The Decorative Arts of the China Trade: Paintings, Furnishings and Exotic Curiosities

This lavishly produced book, on coated stock with hundreds of historical photographs reproduced in color, including excellent photos of furniture and objects, often in their original interiors, collected by the West over the past three centuries, is published under the aegis of the revered Antique Collectors Club (UK). Issued in 1991, it seems to be an expansion of a work published by Crossman in 1972. It is extremely unlikely that this scholarship will be superseded and thus this volume is an imperative acquisition for interested parties. The implications of this export trade, and the unceasing demand in the West for China manufactures, are vivid to witness today.