This beautiful book offers a striking and unusual view of a wide array of Chinese art. It highlights - close up and in colour - outstanding examples of design and craft in paintings, prints, metalwork, ceramics, jade and lacquer.
The book opens with an introduction asking 'What is Chinese art?' This is followed by a series of chapters showing how the purpose and function of artefacts determined how and why they were commissioned and used. By illustrating the complete object as well as exceptional features through the use of enlarged details- sometimes virtually invisible to the naked eye - intriguing comparisons can be drawn between seemingly unrelated media. The selection of details evokes the hand and eye of the most accomplished Chinese craftsmen over thousands of years.
