A labour of love and scholarship, this is a study of the extraordinary Royal Library of Dom Joao V (1706-1750) of Portugal that was destroyed in 1755 in the Lisbon earthquake. The library co... read more
Half a century before Owen Jones's 'Grammar of Ornament' (1856), Freiherr zu Racknitz produced this survey of twenty-four different styles, some historical, some contemporary, the predictabl... read more
Richly illustrated book presenting the gorgeous Chinoiserie floral and avian wallpapers in the houses where they have been used. The author founded the company thirty years ago, setting up a... read more
There is no clear distinction between art, craft and design in Japan. This fascinating book focuses on 25 artisans whose work is intended for every day life.. and is it art?
A lavish illustrated book on one of the most comprehensive private collections of pocket watches. Includes baroque glories and wonderful enamelled watches for export to Turkey and China in t... read more
The C19th French ceramicist was celebrated for his innovative glazes and love of stoneware. His forms were often based on gourds, fruit and Japanese bottles.
Gorgeous and generous survey arranged by region. Includes very rare pieces. Published to the same high standard as Prestel's 'Textiles of Japan' a couple of years ago.
Beauty and utility: all aspects of Japanese modern design - designers, artisans, manufacturers and technologies. The Kikkoman soy sauce bottle that never falls over, the Sony Walkman...
This autumn John Silver and his son David celebrate a quarter century of the Vintage Watch Company in the Burlington Arcade with this handsome publication. 1800 watches, from early pocket wa... read more
Another wonderful illustrated volume of tangential history from Yale (see the book on guitars, below, in 'Music'). This is an exploration of how the rose has inspired fashion over hundreds o... read more
Published in February of this year to accompany the V&A's splendid exhibition - delayed, like so much else, to the late summer. Very good mix of exquisite antique pieces and contemporary fli... read more
Published to coincide with Edmund de Waal's installation about exile, displacement, libraries and voice that recently opened at the British Museum. The exhibition has migrated from Venice to... read more
Architect Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo and his 18-year-old assistant Herbert Percy Horne answered Ruskin's call for the regeneration of art and society. This is a handsome book about their work... read more
Rutter - a literature graduate who notes the etymological link between 'text' and 'textile' - travelled the British Isles researching the social history of wool and knitting. This charming a... read more
Fabric - and our hunger for it - as the mother of invention, the driver behind technology, agriculture, trade, politics, culture... it funded the Italian Renaissance and the Mughal empire. H... read more
Blaschka père et fils were from Bohemia but moved to Dresden, where they worked in glass from the mid-1800s to the 1930s, making intricate models of sea anemones, medusas, corals and starfi... read more
Beautiful repackaging of Werner's 'Nomenclature of Colours' - a referencing system from 1814 which classified colours by matching them to botanical and zoological specimens. 'Tile Red' for i... read more
A cultural history through seven coloured lenses. Its broad frame of reference encompasses Shakespeare, Goldfinger (first name Auric), Goethe, Roman marbles, Bronze Age gold, Mayan jade... C... read more