Le maioliche della collezione D. Serra

s.a.
Edizioni Monumenta Bergomensia

Emilio Vitta Zelman
Edizioni Electa

L. Camusso, S. Bortone
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore

Dario Valcarenghi
Electa

I tappeti kilim sono l'espressione di una tradizione nata tra le donne dell'Anatolia circa novemila anni fa e trasmessa di madre in figlia per centinaia di generazioni. Al di là dell'aspetto tecnico, questi preziosi manufatti rappresentano una testimonianza culturale ricca di fascino e di mistero: il significato delle complesse simbologie racchiuse nei disegni dell'intreccio è ancora in buona parte da decifrare, e implica una lunga ricerca delle loro radici filosofiche, religiose, persino alchemiche. Questo volume presenta 160 preziosissimi esemplari di kilim.

Volkmar Gantzhorn
Taschen

In this volume, two and a half thousand years are presented and analysed, The author's research has resulted in completely new insights and relationships -- a revision of the history of the oriental carpet. He has been able to trace the pattern back to Phrygian and other traditions, which were carried on by the Armenians up to the beginning of our own century: carpets as symbols of power, as deeply religious abstract textile icons. The oriental carpet is neither of nomadic origin, nor does its origin lie in central Asia; it is a product of ancient oriental civilisations in the Armenian uplands at the crossroads of the oldest trade routes between west, north and south. The author's assertion is supported by the visual material he presents. For the first time coloured illustrations of the most important and most splendid examples of every type of carpet have been included. The illustrations include book illumination, paintings, arts and crafts and details of architecture and clarify developments hitherto unrecognised. This work documents what is probably Armenia's main contribution to world history. It is a must for any connoisseur of carpets and for anyone who does not wish merely to dream of the Orient. Volkmar Gantzhorn has specialised in Christian and Islamic art in recent years. His continuing research is concerned with surface ornamentation in book illumination, architecture, ceramics and arts and crafts in general. --jacket.

Yanni Petsopoulos
Alexandria Press Ltd

Bérénice Geoffroy-Schneiter
Skira Editore

The ultimate reference book on the ethnic jewellery of Asian peoples. A comprehensive picture of jewellery beginning with prehistory and continuing into the 20th century with the works of contemporary designers. Ivory, beads, leather, shells, enamel work, precious metals, and stones, alone or in combination, are all illustrated throughout. Pieces chosen for their exceptional quality and historical importance, through wonderfully composed photographs, come to life here. It is rare for jewellery to have a solely aesthetic purpose, for above all it is anchored in the social, religious and political contexts that lend it meaning. Differing attitudes are explained by the function assigned to jewellery in the traditional societies from which the examples in the book are drawn.

Maurizio Fusi
Rima Editrice

Sammlung Cremer
Arnoldsche

The Cremer Collection covers a wide geographical span from Armenia to Finland and Morocco in the west and from Iran to Tibet in the east. Most are knotted pile products whose history dates beyond the great traditions of carpet design, going back several thousand years. The collection is a result of the discerning eve of an accomplished artist who has purposely limited his collection to 99 pieces so that the inner coherence of the collection does not "burst its banks". The genuine and great collectors are distinguished by the fact that they are able to seek out just those things which could be their own children from among the immense variety that is offered.

s.a.
s.e.

Francesca Cortesi Bosco
Credito Bergamasco

Enza Cilia Platamone
Skira Editore