“His is a warm, charming page turner of an autobiography: from start to finish full of fascinating characters, incredible and amusing anecdotes, self-effacing humour and wry asides, beautifully detailed observations and, of course, stuffed with great nuggets of jewellery and art history.” — The Jeweller Magazine
“In this dazzling memoir revealing his encounters with royal and celebrity clients including the Queen Mother, Sir Elton John, Dame Joanna Lumley and Frank Sinatra, Antiques Roadshow presenter and jewellery expert Geoffrey Munn reflects on his stellar career, having spent more than five decades bejewelling some of the biggest names in the world.” — Hello!
“In this colourful and witty narrative, Geoffrey Munn, OBE, MVO, FSA, FLS, best known as a presenter on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, reflects on his career in the London art world, spanning over 50 years.” — Arts & Collections magazine
“Discover delightful anecdotes from Fabergé expert Geoffrey Munn’s time at Wartski in 1970s London, featuring encounters with royalty, Hollywood icons, and the pursuit of Imperial Eggs.” — The Jewellery Editor
Born and bred in Sussex, Geoffrey Munn, Antiques Roadshow presenter and jewelry expert, came from a traditional rural background – but only weeks after leaving a country Grammar School in 1972, he was plunged into the vortex of the London art world. It was the beginning of the career of a lifetime at the famous firm of Wartski, whose showrooms scintillated with gem-set necklaces, tiaras and three of the famous Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs.
In a colourful and witty narrative, Geoffrey relates his daunting but delightful encounters with HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, HRH Princess Margaret and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. In their wake, Geoffrey met a rich variety of luminaries, including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Joanna Lumley, Stephen Fry, Elton John, Vivienne Westwood and Dame Edna Everage. This is certainly a rapid and amusing read but it is also unique study of a narrow and fast-changing society.
An ode to the Kingdom of Brittany that reveals the treasures and mysteries of the Western-most point of France. Overlooking the ocean with breathtaking natural settings, this vibrant region is celebrated in Best of Brittany. The particulars of the Breton lifestyle – sports, traditions, monuments, festivals, arts & crafts, agriculture, and gastronomy – all are included here.
Texts in English, French and Breton.
These pages tell the story without words of a journey through Spain in which the author, the photographer Fernando Manso, visited unknown and hidden corners and captured them on the plates of his large-format camera. From the remotest parts of Galicia to those of Almería, he passed through coasts, deserts and mountains, stopping at old churches, ghostly castles or majestic cathedrals, in forests and gorges, at natural pools and salt mines, and at cemeteries, Arab baths and hermitages carved out of the rock.
Fernando has made the light of these places into the leading figure of his journey. His is a different light, as he has relinquished blue skies and brilliant sunshine, often the stuff of clichés, to make way for visions of places that appear to us with such intimate truth that even if we know them, we can barely recognize them. This is thanks to his technique, his art and the patience with which he waits for the light.
Fernando’s luxury is being able to use all the time in the world to draw us into an artistic heritage that is sometimes secret and hard to reach, and which the viewer has to know how to see. He reveals these places, often in danger of disappearing, after detailed investigation. Both architecture and landscape – for he knows that natural scenery is also a major patrimony that has to be affectionately preserved and protected from speculation – belong to all of us, and we are responsible for their care. We must be aware of this.
The result of that trip is this publication, with beautiful images in reproductions of exceptional quality that present us with a vision of Spain in a different light.
This first volume of the catalogue raisonné of Joaquín Sorolla Bastida’s paintings includes 1,063 works, with their corresponding illustrated technical data sheets, which he produced between 1876 and 1894, when he created La vuelta de la pesca (The Return from Fishing). This painting encapsulates the vision of painting that was being awarded prizes at international exhibitions and for which the painter of the light is not so well known. However, it is exciting to see the process behind this series of paintings, which, as it matures, exudes technical and stylistic ease.
For this reason, the Sorolla we discover in this volume, new to many and broader than we thought, aims to continue to fascinate the public and open up new lines of research and study.
Although Vitis vinifera vines have been grown in the American southwest for nearly 400 years, its modern wine era only really began with the new pioneers of the 1960s and 1970s. All four states can boast growing wine industries, each with its own distinct identity. Although home to those first wine grapes, New Mexico may be the least experienced player, with a few major producers and many smaller, new arrivals. The Texas industry is bigger, more developed and more polished, with at least 350 wineries operating and plenty of room for growth. Arizona has perhaps made the most progress in the shortest time; some impressive growing conditions, educational initiatives, and a tight-knit band of producers have led to promising quality wines. Colorado, long known for its fruit orchards, is now home to vineyards too, with many producers also farming other fruit and creating wines from both.
Taking each state in turn, Jessica Dupuy guides us expertly through its history before presenting a thorough summary of its climate and geology, discussing the grapes grown, explaining the sub regions (AVAs), and appraising the challenges wine growers face. Influential and innovative producers are profiled, and each section concludes with ideas on where to visit, dine, and stay. Boxes throughout the text supply asides on historical, geographic, and cultural points of interest. For anybody interested in discovering a truly up-and-coming wine region this book makes for fascinating reading.
Amsterdam Castle Muiderslot is not just the oldest castle in the Netherlands. It is a magical place, surrounded by water and vegetation. The castle gardens feature lots of heritage varieties: vegetables, herbs, fruit, herbaceous plants and flowers (some of them edible). The produce from the gardens was for centuries used to prepare the exquisite meals at the castle. And the gardens still produce a rich harvest every year. Muiderslot is also part of the Amsterdam Defence Line, a World Heritage Site. The castle gardens are open daily, offering visitors the chance to enjoy this lush part of our heritage.
Tea was introduced to Britain in the 1650s. Its popularity burgeoned over the following two-and-a-half centuries, until it became a defining feature of British culture.
Drawing inspiration from China, British craftsmen worked to display their skills on numerous tea-related objects, which ritualised the process of drinking tea and imbued it with luxury status. Calling on an array of different materials and techniques, they developed a huge variety of canisters and lockable containers for storing and preserving this precious commodity.
Tea chests and caddies were not merely functional items that might lurk at the back of the kitchen – they were intended for display and were an essential accoutrement for fashionable women. As the habit of tea drinking filtered down the social scale, caddies were made in larger numbers and in more affordable forms.
This book brings together a great range of decorative antique tea containers, presenting them alongside detailed historical research conducted into their making and their place in British society across the centuries. It also explores the materials and techniques employed. With historical art showing tea’s integration into British society, examples of old trade cards and original designs, and a wealth of illustrations of the objects themselves, this is a must-buy book for historians, collectors and those interested in the decorative arts.
From rockers to ravers, The Illustrated Book of Songs is the book every music lover will want. In quick-witted style, Irish writer Colm Boyd navigates us through lists of classic songs for every occasion. Prepare yourself for fascinating facts, cool illustrations and withering commentary on songs presented in lists such as:
Songs about Getting Dumped
Songs about Prostitution
Songs about Environmental Matters
Songs about Being a Complete and Utter Asshole
Songs about Gender Identity
Alternative Christmas Songs
The Illustrated Book of Songs
features 70 lists, discussing hundreds of songs from different genres and artists – from Adele to Aretha, Jagger to Jarvis, Rufus to Rosalía. Many of the songs are well-known, others are a little more off-radar. Some have amazing musicality, some have lyrics – quite literally – worthy of a Nobel Prize. Some deal with death, others deal with zebras, one song deals with prostitute-frequenting chess players in Bangkok. You get the idea.
Each of the book’s lists is accompanied by a scannable Spotify code, allowing readers to use their smartphones to directly access the songs mentioned. So, time to get reading and get listening.
Check out the book’s website for more information: colmboyd.com/the-illustrated-book-of-songs.
In another of the exquisite Library on Display series of exhibitions, the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana has organized an original itinerary in medical literature and philosophical treatises, through finely illuminated manuscripts produced for illustrious patrons. The exhibition includes the Corpus Hippocraticum, with the De diaeta treatise, and Galen’s writings, but also Ficino’s translation of Plato’s Dialogues, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics as translated by John Argyropoulos and Epicurus famous Letter to Menoeceus. In the same way, the culinary suggestions in De re coquinaria by Apicius are accompanied by Seneca’s Letters to Lucilius and Plutarch’s precepts. There are a number of medieval works from the Arab tradition and texts that descend from the tradition of the famous Salerno medical school, Trotula’s Regulae medicinales (dedicated to women’s health and cosmetics), the Physica by Hildegard of Bingen, writings by physicians of the 13th and 14th centuries such as Aldobrandinus of Siena, Taddeo Alderotti (cited by Dante in the Divine Comedy) and Barnabas of Reggio. Encounters from the 15th century include Benedetto da Norcia, physician to Bianca Maria Visconti and Cosimo de Medici the Elder, and Bernardo Torni, physician to future pope Leo X, Giovanni de Medici. A special chapter is dedicated to writings about the bubonic plague, in particular Consilio contro la pestilentia, written by Marsilio Ficino in response to the epidemic that raged in Florence between 1478 and 1479. The neo-Platonic philosopher, in his capacity as a physician following in the family tradition, also wrote De triplici vita, the reference for all successive literature about the melancholy temperament of the saturnine intellect. The exploration ends in the 16th century with the amiable advice offered by Luigi Cornaro, Venetian gentleman and patron of the arts, in his Discorsi della vita sobria.
Focusing on Calouste Gulbenkian’s determination to preserve his cherished art collection intact after his death, this book tells the story of the creation of the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. It begins with the efforts of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, founded in 1956, to reunite an exceptional art collection then dispersed between Paris, Washington D.C. and London. The book examines the legal, diplomatic and practical measures that made this mission possible and follows the planning of a museum shaped by the most advanced museological thinking of the 1950s and 1960s, whereby the artworks themselves guided decisions across architecture, exhibition design and museography. It also highlights the key roles played by the first generation of Portuguese women curators and international consultants, from cataloguing the works to trial exhibitions and final installation. Ultimately, the volume shows how the Foundation interpreted and translated Gulbenkian’s taste and character into museum form, resulting in a unique and enduring institution.
The Inside series focuses on the mission and organization of an institution rather than the collections within it – the context in which it operates and the people who make it work. It tells the story of how an institution has evolved through its people, history, architecture, purpose and practice.
From wild parrots in the streets of Tokyo to prize pigeons outside New York, this book brings together the world’s best contemporary photography of birds and asks us to look anew at these mysterious winged creatures in all their complexity and majesty.
Featured photographers: Frankie Alduino, Barbara Bosworth, Xavi Bou, Giacomo Brunelli, Robert Clark, Tim Flach, Andrew Garn, Mark Harvey, Leila Jeffreys, Simen Johan, Tracy Johnson, Katerina Kaloudi, Sanna Kannisto, Tom Leighton, Neeta Madahar, Dillon Marsh, Joseph McGlennon, Yoshinori Mizutani, Yola Monakhov, Carla Rhodes, Pentti Sammallahti, Joel Sartore, Aniruddha Satam, Søren Solkær, Tamara Staples, Luke Stephenson, Julia Tatarchenko and Janice Tieken.
Indian art is deeply inspired by philosophical and religious thought. In this original and extensively researched work, the author explores the history of the Pushti Marg community. She explains the spiritual beliefs as laid down by the saint and founder Shri Vallabhacharya, which inspired the art that was created for use in the religious practices of the Vallabha Sampradaya.
This book first delves into the core of Pushti Marg — Vallabhacharya’s philosophy and theology of Shrinathji (a form of Krishna); secondly, it explores how his system of beliefs was expressed in an organized religion and rituals that resulted in the production of sacred objects, mainly paintings, pichvais and shrine textiles. Finally it discusses the influence of Pushti Marg on the social and cultural aspects that carried these traditions forward. While doing so, the book showcases many rare paintings and textiles created for the personal and public shrines of the faith. The book reveals the provenance of the most important pre-Mughal manuscript, Palam Dispersed Bhagavad Puran, and that of Golden and Kalamkari pichvais. The fact that many of the beautiful artefacts, depicting aspects of the worship of Shrinathji, were created by Muslim artisans is a remarkable example of the syncretic culture of India.
The author has analyzed the influence of the Vallabha Sampradaya on Indian paintings in minute detail. As a member of a family that has devotedly followed the tenets of Pushti Marg across many generations, she is uniquely placed to offer an insider’s view of its philosophy, an in-depth understanding of its practices, and a museologist’s perspective on the exquisite artefacts inspired by this faith, which are now displayed in collections worldwide.
This delightful manuscript, published in facsimile, was composed around 1585 by a clergyman in a bid for the patronage of an Elizabethan magnate, Sir John Petre. Modeled on printed writing books, German and French, it presents a profusion of scripts, accompanying decorated capital letters from A to Z. Its texts are eloquent on the value of learning. All is transcribed in print and, when needed, translated, including poems in English and Latin in which Amos Lewis, the creator, presses his case, reinforced by colorful Petre heraldry. The commentary unravels the Alphabet Book’s precursors and analyzes its ingredients, including a lively range of ornament. The first writing book published in London, in 1570, was by a Frenchman, Jean de Beau Chesne. Lewis’s manuscript is the first attempt at an original writing book by an Englishman. This signal rarity, virtually unknown hitherto, is a window into handwriting and education in the age of Shakespeare.
The ethnographic literature of the 20th century focused mainly on the sculptural traditions of the numerous ethnic groups that populated Southern Nigeria while the more northern areas remained largely terra incognita. In 2013 Jan Strybol published a study on the sculpture of Northern Nigeria. He pointed out that in many parts of this region there are people who still had, at least until recently, their own sculptural tradition. In this study the author restricted himself to what is referred to as the Middle Belt and especially to the part between the Bauchi Plateau, the Gongola River and the Katsina Ala River. In 1974 Roy Sieber pointed out that, with a few exceptions, the people who were members of the Niger-Congo language family laid the foundations for the great African sculptural traditions south of the Sahara. However, the largest group of iconophile peoples in the Central Middle Belt of Nigeria is to be found in the Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family.
In this book of objects from private collections the author shows the great variety of the sculptures of the Middle Belt. This study mainly deals with wooden figures but also contains four wooden masks and three bronzes.
Text in English and French.
The Razmnama or The Book of War is the Persian translation of one of the great Hindu epics of India, the Mahabharata. The Mughal emperor Akbar took a personal interest in the translation project and a lavishly illustrated copy was prepared for his personal use. Out of the three copies made, the three-volume Razmnama in the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata is the only copy that is complete with 81 miniatures that bear the name of the scribe and the date of completion, 1605. The paintings combine the finest elements of the Mughal court style with the narrative style of storytelling.
Sought after for his colorful coat, Rajah may be possessed of immense strength, but he is impetuous and careless. He often has to be saved from this scourge by resourceful and brave humbler members of the jungle, such as the squirrel Lil Squi and the jungle mouse Chuhi. They are joined by Hathi, Loombar, Magar and others. Written lyrically with beautiful illustrations, Rajah: King of the Jungle is a unique contribution to children’s literature. Intended to be read out to younger children, these delectable tales can also be enjoyed by parents and teachers. For older children, the poetic prose is a source of inspiration.
Royal Tombs of India, the first book of its kind on the Islamic royal tombs of India, focuses on the Tughluq and Lodi tombs, Qutb Shahi tombs and Mughal tombs (Humayun, Akbar, Aurangzeb, Jahangir and Nur Jahan, Bibi-ka-Maqbara, and the Taj Mahal). It also discusses the controversy surrounding the location of Babur’s tomb. The tombs are described in the broader historical and architectural context of the reign of Tughluq, Lodi, Qutb Shahi and Mughal dynasties. It traces the history of royal tombs, from the ancient Egyptian pyramids, the Greek/Roman mausoleums and the Chinese royal tombs to the Islamic tombs of Central Asia, Pakistan and India. It also analyses the different characteristics of pre-Mughal and Mughal architecture and how it was influenced by Persian and Indian architecture. The royal tombs of pre-Mughal sultans (Slave, Khalji and Tughluq), Qutb Shahi kings and Mughal emperors are also discussed.
The first to describe in detail a community of potters working for the Jagannatha Temple in Puri, eastern India, Temple Potters of Puri explores the role of the temple servant and how it affects the potters’ understanding of their work and of themselves. As a pilgrimage center of national importance, supported by the patronage of successive regional dynasties and by fervent popular belief, the Jagannatha Temple requires earthenware in great quantities for the creation and distribution of the sacred food that is an integral feature of daily ritual and pilgrimage. Several hundred potters participate as temple servants in maintaining the temple’s ritual cycle by performing their divinely assigned task. This study observes the potters’ technical prowess, sustained by devotion, but also examines the tensions within their relationships to more powerful temple servants and authorities. The role of the potter as temple servant is at once glorious, as demonstrated by texts and personal interpretations of the potters’ divinely-appointed service, and pathetic, as shown in the brutality of caste-based hierarchy and cash-based exchange penetrating the modern temple’s daily operations. The accompanying DVD shows the potters at work and records their skills and products as well as the annual festival that celebrates their role as temple servants.
Treasures of the Albert Hall Museum, Jaipur catalogues a selection of the marvelous artworks on display at Albert Hall, Jaipur. Envisioned by Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II of Jaipur and executed by his successor Sawai Madhao Rao Singh II, to preserve the heritage of local arts and crafts, it was designed and built in 1897 by Thomas Holbein Hendley. The 19,000 artworks of the museum include pottery, stonework, woodwork, arms and armour, sculpture, jewelry, musical instruments, coins and seals, carpets and miniature paintings. Some of the best artworks and architectural features of the museum are produced in this book along with concise text.
Science and Art are both manifestations of beauty and creativity. As mankind has evolved and as science has progressed, artistic creations by humans have become more abstract-like mathematics, which is the abstraction of all sciences. The authors of this unusual work postulate some critical ideas on science, art and aesthetics, and establish that we need both, a scientific temper and the temper of art.
The eight theses that relate to science and art, and their rationale presented in this book are a culmination of observations, conversations, readings, ideas exchanged, and thoughts that span a journey of six decades. The accompanying DVD is a reproduction of two shows held in Hyderabad of MF Husain’s 25 paintings on some of the most important events of the last century with their description as written by Bhargava. The CD records the music Susumo Ohno, an American geneticist, created by converting the language of DNA into the language of music.
Threads of Time is a journey around the world through the medium of textiles. In many communities, cultural heritage and traditions have been handed down through generations by textile artisans. Their beliefs, history, ceremonies, and traditions have been woven into cloth with meaning and purpose sometimes lasting thousands of years. Textiles are special in that they can create narratives that are personal as well as eminently portable.
The pages of Threads of Time illustrate exquisite textiles with location photography, from historical examples of centuries past to extraordinary contemporary expressions, revealing a continuum of inspiration and beauty. The 16 chapters, covering regions from across the globe, feature contributions from local textile makers and experts, bringing together over 30 voices to tell stories of cloth.
Locations explored include: Indonesia, China, Vietnam and Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, Bhutan, Nagaland, Punjab, Egypt and Palestine, The Caucasus, Turkey, Madagascar, Tunisia, Ghana, Peru and Guatemala, Navajo Nation.
Jan Morris’s only artwork – a two meter long panorama of Venice drawn in 1966, published to mark Jan Morris’s centenary. Printed full size as a fold out facsimile, limited edition.
Jan Morris (1926-2020) was one of the great writers, travelers, journalists and historians of the 20th century, perhaps best known for Venice, Pax Britannica and Conundrum.
Visions of Paradise: American Wilderness is a singular, timeless publication — a photographic tour de force celebrating the extraordinary majesty and rich legacy of America’s wild places, as seen through the eyes of one of the country’s foremost wilderness photographers, Jon Ortner, and conveyed through the transcendent medium of black-and-white film. Ortner has always been fascinated with the natural world, particularly as an avid hiker in the American wilderness. This luxurious book collects in a large format his inspiring landscape images, forming a passionate tribute to the American wilderness. In this sensational portfolio of 200 black-and-white images, Ortner has rediscovered and reinterpreted the compelling beauty of many of his most cherished wilderness locations with remarkable portrayals of their sublime, dramatic, tranquil, and transcendent aspects. Join Ortner as he guides us through his visions of paradise.
Signed, numbered special edition, slip cased, with signed landscape print (measuring 28 x 23 mm), and limited to 200 copies.
Tracing human interactions with the world’s most famous tropical timber species, The Social Life of Teak maps worlds revolving around teak forests, trees and wood.
What gives Tectona grandis such a powerful aura, stoking desires and capturing imaginations? How has teak shaped people’s lives, driving fortunes and impacting futures? What has happened to the teak forests and what is their destiny?
In this illustrated anthology of oral histories, people connected personally or professionally to teak speak of survival, change and learning, creativity and destruction, growth and demise. Woven together, these experiences bring to light the ways that teak has been sought, crafted, cultivated, traded and prized over time.
Animist beliefs, creative expression, scientific invention, economic viability, imperialist expansion, peak luxury, violent repression, ecological disaster and the regenerative power of nature all find a home in this global intergenerational tale.
Charting the domestication of wilderness and exposing the era of extinction of a feted natural resource, this book seeks to stimulate conversations about our role as nature’s most troublesome offspring.