Song Ceramics

By: Lu Yaw, Feng Xianming and Mary Tregear

Song Dynasty // Yuan Dynasty

marytregar.jpg
Well illustrated in color and a concise

This is an excellent reference book to get a fair understanding of all those Song and Yuan dynasty green wares.

It deals mostly with common Song dynasty export wares. Well illustrated in color and a concise summary of some very informed opinions. Some information is improved upon today but I still don’t want to be without this book.

Published by Southeast Asian Ceramic Society 1983 in a limited edition of 2000 copies, it might be a bit difficult to find but if you stumble over a copy I think you will find it useful. There are better books today but it still a good compliment or an OK beginning if you don’t want to goo too deep into the details.

ISBN 9971837269


CLASSIC – A bit dated but straightforward guide to typical South East Asian market Song and Yuan trade ceramics

March 27th, 2008

Dated Qingbai Wares
of the Song and Yuan Dynasties
By: Peng Shifan (ed.)

Song Dynasty // Yuan Dynasty

datedqingbai.jpg
Dated Qingbai Wares of the Song and Yuan Dynasties

A book on one hundred Qingbai pieces excavated in Jiangxi province, China, from dated or datable locations spanning from AD986 to 1348. If you are interested in Qingbai it doesn’t get more interesting then this. Interesting, modern and inexpensive. Text in English and Chinese. Hong Kong 1998. Paperback.

ISBN 962-7502-45-6

Region: China
Format: Paperback, 112 pages
Published: 1998, Hong Kong, 1st Edition
ISBN: 9627502456


March 26th, 2008

Yuan and Ming Blue and white wares from Jiangxi

By: Yau, Hok Wa

Min Yao // Ming Porcelain // Yuan Dynasty

This is a catalogue produced in conjunction with an exhibition jointly organized by the Jiangxi Provincial Museum and Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

It consists of 128 items of Yuan and Ming (14th to mid 17th centuries) provincial blue and white wares. Half of the exhibits, primarily specimens with datable contexts, come from Jiangxi Provincial Museum and the cultural institutions in Jiangxi. The rest, mostly products for local and overseas markets, are selected from the Art Museum collection and loans from private and public collections in Hong Kong and the Philippines. All exhibits are illustrated with colour plates and detailed entries in both Chinese and English. It contains also two scholarly essays, “Yuan and Ming Provincial Blue and White Ware from Jingdezhen” by Peng Minghan and Yin Qinglan and “Chinese Blue and White ware of the 14th to 15th Centuries: A Philippine Perspective” by Rita C. Tan, and an appendix of “A Selection of Dated Ming Blue and Whites”. The book provides indispensable reference materials for studies on the Yuan and Ming blue and white wares from Jiangxi. 8.5 x 11.8″, 238 pp., 151 color plates, text in Chinese and English, hardcover, Hong Kong, 2002.

Probably the best book on so called “provincial Ming” available in English. Worth trying to find.

March 26th, 2008

Chinese Ceramics
in the Topkapi Saray Museum

Ming Porcelain // Yuan Dynasty

Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, by Regina Krahl, et al., London, 1986. This is not really a book. This is a career. It is a heavy set of three books really and they are very expensive. Still they are a “must have” if you really want to understand early Ming blue and white.

The wares in this complete catalogue present a continuous review of porcelain made for export from the 13th to the 20th century which in it’s range of styles and designs is without equal in other collections. With some 4500 pieces dating from the Yuan and Ming dynasties and 5500 from Qing, this three volume set constitutes one of the most extensively illustrated works on Chinese ceramics.

Volume 1 : ‘Celadon Wares’, volume 2 : ‘Yuan and Ming’ volume 3 : ‘Qing’. The three volumes are in slipcases, limited edition of 1500 numbered copies. English text. 1986, fol., 1,384 pages, 5000 ill., cl.

Publisher: Sotheby Parke Bernet Pubns (May 1986)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0856671843
ISBN-13: 978-0856671845
Product Dimensions: 15.5 x 11.5 x 7 inches
Shipping Weight: cool 35.4 pounds !

There is also a recent edition of only two volumes available but I have not compared them and don’t know how much you loose in comparison with the first edition.

CLASSIC

March 25th, 2008