Carvings, masks, reliefs Books
Liverpool University Press Public Sculpture of Edinburgh (Volume 2): The New
Book SynopsisThis book is the companion to Public Sculpture of Edinburgh, volume 1, ‘The Old Town and South Edinburgh’, extending the coverage to the First New Town and its environs, and beyond that to the former independent burgh of Leith. It provides a comprehensive and detailed account of the entire spectrum of public sculptures to be found in these parts of the city, including free-standing commemorative monuments, architectural carvings, and contemporary site-specific interventions. Based on extensive new research, the text is structured as a catalogue raisonné, with each entry comprising a detailed description of the work, an account of how it came to be commissioned, and an analysis of its cultural significance. There are also separate appendices dealing with important works that have been lost or destroyed, minor works and sculptural coats of arms. The study of public sculpture is now recognised as offering a range of new insights into the development of the urban realm. Those insights are brought together here to provide a comprehensive resource for historians, architects, urban planners and conservators, and a narrative history that will be of interest to all who care about Edinburgh, and wish to celebrate its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Trade Review‘The Depth of detail, the lavish use of black and white photographs and the helpful indices and artists’ biographies are exemplary... These two handsome volumes will be key reference works for years to come but they are also of great interest to the public.’ Fiona Pearson, Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History'These lovely books are all that anyone could ask for, and more. [...] Overall, Public Sculpture of Edinburgh is a remarkable achievement and a superb testament to the vitality of this great city and its public art.' William S. Rodner, SCOTIA: Interdisciplinary Journal of Scottish Studies
£27.50
Oxbow Books Landscapes of Ritual Performance in Eastern North
Book SynopsisIn the long history of documenting the material culture of the archaeological record, meaning and actions of makers and users of these items is often overlooked. The authors in this book focus on rituals exploring the natural and made landscape stages, the ritual directors, including their progression from shaman to priesthood, and meaning of the rites. They also provide comments on the end or failure of rites and cults from Paleoindian into post-DeSoto years.Chapters examine the archaeological records of Cahokia, the lower Ohio Valley, Aztalan Wisconsin, Vermont, Florida, and Georgia, and others scan the Eastern US, investigating tobacco/datura, colour symbolism, deer symbolism, mound stratigraphy, flintknapping, stone caching, cults and their organisation, and red ochre. These authors collectively query the beliefs that can be gleaned from mortuary practices and their variation, from mound construction, from imagery, from the choice of landscape setting. While some rituals were short-lived, others can be shown to span millennia as the ritual specialists modified their interpretations and introduced innovations.Table of ContentsList of contributors 1 The Ritual Complex Cheryl Claassen Part 1: Cults and Rituals 2 The Old Fire-Deer Spirits cult in the Archaic Period of eastern North America Cheryl Claassen 3 Priestesses and priests, temples and goddesses: structuring and centering ritual in early Cahokian religious landscapes Thomas E. Emerson 4 Continuity, resilience, and transformation in Choctaw ritual practice David H. Dye 5 Places of stone and skill: an exploration of Paleoindian and Early Archaic rituals and ritual practitioners in northeastern North America Francis “Jess” Robinson 6 Watchfires above the wetwoods: late Middle Archaic mortuary ritual and landscape in the Falls of the Ohio region Anne Tobbe Bader 7 Persons of the Directions: ontology and ethics meet cosmology in understanding the world views and rituals of Adena, Hopewell, and Postcontact eastern Woodland Indian societies Christopher Carr 8 Set, setting, and sacra: eastern North America’s tobacco shamans and the New World narcotic complex Bobi Deere 9 Figured practices: the material heritage of ritual in the Great Lakes region William Fox and Neal Ferris Part 2: Landscape, Shrines, and Pilgrimage 10 Portals through the spirit world: precontact ceremonial cave use in the American Southeast Jan F. Simek, Beau Duke Carroll, and Alan Cressler 11 Rituals of stone: Native American use of stone in the southeastern US James R. Wettstaed and Johannes H. N. Loubser 12 Revisiting Aztalan: looking at ritual from several perspectives Lynne Goldstein, Sissel Schroeder, and Donald Gaff 13 Sacred journeys in the greater Cahokia region B. Jacob Skousen 14 Paths of the lightning arrow: the Apalachee ballgame and the persistence of landscapes Jesse C. Nowak and Charles T. Rainville
£40.50
Archaeopress Carving Interactions: Rock Art in the Nomadic
Book SynopsisThe Safaitic rock art of the North Arabian basalt desert is a unique and understudied material, one of the few surviving traces of the elusive herding societies that inhabited this region in antiquity. Yet little is known about this rock art and its role in the desert societies. Why did these peoples make carvings in the desert and what was the significance of this cultural practice? What can the rock art tell us about the relationship between the nomads and their desert landscape? This book investigates these questions through a comprehensive study of over 4500 petroglyphs from the Jebel Qurma region of the Black Desert in north-eastern Jordan. It explores the content of the rock art, how it was produced and consumed by its makers and audience, and its relationship with the landscape. This is the first-ever systematic study of the Safaitic petroglyphs from the Black Desert and it is unique for the study of Arabian rock art. It demonstrates the value of a material approach to rock art and the unique insights that rock art can provide into the relationship between nomadic herders and the wild and domestic landscape.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The Jebel Qurma landscape Chapter 3 Investigating content, production, and consumption Chapter 4 Desert images Chapter 5 Traces of production and consumption Chapter 6 Places of production and consumption Chapter 7 Images and interactions Bibliography Appendix A Terms and definitions Appendix B Sigla and references for Safaitic inscriptions Appendix C Identification manual for Safaitic rock art Appendix D List of sites with Safaitic carvings
£42.75
Bonnier Books Ltd Sugar Skulls
Book SynopsisGet ready to discover the rich and vibrant traditions of Mexico! Unleash your creativity and explore the enchanting art, customs and recipes that accompany festivities like Día de Muertos, while learning all about the wondrous art of sugar skulls. Then, get imaginative with the decorative scratch art pages by transforming the black and white line art into colourful creations.Everything you need is here, including a special scratch pen and lots of tips and tricks for creating stunning, personalised works of art.
£9.89
Pallas Athene Publishers Thenot and Colinet: by Virgil
Book SynopsisBlake's only wood engravings, made near the end of his life for a school edition of Virgil, are among his most lyrical and enduringly influential creations. This is their first publication as a stand-alone book, with the original text of Ambrose Philips' version of the first Eclogue of Virgil. Trade ReviewVisions of little dells, and nooks, and corners of Paradise; models of the exquisitest intense pitch of poetry - Samuel Palmer
£9.49
Ashmolean Museum Manju: Netsuke from the Collection of the
Book SynopsisManju netsuke have never been the subject of a book on netsuke. Many books ignore them completely and it is hoped that this catalogue will throw light on the differences between the manju and other better-known types of netsuke. Dr. Barnett was one of a handful of collectors of one particular type of netsuke, the manju. These were not widely appreciated until about ten years ago when interest began to increase and the exquisite workmanship and design of this group of carvers was noticed as an art in its own right and one which presents the artist with a challenge completely different from the more popular katabori netsuke, carved in the round. Dr. Barnett continued to collect until just before her death in 2000, by which time she had acquired some of the finest pieces to be sold over 30 years which will be presented in this book. Manju netsuke have played a small part in the many publications on netsuke, but there has never been a catalogue entirely devoted to the subject. The book aims to provide a description of each object and to explain the tales they illustrate and the sources of these tales, from literature and printed picture books. The range of subjects is wide and includes religious images, scenes from festivals, the theatre, historical incidents, folktales, classical literature and themes from nature. An introduction will include an essay on the history, uses and the collecting of manju in which the techniques of carving will be described and materials will be discussed. Artists biographies, a glossary and bibliography will be included. The catalogue will accompany an exhibition of many of the pieces in this collection alongside woodblock prints from the Ashmolean Museum's collection which illustrate the same legends and subjects. This will take place in the Eastern Art Paintings Gallery.
£28.00
The Crowood Press Ltd Stickmaking
Book SynopsisComparatively easily mastered and needing few expensive tools or materials, stickmaking is an increasingly popular craft. Topics covered include: tools and techniques; different types of sticks; materials both traditional and new; the microwave in hornwork; fancy sticks; miniature sticks and jointing and finishing. Highly illustrated with colour photographs and line drawings Stickmaking is a fully comprehensive guide to this fascinating craft. AUTHOR: Leo Gowan is a founder member and former chairman of the British Stickmakers' Guild, and a founder member of the Northern Stickmakers. He frequently gives lectures and demonstrations, is an experienced judge at stick competitions and is a regular contributor to stickmaking magazines. Colour throughout
£12.34
Llanerch Press Ancient Stone Crosses of England
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£9.90
University of Hertfordshire Press Jack's Fold: An Installation at the Margaret
Book SynopsisAn exhibition catalogue of an installation by Andy Goldsworthy at the Margaret Harvey Gallery, St Albans.
£6.80
Ashmolean Museum In Praise of Hands: Woodcuts by Naoko Matsubara -
Book SynopsisThis creative collaboration between artist Naoko Matsubara and poet Penny Boxall celebrates in words and colours the beauty and variety of the human hand. The series of dynamic woodcuts at the heart of this book was initially inspired by the artist’s wonder at the busy hand movements of her baby son and grew into a wider celebration of hands in all their extraordinary variety – hands engaged in music, sport, prayer, or creative acts. The woodcuts convey a sense of joy and energy, whether exploring the symbolism of gestures, playing with form and colour, or expressing a mood or emotion. Penny Boxall’s new poems were specially written to accompany the woodcuts. In their clarity and playfulness, their range of mood and their deceptive simplicity, they form a remarkable creative synergy with the art works. During the coronavirus pandemic the subject of hands – and the idea of touch or its absence – has taken on a new significance. Many of the images in the series have taken on powerful new meanings: healing hands, hands finding ways to occupy hours of furlough, or hands clapping in support of those working to keep us safe. We are particularly delighted that this elegant book has been designed by Yoshiki Waterhouse, Naoko Matsubara’s son, whose baby hands were the original inspiration for the series.
£9.45
Paul Holberton Publishing Ltd Elijah Pierce's America
Book SynopsisElijah Pierce (1892–1984) was born the youngest son of a former slave on a Mississippi farm. He began carving at an early age when his father gave him his first pocketknife. Pierce became known for his wood carvings nationally and then internationally for the first time in the 1970s. Accompanying a major exhibition at the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, this publication seeks to revisit the art of Elijah Pierce and see it in its own right, not simply as ‘naive’. Elijah Pierce made his living as a barber; he was also a qualified preacher. Just as his barber shop was a place for gossip and meeting, so his art reflects his own and his community's concerns, but also universal themes. Through his carvings Pierce told his own life story and chronicled the African-American experience. His subjects ranged from politics to religious stories but he seldom distinguished the race of his figures – he thought of them as everyman. His secular carvings show his love of baseball, boxing, comics and the movies, and also reflect his appreciation for American heroes who fought for justice and liberty. In 1932, Pierce completed ‘the Book of Wood’, which he considered his best work. Originally carved as individual scenes, the completed ‘Book’ tells the story of Jesus carved in bas-relief. He and his wife Cornelia held “sacred art demonstrations” to explain the meaning of the Book of Wood. Pierce’s work was first appreciated in the art world thanks to a fellow sculptor, Boris Gruenwald, who saw the expressive power of his work. As a later critic wrote, “There are 500 woodcarvers working today in the United States who are technically as proficient as Pierce, but none can equal the power of Pierce’s personal vision”. Pierce became known primarily in circles promoting ‘naive’ art, winning first prize at the International Meeting of Naive Art in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, in 1973. The vast majority of his work is now held in Columbus, Ohio, which had become his home town. This book revisits Pierce’s art seeking to see it in its own right, and not simply as ‘naive’. Another critic wrote: “He reduces what he wants to say to the simplest forms and compositions. They are decorative, direct, bold and amusing. He uses glitter and all kinds of devices to make his message clear. It gives his work an immediacy that’s very appealing” – an appeal arising from a sophisticated art with its own particular voice.Trade Review…places his intricate, expressive, highly skilled, painted-wood reliefs and sculptures firmly within the social, cultural and political times in which the artist lived and worked. * Art Quarterly *...a long-lasting historical document in the form of a beautifully designed comprehensive catalog. * Folk Art Messenger 06/05/2021 *
£36.00
Brepols N.V. Raising the Dead: Early Medieval Names Stones in
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£123.04
Bohlau Verlag Nürnbergs Glanz: Studien zu Architektur und
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£85.40
Hatje Cantz Annette Kierulf, Caroline Kierulf: To Make a
Book SynopsisSince the mid-1990s, Annette and Caroline Kierulf have practiced what they themselves call “woodcut as cultural critique”. Drawing on the medium's rich history as a means of communication and protest, the Norwegian artists strive to revive woodcut as a discursive tool. With subtle humor, the sisters use the visual reductiveness of the low-tech medium to critically reflect on the social, economic, and cultural changes shaping our high-tech societies. Incorporating references to pop culture and folk art, Caroline Kierulf's work explores the often overlooked aspects of everyday life, Annette Kierulf focuses on a feminist reinterpretation of the landscape genre. The publication provides insights into the artists' production and working methods, as well as their longstanding collaboration.
£35.20
DruckVerlag Kettler Ernst Barlach: Woodwork
Book SynopsisAs we mark the 150th anniversary of Barlach's birth in 2020, the Ernst Barlach Haus in Hamburg pays tribute to the artist with a comprehensive overview of his wood sculptures. Starting with its own collection, the museum elaborately documented all available figures between Lübeck and Zurich with new photographs. This book is the result of this monumental project. It introduces 72 of the 84 extant wood sculptures and includes many fascinating large-format colour plates presenting the statues and their details. Wood held particular importance for Barlach as an artistic material: he regarded it as animate matter. Consequently, woodwork takes centre stage in Barlach's artistic practice - a fact that is often obscured by the large number of mostly posthumous bronze casts of his works. Around 1907, Barlach began to explore the centuries-old medieval art of woodcarving without any prior training. The poor, the homeless, the struggling, invalids, beggars and outlaws: Barlach turned his attention to those pushed to the margins of society and paid tribute to them by placing them at the centre of his art. This book does justice to the reductive character of his forms, which gestures at simplification and a transcendence of time, by highlighting Barlach's contemporary relevance. Text in English and German.
£55.25
Sandstein Verlag Signal Zum Aufbruch!: 100 Jahre Grundung Der
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£42.75
Five Continents Editions Wooden Dreams: East African Headrests
Book SynopsisHeadrests are simple, utilitarian objects. Widely used across Africa, they are predominantly found in the eastern, central, and southern part of the continent. Also known as neckrests or pillows, headrests are valuable and very personal objects which are indispensable to everyday life. They are made to sleep on, to rest the neck, to sit on, and to protect the elaborate coiffure of their owners. At first sight, they appear to be devoid of any symbolic content. This functional utility has confined them through history to the realm of mere objects. Headrests are not that simple, though. They transcend their material purpose to become something more. In many instances, their design, inherent beauty, technical mastery, and uses give them a multi-purpose value and a multi-layered meaning. They are objects with ritual and magical intent concealed inside their utilitarian function. Headrests can be flaunted as status symbols that differentiate chiefs from ordinary people, rich from poor, diviners from healers, farmers from shepherds, and sedentary from nomadic. The volume features full-colour pictures of very rare and fine headrests that have never before been published. Short texts introduce selected pieces among the 230 works that have particularly interesting, well-documented backgrounds. This book is a journey through ethnicity, anthropology, aesthetics, creativity, tradition, and spirituality. A journey to a part of Africa that materialises through a simple artefact that sometimes dreams to become art: a dream that starts with resting the neck on a piece of wood.
£28.00
Five Continents Editions Headrests of Southern Africa: The architecture of
Book SynopsisHeadrests from Southern Africa - The architecture of sleep presents the subject of southern African headrests in a fascinating new light. The book, richly illustrated – often with in situ photographs, offers unique historical and personal information collected from many of the original owners and carvers of the headrests. So, for the first time African headrests are brought to life with detailed information and the stories of their creation, ownership, use and significance. The 438 headrests from the collections of Bruce Goodall from Cape Town and Frédéric Zimer from Paris are presented according to 3 geographical areas: KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo (where the Ntwane people live) and Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland). Since 2003, Goodall has made numerous field trips collecting, as well as interviewing and photographing the owners and carvers of headrests. In 2017, Goodall’s collection grew substantially with the purchase of a comprehensive collection of headrests from the Msinga area of KwaZulu-Natal. This collection had been assembled and meticulously documented by the late Anglican priest Clive Newman and his friend and assistant, Mavis Duma, between the late 1980s and the mid-2000s. The Zimer collection has been built up since the 1990s through his many travels in Africa, and his acquisitions from collectors and African art dealers around the world. This publication not only offers insight into the personal and historical dimensions of this important southern African tradition through the text written about the headrests and their owners by Bruce Goodall, but includes essays by Newman, Nel and Leibhammer and a text about collecting by Duma. Together these facilitate a penetrating understanding of these valued items as well as a respectful appreciation of the cultures and individuals who made and used them.Table of Contents7 Foreword Bruce Goodall 11 Preface Frédéric Zimer 13 Introduction Sandra Dodson 17 Zulu Headrests of the Msinga District in KwaZulu-Natal Clive Newman 23 Climbing Mountains and Crossing Rivers Mavis Duma 27 The Architecture of Sleep: The Significance of Headrests Karel Nel 41 From Generic to Specific: Locating Headrests in History Nessa Leibhammer 60 Map 63 The KwaZulu-Natal Region Bruce Goodall [65] Northern Msinga - Including Pomeroy [129] Southern Msinga - Including Muden [189] West of Msinga [253] Bergville and Surrounding Regions [281] Nongoma and Surrounding Regions [297] Early Collected Headrests 311 Eswatini and Outlying Areas Bruce Goodall 377 The Limpopo Region Bruce Goodall 430 Notes 432 Bibliography 434 Glossary 436 Biographies
£51.00
Stichting Kunstboek BVBA Art and the Sacred in Mumuyeland
Book SynopsisDespite some field research our knowledge of the sacred among the Mumuye is still embryonic. In all these acephalic groups of a binary and antinomic nature, the complex va constitutes an extremely varied semantic field in which certain aspects are accentuated depending on the circumstances. Religious power is linked to the strength contained in sacred objects, of which only the elders are the guardians. Moreover, this gerontocracy relies on a system of initiatory stages which one must pass to have access to the status of 'religious leader'. Geographically isolated, the Mumuye were able to resist the attacks of the Muslim invaders, the British colonial authority and the activities of the different Christian missions for a long time. As a result the Mumuye practised woodcarving until the beginning of our century. In 1970 Philip Fry published his essay on the statuary of the Mumuye of which the analysis of the endogenous network has so far lost nothing of its value. Basing himself on in situ observations, Jan Strybol attempted to analyse the exogenous network of this woodcarving. Thus he was able to document about forty figures and some masks and additionally to identify more than twenty-five Mumuye artists as well as a specific type of sculpture as being confined to the Mumuye Kpugbong group. During and after the Biafran war, hundreds of Mumuye sculptures were collected. Based on information gathered between 1970 and 1993 the author has demonstrated that a certain number of these works are not Mumuye but must be attributed to relic groups scattered in Mumuye territory.
£55.25
Speaking Tiger Publishing Private Limited The Nayika and Kama: She Takes Her Pleasure
Book SynopsisThe Nayika in her different moods animates ancient and medieval art, poetry and drama Her desire for physical union with the lover is as strong as her anguish due to separation from him. Her passion is both generous and intense; she knows how to give pleasure, and she knows how to take it.' In this lovely book, a celebrated scholar of Indian art, aesthetics and pre-modern sexuality presents a selection of images that show the Nayika?the ideal romantic heroine of classical Indian literature.
£16.14
Five Continents Editions Python Spirit on the Baga Coast: A Scientific and
Book SynopsisThis study of the wooden Serpent figures/headdresses of the Baga people of Guinea is a collaboration by the author, as an art historian, with many contributions from diverse perspectives, including scientists preeminent in their fields, Robert J. Koestler, Roy Sieber, Dennis William Stevenson, Mark T. Wypyski, and Peter J. Zanzucchi. The text begins with a thorough exploration of the ethnological and art historical evidence for the Serpent masquerade among the Baga of Guinea, bearing an immense wooden serpent figure on top of the head representing a python. Never witnessed or photographed by an outsider, it disappeared in the 1950s along with most ritual performance after an Islamic jihad instated strict prohibitions against indigenous religions. The ritual context is followed by an in-depth analysis of the Serpent masquerade figures now extant in collections in Europe, the Americas, and Africa, as well as other representations of the python in the ritual art of the region. The final sections present the arguments, as a debate, between interested persons in the arts, including art historians, dealers, appraisers, collectors, and curators, and the scientific examinations by specialists in botany, chemistry, physics, entomology, and conservation concerning one particular Serpent figure in question.
£52.50
Five Continents Editions Souls: Masks from Leinuo Zhang African Art
Book SynopsisThe masks in this book, all presented by two or more images, are accompanied by brief commentaries that offer readers — be they scholars or enthusiasts — an insight into these veritable masterpieces of African art, which in most cases boast an exceptional pedigree, having been included in the most important international collections of extra-European art. Even though the works with which Zhang has chosen to surround himself are not all extra-European, as Marco Riccòmini explains in his introduction, offering a broader framework for the interpretation of Zhang’s esthetic choices, we have chosen to devote this elegant and carefully crafted publication to a specific aspect of African material culture. Text in English and French.
£28.00
