Customer Reviews

A History of Jewellery 1100-1870

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was looking forward to receiving this book very much and I have to say I was a bit disappointed when it got here. Although it is very thorough it has NO COLOR PICTURES. Jewelry is something that cannot be appreciated to the fullest in black & white. I would have been much happier if they had atleast done half of the pictures in color.

It is a good resource book, gives a lot of details on the actual HISTORY of jewellery. But relying almost solely on text when writing of something as visual as jewellery is somewhat dry. For an (antique) jewellery aficionado, not so much interested in knowing all the historical facts but more in appreciating the variety, craftmanship, style and beauty of jewellery, this is a wrong book to own.

It's rather more interested in post-Renaissance jewelry than anything else, devoting quite a bit of its pages to the super ornate stuff. There's a perfectly good reason for this, namely that pre-Renaissance jewelry frequently got melted down and recast. I still wish it'd devoted more time to that earlier stuff, since my interest is particularly in Renaissance-era jewelry. Still, it's a great introduction to the subject.

Well-written, with lots of good tidbits, and one of the few resources for the study of the history of jewelry. Lavish illustrations and portraits, some of which I'd never seen anywhere else before.

This is an excellent reference book for any jeweler, historian, or SCA participant. There are over 400 photos in the book, which say it all. Great information!