Customer Reviews

Asian Ivory

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The book, Asian Ivory, will serve a useful purpose for the beginning collector of Chinese and Japanese ivory sculpture since the middle of the 19th century. The major of pieces shown are of rather ordinary quality items. For an advanced collector such as myself, the book does not include very many top quality pieces nor does it include much discussion of what makes quality in Asian Ivory sculpture.

Carved ivory from Asia, particular from China and Japan, has long been highly prized by European and American collectors and are a staple of regional and national art museums around the world. "Asian Ivory" by antiques expert Jeffrey B. Snyder concentrates on nineteenth and early twentieth century ivory carvings, along with brush holders and wrist rests for scholars, cricket cages, card cases, match holders, sword hilts, and sword scabbards. Enhanced with more than six hundred full color photographs showcasing magnificent examples, the informed and informative text provides an historical overview and history of the ivory trade, laced with quotations of nineteenth century European travelers and their encounters with Japanese ivory carvers and merchants. The inclusion of folk tales provides fascinating insights into the figural characters carved in ivory and the beliefs they personified for their carvers. A superb reference work of impeccable scholarship, "Asian Ivory" will be of immense interest to collectors and dealers of Asian ivory, and is highly recommended for non-specialist general readers with an interest in Asian culture in general, and ivory carvings in particular.