European decorative arts
By: Thomas Michie
Edition: First edition.
Series: MFA highlights; MFA highlights
Publisher: MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9780878468225
Subjects: Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Decorative arts; Catalogs
Description: The world-renowned collection of European decorative arts from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is full of sumptuous surprises. Some delicate and some divine, the objects range from an opulent automaton to a richly wrought crosier, and vary in scale from a salt cellar in the form of a crustacean to the fine wood panelling of an entire dining room. Their dates of manufacture span more than a thousand years the earliest made shortly after the fall of the Roman Empire and the most recent in the computer age. They reach across space as well as time, bearing evidence not only of cultural exchange among European countries, such as England and France, but also of the revival of ancient motifs and of contemporary trade with India and China. Presented here with an introduction to the topic and individual texts on each piece, these diverse works are organized chronologically and by stylistic movements to highlight the hidden histories of these works.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-218) and index.