frank Lloyd Wright with text by H.P.

This beautifully illustrated and rare--actually, first and only edition folio--is a study of the subject matter depicted on a Roman glass cameo vase (AD1-AD25) called the Portland Vase. The Portland Vase inspired glass and porcelain makers including Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) who produced a duplicate in black and white jasperware in 1790. Discovered in the sarcophagus of Emperor Alexander Severus near Rome in 1582, the vase passed through the Barberini family, British ambassador Sir William Hamilton, and finally to the 2nd & 3rd Dukes of Portland who gave it to the British Museum. Auth

This extremely rare 1940 trade catalog represents the output of 10 state owned ceramics factories in small towns and villages all over the Ukraine after industry was nationalized in 1918. Today, we are more familiar with the graphic arts of Communist Russia as vehicles for propaganda, such as posters. The decorative arts of utilitarian objects, like the tableware featured in this catalog, were also important vehicles for disseminating political concepts of the new social order and Soviet nationalism to the masses in everyday life.

By the 17th century, East Asian art, in particular Asian porcelain and lacquerwork known as japanning, became fashionable, creating a European market of imports as well a demand for replica designs and manufacture. By this time, the use of lacquer in Europe inspired several writings detailing construction, use, and design of these artistic techniques. This 1688 treatise is a detailed European artisans’ guide on the lacquer process by John Stalker and George Parker, featuring the first detailed pattern illustrations.

Birmingham, Englad was known as the first manufacturing town in the world and played a central role in the manufacturing and production of trade catalogs. Trade catalogs emerged as a new and effective way to market industrial design to the masses while competing with rival firms. This brass trade catalog used detailed engravings to sell a diverse group of mass-produced metal products.

English architect, George Perry (b. 1771) authored this groundbreaking scientific book on conchology, the study of shells. It is the only shell book illustrated with hand-colored aquatint plates by the engraver John Clarke. The illustrations were based on natural specimens mostly from private collections and the British Museum, including shells from across the globe, from Sri Lanka to New Zealand. Some names assigned to shells by Perry are still in use today.

Elementa Ornithologica by Jacob Christian Schäffer (1718-1790), a German philosophy and divinity teacher, botanist, mycologist, entomologist, ornithologist, and inventor, is a detailed, beautifully illustrated ornithological study in which birds are divided into two classes: Nudipedes (those with naked legs) and Plumipedes (with feathered legs). Schäffer, who created this classification system, also developed and named colors on charts that would imitate as closely as possible the natural hues found in plants and animals.

Emperor Kangxi and King Louis XIV of France, also known as Louis the Great, were both considered among the greatest rulers of their respective countries. They have been compared politically and militarily, but few comparisons in artistic achievements have been done. Both rulers came to the throne during childhood. They had excellent skills in riding and archery and both were fluent in a number of languages. As a Manchu emperor, Kangxi had a solid command of Mandarin Chinese and Mongolian whereas Louis XIV was versed in French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin.

In 1913, Yuan Shih-k’ai (Yuan Shikai, 1859-1916) became the first president of the Republic of China after he helped Sun Yan-sen overthrow the last Qing emperor in 1911. In 1915, Yuan proclaimed himself the Hung-Hsien (Hongxian) Emperor but ruled for only 83 days before being forced to back down from his claim. During his very short imperial reign, Yuan ordered Guo Baochang to re-start the manufacturing of imperial porcelain at Jingdezhen which had ceased production with the fall of the last Qing emperor.

This book is an invaluable tool for art historians, scholars, dealers, and collectors interested in metal sculptures of Northern India, the Himalayas, and Tibet. It is also an important work for scholars studying Chinese bronzes of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Published in 1981, it remains the only publication providing a timeline of the evolution of the art of these types of metal sculptures. The author, Ulrich von Schroeder, has been studying Buddhist art and culture as an independent scholar since the early 1960s.

Tiles and ceramics produced in Iznik between the 15^th and 17^th centuries represent a significant artistic achievement for Turkey. Tiles were frequently used as decoration in Turkish Seljuk period (1071-1243 AD) architecture for important public buildings. Beginning with the Ottomans in the 15^th century, there was increasing demand for tiles, which were used to decorate the mosques and palaces of their new capital of Istanbul.

Africa is rising—fashion, design, wax prints redeux, eco-architecture, floating schools, hammocks in libraries, AK-47s into chairs,  popular culture, récupération, safari lodges, curated dining, LGBT haute couture, Afronauts, sapeurs—where art and design and popular culture collide. Today’s African designers share an unflinching reverence for the past and draw smartly on that heritage in the novelty of their creations. This is not your Africa of yore.

Authentic early images of West Africans are rare—and quite sought after. David Boilat offers us just such a portfolio in Esquisses Sénégalaises, published in 1853. The twenty-four color plates are remarkable for their attention to details of clothing, jewelry, hair styles, skin color, and facial features. His accompanying text describes, with remarkable equanimity for his time period, pertinent customs and behaviors ranging from the admirable to the deplorable—all judged from the local point of view.