Author: Caroline Dakers Publisher: UCL Press ISBN: 1787350452 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 430
Book Description
Fonthill, in Wiltshire, is traditionally associated with the writer and collector William Beckford who built his Gothic fantasy house called Fonthill Abbey at the end of the eighteenth century. The collapse of the Abbey’s tower in 1825 transformed the name Fonthill into a symbol for overarching ambition and folly, a sublime ruin. Fonthill is, however, much more than the story of one man’s excesses. Beckford’s Abbey is only one of several important houses to be built on the estate since the early sixteenth century, all of them eventually consumed by fire or deliberately demolished, and all of them oddly forgotten by historians. Little now remains: a tower, a stable block, a kitchen range, some dressed stone, an indentation in a field. Fonthill Recovered draws on histories of art and architecture, politics and economics to explore the rich cultural history of this famous Wiltshire estate. The first half of the book traces the occupation of Fonthill from the Bronze Age to the twenty-first century. Some of the owners surpassed Beckford in terms of their wealth, their collections, their political power and even, in one case, their sexual misdemeanours. They include Charles I’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the richest commoner in the nineteenth century. The second half of the book consists of essays on specific topics, filling out such crucial areas as the complex history of the designed landscape, the sources of the Beckfords’ wealth and their collections, and one essay that features the most recent appearance of the Abbey in a video game.
Author: Christopher S. Lightfoot Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art ISBN: 0300208774 Category : Antiques & Collectibles Languages : en Pages : 164
Book Description
Among glass craftsman active in the 1st century A.D., the most famous and gifted was Ennion, who hailed from the coastal city of Sidon in modern Lebanon. Ennion’s glass stood out for its quality and popularity. His products are distinguished by the fine detail and precision of their relief decoration, which imitates designs found on contemporaneous silverware. This compact, but thorough volume examines the most innovative and elegant known examples of Roman mold-blown glass, providing a uniquely comprehensive, up-to-date study of these exceptional works. Included are some twenty-six remarkably preserved examples of drinking cups, bowls, and jugs signed by Ennion himself, as well as fifteen additional vessels that were clearly influenced by him. The informative texts and illustrations effectively convey the lasting aesthetic appeal of Ennion’s vessels, and offer an accessible introduction to an ancient art form that reached its apogee in the early decades of the Roman Empire.
Author: Caroline Dakers Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 9780300081640 Category : Art Languages : en Pages : 328
Book Description
This book - the first major study of the Holland Park Circle of artists, architects, and their patrons - is both an engrossing narrative of their lives, works and influence and a perceptive analysis of the subtle relationships between high Victorian taste and mercantile values."--BOOK JACKET.
Author: Michael Carter (Historian) Publisher: ISBN: 9780712309783 Category : Architecture Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Over the course of the long 18th century (1700-1850), Britain's ruined medieval or "Gothic" abbeys, castles and towers became the objects of intense cultural interest. Turning their attention away from Classical to local and national sites of architectural ruin, antiquaries and topographers began to scrutinize and sketch, record and describe the material remains of the British past, an expression of interest in domestic antiquity that was shared by many contemporary painters, poets, writers, politicians and tourists. This new, highly illustrated book traces the ways in which a selection of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish ruins served as the objects of continuous cultural reflection between 1700 and 1850, drawing together essays on the antiquarian, poetic, visual, oral, fictional, dramatic, political, legal and touristic responses that they engendered. Thoroughly interdisciplinary in its approach, Writing Britain's Ruins provides an accessible and engaging account of the ways in which Britain's ruins inspired writers, artists and thinkers during a period of extraordinary cultural richness.
Author: 原田一敏 Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art ISBN: 1588393453 Category : Armor Languages : en Pages : 358
Book Description
"This extensively illustrated catalogue is published in conjunction with the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to the arts of the samurai, including the finest examples of swords - the spirit of the samurai - as well as sword mountings and fittings, armor and helmets, saddles, textiles, and paintings. The works in the catalogue, drawn from public and private collections in Japan, include 34 officially designated National Treasures and 64 Important Cultural Properties, the largest number ever to be shown together at one time. Dating from the 5th to the early 20th century, these majestic objects offer a complete picture of samurai culture and its unique blend of the martial and the refined." "Many of the greatest Japanese swordsmiths are represented in this volume, from early masters such as Yasuie (12th century) and Tomomitsu (14th century) to the Edo-period smiths Nagasone Kotetsu and Kiyomaro. The blades by these and other masters, cherished as much for their beauty as for their cutting efficiency, were equipped with elaborate hilts and scabbards prized for their exquisite craftsmanship and fine materials such as silk, rayskin, gold, lacquer, and certain alloys unique to Japan. Japanese armor is also fully surveyed, from the rarest iron armor of the Kofun period (5th century) to the inventive ceremonial helmets made toward the end of the age of the samurai." --Book Jacket.
Author: Richie Benaud Publisher: ISBN: 9780947334314 Category : Cricket Languages : en Pages : 160
Book Description
A who's who of the Australian cricket team, current world champions of one-day cricket, which includes full- and double-page colour photographs of the players in action. The chapters, written by former Australian cricket greats and prominent sports writers, narrate the highs and lows of each player's career.
Author: Caroline Dakers
Author: Christopher S. Lightfoot
Author: LORENZ E. A. EITNER
Author: Walter A. Liedtke
Author: Cosmo Innes
Author: Caroline Dakers
Author: Herbert A. Levine
Author: Michael Carter (Historian)
Author: 原田一敏
Author: Richie Benaud