Customer Reviews

Masterpieces of Ancient Jewelry: Exquisite Objects from the Cradle of Civilization

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

 

 

There are surprisingly few books on jewellery in the ancient world that don't specialise in a specific culture. When I started reading this book I was surprised to find it had been produced in conjunction with an exhibition in New York but its not a listing catalogue as such and the scope is wide enough to encompass the early modern era as it includes Byzantine and early Islamic jewels.

The book is divided into sections that deal with the jewellery found in Mesopotamia, The Levant, Persia, Byzantium and early Islam. Each section of the book has included an interview with a person who is a specialist in the area being discussed. The items illustrated are not just gold items but also beads, rings etc.

The book has some lovely pieces illustrated, especially among the Byzantine and Islamic sections. Some of the best of these items are drawn from private collections and not commonly illustrated in other books, but because Egypt and Greece are excluded from the selection on display some of the truly breathtaking items from the ancient world won't be seen in this book. If you are after a book that covers areas in jewellery usually overlooked with ancient jewels this is worth picking up - but its hardly likely to be the last word or definitive tome on the subject and I'd give this three and a half stars if I could.

A well produced book but I was expecting to see a larger collection of ancient jewelry. The book has been put together as a who's who of jewelry archaeologists. Each person has written a chapter illustrated with a few examples of the jewelry in their area of expertise/investigation. An interesting idea in itself; it would be better if an overseeing editor could have added photographs by putting more examples to flesh out the presentation, from museums and private collections, relating the periods discussed.

It is an attractive book, I feel it should have more in it.

This book is rich with imagery but its design is poorly presented. The typography is horrendous, the main text is inexplicably triple spaced, and makes for a very difficult read. A good source of information, but an unfortunate presentation of material.

This would be an excellent edition to anyone's history of jewelry collection. It's not an encyclopedia on the subject, but it has a great selection of pieces from around the world. And it's a great price, especially considering it contains pieces you may never see other than in this book.

I enjoyed flipping through this book as an inspiration for ideas for beaded and periodic jewelry. I did read a lot of the written material which was simply put together in easy to understand language. There are a few examples of ancient jewelry from different geographical areas. I can't exactly say I'm giving this a fair review, as I am mostly using this as a pictorial reference. Thank you.