Evert Nijland (b. 1971) is one of the leading jewelry artists of his generation. Trained in the Conceptual Art and Minimalism of the 1990s at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, he developed a flamboyant and exuberant style, which drew on (art-) historical resources yet is thoroughly anchored in the present. A typical characteristic of Nijland is working with a variety of artisans. It enables him to integrate such diverse materials as porcelain, wood, textile or steel into his works. His use of glass in jewelry, in particular, is unparalleled. This publication presents an exciting review in opulent photographs of Evert Nijland’s jewelry-making over twenty years. Montages of images are a particular highlight, in which jewelry from works of Western art is superimposed, serving Nijland as both a reference and a source of inspiration.

Text in English and Dutch.

One hundred masterpieces of European art and arts and crafts of the eighteenth century form a panorama of innovation, design and expert realisation. In their sumptuous design, the porcelain, furniture, bronzes and silver objects are all miracles of the luxury craftsmanship found in court art. Such sophisticated design was the driving force behind the quickly successive styles of classicism, naturalism and the exotic design of the Rococo period.

André-Charles Boulle, Jakob Philipp Hackert, Johann Joachim Kaendler, Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt and Jean-Baptiste François Pater are just some of the renowned artists featured in this catalogue. The artworks are opulently presented, interpreted in detail and arranged according to context. Thus the colourful image of a great era in art emerges, one that relied on creative energy and the power of the imagination.

For Red X Thread, the gold- and silversmith and designer Franz Bette (b. 1941) developed a new body of work which reflected his experiences in Asia. For this, he incorporated new elements to his artistic approach, extending his Western-influenced vocabulary of steel, silver, gold and plastic by adding materials with Asian connotations, such as porcelain, paper, bamboo, wood and textile. He works with these materials, aware of their tradition and meaning in Asian culture. Many new impulses have led Franz Bette to special formulations in his poetic language, to organic ephemerality instead of geometric constructions. His jewellery shifts between drawing and sculpture, far removed from all monumentality.

The exhibition Red X Thread: Franz Bette – Jewellery, ALIEN Art, Kaohsiung (TW) runs from 15 February 2019 – 23 June 2019.

Text in English, Chinese and German.

A celebration of one of the most universally recognizable and beloved objects of our daily lives, Spoon showcases hundreds of spoons from author Daniel Rozensztroch’s personal collection. Obsessively collected over the course of several years, there are spoons made of wood, glass, mother of pearl, bone, metal, horn, porcelain, enamel, and ceramic, as well as spoons by artists, vintage spoons, rare one-of-a-kind museum quality pieces to the typical spoon of our everyday life that can be found in homes all over the world. The spoon as an object transcends all cultures. With high-quality photography by Francis Amiand and fine Italian printing, the book is perfect for collectors and lovers of everyday objects.

This book gives a fascinating account of fifteen centuries of European glass art based on the Gemeentemuseum’s dazzling collection in The Hague. This is the first time the collection has been described and illustrated so fully and in such depth. The publication, which with all due modesty, is more like a standard work, has some five hundred illustrations. It is the latest in a series of books – the other three were on Delft pottery and porcelain and silver from The Hague – highlighting the museum’s major core collection of decorative arts. Text in Dutch.

“Within its 276 pages, you will discover how thousands of years of Chinese history and culture manifest in his designs. Noted author and jewelry specialist Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld takes the reader on an intellectual, art historical, and sensual journey as she traces Yewn’s early career and rise to acclaim” — IGI GemBlog

“A first-of-its-kind art book narrating worldly and philosophical Han Chinese culture in the language of jewellery art.” — Arts & Collections

“A preeminent and harmonious collaboration with text by renowned jewelry historian Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld and artistic direction by trailblazing designer Dickson Yewn results in a one-of-a-kind book, Yewn: Contemporary Art Jewels and the Silk Road.” — Private Air Magazine

Dickson Yewn is the quintessential modern-day literatus. His contemporary jewelry is a crystallization of thousands of years of Chinese material history. Square rings rub shoulders with antique porcelain forms, shapes taken from Ming furniture and the geometric latticework found in Chinese architecture. Yewn focuses on these traditional Chinese motifs, but also understands the significance of different materials. Wood, one of the five elements in Chinese philosophy, is present in most of his collections.

To wear a contemporary jewel by Dickson Yewn is to delve back into China’s works of art and its history, blended with a contemporary twist. This new monograph of his work details the inspiration Yewn has drawn from the Imperial court, exploring its influence on the art of jewelry, from silks, embroidery, painting, architecture and cloisonné enamel to courtesan culture. Beautiful, detailed illustrations and photographs highlight Yewn’s fealty to the artisanal techniques employed by the Imperial courts. Esteemed jewelry writer Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld invites the reader to explore the deeper symbolism behind Yewn’s jewels.

“When you land on this book, if you do not yet have an appreciation of butterflies or Chan’s workmanship, after reading, it will leave you in awe of both.”—Beth Bernstein, Forbes
“When I was a young boy, butterflies were flying colours – I knew not their name. Then butterflies became the Butterfly Lovers: a tragedy, a love story, a symbol of eternal love. As I grew older, I found them to embody the words of a great philosopher: life is but a dream; only we need to decide whether we want it to be the dream of a man, or the dream of a butterfly. I could not decide, and so I became The Butterfly Man.” – Wallace Chan

Father of The Wallace Cut – an illusionary three-dimensional gemstone carving technique – and The Wallace Chan Porcelain – a ground-breaking material five times stronger than steel – Wallace Chan is a guiding light in the world of jewelry design. Always innovating, always testing boundaries with his materials and technique, Chan’s creations are as stunning as they are intricate. Compiled by jewelry experts, this book explores the cultural and personal significance of Wallace Chan’s most famous emblem: the butterfly.

Winged Beauty: The Butterfly Jewellery Art of Wallace Chan features approximately 30 of his finest pieces. Enter a butterfly house of colorful gems, with brooches and necklaces so delicate they might have flown down and alighted on the page.

“The Wonderful World of Lydia Courteille Explored in New Book.” —  JCK Online

“…The colorful, eye-catching gemstones splashed across each page are a feast for the eyes, and in a poignant display, Courteille’s playful pieces are depicted alongside illustrations of the women who inspired them.” —  Only Natural Diamonds

“Sometimes provocative, sometimes sensual and always full of passion, Courteille puts jewels in the spotlight that beguile, enchant, surprise and are definitely real eye-catchers.” — Lovely Books

For more than 40 years, Parisian jeweler Lydia Courteille has been confounding the Place Vendome jewelry houses with her bold and brazen designs. Her unique and avant-garde style is legendary. Her collections spark the senses. In this impassioned new biography, Juliet Weir-de la Rochefoucauld takes us on a voyage around the world, sharing the stunning locations and famous women from whom Courteille draws inspiration.

In the disposable world of 21st century consumerism, amidst the monotony of marketing algorithms and ceaseless production lines, Lydia Courteille has forged her own creative path, refusing to let the individuality of her work slip from her fingers. Her jewels crystalize memories, honor the dead, make powerful social statements, poke fun at modern absurdities, and transport us to the other side of the planet. Guided by an acclaimed author and jewelry expert, this colorful monograph renders her odysseys of creation and discovery in stunning visual detail.

The owner of The Lotus Pond Collection first ran into Chinese snuff bottles in an antique store in San Francisco in 1993 and has been fascinated by them ever since.

This collection covers mostly imperial porcelain and enamel on metal snuff bottles from the Qianlong period, mid-Qing imperial glass and jade snuff bottles, and some organic snuff bottles from mid-Qing. Others include bottles from Jingdezhen, Yangzhou and Suzhou Schools, Beijing glasses, inside painted and enamel on glass snuff bottles. There are also samples of Official School agate snuff bottles.

The whole collection covers 500 plus snuff bottles and was named The Lotus Pond Collection as it is the name of the owner’s hometown.

It is not only the quality and beauty of the bottles that will hold appeal for collectors but also the scholarly expertise which is apparent throughout the collection. This reflects the interest that the owner of the collection has in the cultural significance of his collection.

Text in English and Chinese.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and South Korea, this volume offers a unique point of view on the work of Ji-Young Demol Park and Lee Lee Nam. The evocation of nature unfolds through connections interwoven over the centuries between culture and objects, materials, colors, and motifs. Jade- and pine-colored decorated ceramics, cobalt oxide for the horizon, porcelain white as snow or the moon, all feature in the work of both artists, their gazes meeting and reflecting in the landscapes of a great painter of old, Jeong Seon (1676-1759). Despite all their differences, the mountains rendered in ink by Ji-Young Demol Park and Lee Lee Nam’s virtual landscapes are truly united by the uniqueness of their relationship with this cultural heritage as well as the strength of their individual universes, oriented towards the re-enchantment of nature.

Text in English and French.

The dinnerware of presidents and the teacups of dignitaries. Mottahedeh, founded 100 years ago and based on Mildred and Rafi Mottahedeh’s passion for antiques, is the most distinguished ceramics reproduction company today. With meticulous craft, attention to detail, and storied partners such as the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Historic Charleston Foundation, Mount Vernon, and Winterthur, Mottahedeh continues to create some of the most highly sought-after pieces on the market. For 30 years, Wendy Kvalheim has led this company into modern times. Splendid Settings: 100 Years of Mottahedeh Design is a testament to both Mottahedeh’s inimitable style and Kvalheim’s unique vision of the future. This is not your grandma’s china. In this lavishly illustrated celebration of Mottahedeh centenary hundreds of Mottahedeh’s finest pieces are showcased; from classical dinner services in the great historical houses of America, to the placement of Mottahedeh pieces in modern New York lofts and contemporary Palm Beach, Florida dwellings, each page is an unexpected joy. 

Created in 1936, following the bequest of Count Moïse de Camondo to the French State in memory of his son Nissim, who died for France in 1917, the Musée Nissim de Camondo houses a rich collection of 18th-century art objects. Reflecting the donor’s taste for this period of French art, the collection includes a significant number of pieces of furniture and objects embellished with gilded bronze ornaments. Gathered with incredible foresight by Moïse de Camondo between 1890 and 1935, these gilded bronzes reflect the evolution of styles during the 18th century, from the fantasies of rocaille, the severity of the return to the antique model, to the delicacy of the Louis XVI style. This catalog presents a selection of 30 furniture bronzes, all masterpieces. Signed Osmond, attributed to Jean-Louis Prieur, François Rémond or Jean-Noël Turpin, they testify to the expertise of Parisian gilders in the second half of the 18th century, as well as to their collaboration with other trades – draftsmen, sculptors, founders, goldsmiths and watchmakers. The gilded bronzes in the Musée Nissim de Camondo offer a highly varied typology, bearing witness to their diverse uses and fully participating in the project of “reconstituting an 18th-century artistic residence” so dear to the Count de Camondo.

Jet black hair, porcelain skin, bright red lips and fingernails; figures gazing intensely into the camera; young men and women posing acrobatically with bizarre props; animals and plants in the glaring light of the camera’s flash, situated in urban landscapes, private spaces, or in nature, among rice fields, lotus ponds, and cacti — Ren Hang’s photographs are painfully provocative, but also inward looking and dreamily surreal. Ren Hang depicts the human body as an abstract form, often in idiosyncratic arrangements and perspectives, combining iconic images of William Shakespeare’s dying Ophelia in a river; of Leda, daughter of a Greek king, and the Swan; and of female nudes seen from behind using a distinctive visual vocabulary that draws on abstraction, Surrealism, Dada, and both historic and contemporary photography. Ren Hang’s analog photographs use a playful, humorous visual language to relate the feelings, desires, fears, and loneliness of a young generation in China. 

A short story by Strega-award author Tiziano Scarpa accompanies cutting-edge porcelain work. Once again, historical women artists fetch a premium under the auctioneer’s hammer for Simone Facchinetti. A Dolce & Gabbana show spotlights Sicilian handicrafts, as Pietro Mercogliano tells us. The untutored, intuitive Franco-Tuscan artist Élisabeth Chaplin painted glowing portraits of her home, her family, and herself, by Cristina Nuzzi. Antony Shugaar narrates the feats of the starchitect of her time, Julia Morgan, who shaped Hearst’s Castle. Sylvia Ferino-Pagden describes how the selfies of the 16th century were advertisements for the work of Sofonisba Anguissola. Luísa Sampaio narrates René Lalique’s work as a jeweler, before he turned to glass. Rafael Barajas Durán lays out the political theory underlining Surrealism in the work of Remedios Varo. And Giorgio Antei tells the tale of the statesmanship and horseflesh haggling behind the two wives – a Savoy and a Farnese – of Spain’s Philip V.

This publication discusses a bronze Laocoön recently sold at Bonham’s. Its new owners attributed it to Giuseppe Piamontini (1663–1744) ‘because of its manufacture and its extremely close proximity to the Doccia model’, the model employed for a porcelain Laocoön produced in the factory set up by Carlo Ginori (1702–57) in 1737 at Doccia near Florence.

Labelled as French and belatedly returned to Late Baroque Florence (but to the wrong artist), this magnificent group has finally revealed its identity. It is one of the incunabula of an ambitious young sculptor measuring himself with the sculptors of Ancient Greece and their great Renaissance followers of his native Florence. During the day he copied them in the Galleria degli Uffizi and in the streets of the city. At night he gathered together with other pupils of Foggini in the Borgo Pinti studio to study together. The prominent career to which Della Valle obviously aspired prompted his move to Rome. Della Valle helped us interpret the bronze correctly, interpret correctly its attribution in the Doccia models’ inventory and by extension understand better that document itself. But most important, our understanding of Florentine Late Baroque sculpture and of Della Valle’s art has acquired another firm point of reference.

Atelier Les Deux Garçons is the artistic joint venture of Michel Vanderheijden van Tinteren and Roel Moonen. In this book, they celebrate 25 years of creating together. Their work is a mixture of taxidermy, bronze and objet trouvé; the results are collages that both enchant and bewilder. Their sculptures mirror the turbulence of our time, the struggle between humans and animals, the duality between beauty and confrontation. With three essays by leading Dutch art curators, this book shows us the themes that reoccur in the work of ‘Les Deux’, the urgency of their art, and the artistic evolution of their practice. The works in the book have been carefully selected by the artists themselves. An oeuvre which is far from finished, as ‘Les Deux’ still abound with youthful energy and artistic drive.

“Their works critique humanity’s disregard for animals, nature, and let’s face it, each other. But here’s the kicker: they deliver these truths with a sly wink.” – Edwin Becker, Van Gogh Museum.

“The method involves combining the inorganic (e.g., porcelain or other lifeless materials) with the organic (taxidermy), creating juxtapositions that are at once striking and unsettling.” – Dick van Broekhuizen, Museum Beelden Aan Zee.

“Whether you find their work terrifying or beautiful—or a combination of both—depends, I believe, on your perspective on life at the moment you encounter it”. – Madelief Hohé, Kunstmuseum The Hague

This publication showcases the oeuvre of Irene Nordli, one of the Nordic ceramics scene’s most renowned artists, and examines how her works have evolved over the past three decades. Known for her figurines and porcelain, and the interplay between body and material, her art is presented in a way that interweaves the personal, the artistic, and the historical. My Hands Just Keep Getting Bigger invites readers to reflect deeply on her creative journey up to her largest solo exhibition at Kunsthall Grenland in 2024. The dialogue between Irene Nordli and Gjertrud Steinsvåg forms the core of the text, highlighting pivotal moments and reflections that have shaped her work. Photographer Thomas Ekström adds a compelling visual layer by capturing the extraordinary in the everyday, while designer Martin Egge Lundell fuses text and image with an experimental approach, challenging the conventional art monograph.

China’s Song dynasty (960-1279) ceramics have long been famed for their simple shapes and beautiful glazes. Ceramics in Song China is the first book to look beyond their creation and aesthetics to explore how they functioned in Chinese society in their own time, and beyond. Looking at connections between ceramics and daily life, it takes in geology and environmental impacts as well as the movement of ceramics throughout the expanding Song urban environment. It shows how some ceramics document otherwise forgotten lives and social practices while illuminating how the concerns of poets, scholars and officials are present in others. Concluding with a survey of Song ceramics in the collections of Chinese emperors, Japanese temples, European royalty and English writers, this book presents a new account of how one of the world’s greatest ceramic productions touched every Song life and went on to intrigue generations of admirers across the world.

“This book is here to remind long-time movie fans why these important 20th-century icons will forever remain the Fabulous Faces of our time.”
— The Eye of Photography

“Enigmatic, dazzling and fabulous: the faces of Hollywood’s golden age.” — The Times

“A new book pulls together glamorous portraits of film stars from the 1920s to the 60s who could draw an audience with their name alone.”
— The Guardian

“Intense close-ups, staged embraces and smouldering, emotive glances exude star power in this fitting tribute to a bygone age.”
“Star quality emanates from every page.”— The Lady Magazine

Fabulous Faces of Classic Hollywood brings together some of the greatest portraits taken by leading Hollywood portrait photographers during the motion picture industry’s golden years of 1920 to 1960. Little-seen negatives, long buried in the remarkable and internationally renowned archives of the John Kobal Foundation, have been unearthed and printed to reveal some of Hollywood’s favorite stars at the height of their careers. Full-page images of Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, as well as lesser lights including Anna May Wong, Lon Chaney, Lupe Velez and Ramon Novarro, will remind long-time movie fans why these important 20th-century icons will forever remain the fabulous faces of the movie world.

Selected by best-selling author Robert Dance and writer and award-winning film producer Simon Crocker, over 200 photographs are presented alongside an essay by Dance, describing what it takes to become a fabulous face and an international icon.

Bonnard drew on the Japanese printmakers, especially Hiroshige, to convey the essence of Paris not through its monuments or vistas, but with scenes of bustling daily life observed from idiosyncratic angles. But unlike the Japanese artists, he worked with a painterly sense of texture and color that remains as astonishing today as when it was first published. This is one of the three hugely original portfolios of etchings brought out in 1899 by the great dealer Ambroise Vollard, and printed by the master craftsman Auguste Clot. The other two are by Édouard Vuillard and Maurice Denis, and all three are being published simultaneously by Pallas Athene.