Susan S. Bean is an Independent Scholar and Former Senior Curator of South Asian Art at Peabody Essex Museum. She is Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Center for Art & Archaeology, American Institute of Indian Studies, India and USA.

Clay Works is a revelation. Susan Bean’s tour-de-force book brings into focus the vibrant, living quality of unfired clay, as shaped by expert craftspeople across South Asia. It will fundamentally transform the way art historians think about the most elemental of media, clay.

• List of Illustrations Prologue: Adventures with Clay1. Clay Matters2. Precious Earth in Bhutan and the Buddhist Himalayas3. The Career of Clay in the Deccan4. Modelling Modern Bengal5. Pax Britannica—The Empire’s Clay Subjects6. Epilogue—Inside OutIndex

Susan S. Bean is an Independent Scholar and Former Senior Curator of South Asian Art at Peabody Essex Museum. She is Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Center for Art & Archaeology, American Institute of Indian Studies, India and USA.

Clay Works is a revelation. Susan Bean’s tour-de-force book brings into focus the vibrant, living quality of unfired clay, as shaped by expert craftspeople across South Asia. It will fundamentally transform the way art historians think about the most elemental of media, clay.

• List of Illustrations Prologue: Adventures with Clay1. Clay Matters2. Precious Earth in Bhutan and the Buddhist Himalayas3. The Career of Clay in the Deccan4. Modelling Modern Bengal5. Pax Britannica—The Empire’s Clay Subjects6. Epilogue—Inside OutIndex

Susan S. Bean is an Independent Scholar and Former Senior Curator of South Asian Art at Peabody Essex Museum. She is Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Center for Art & Archaeology, American Institute of Indian Studies, India and USA.

Clay Works is a revelation. Susan Bean’s tour-de-force book brings into focus the vibrant, living quality of unfired clay, as shaped by expert craftspeople across South Asia. It will fundamentally transform the way art historians think about the most elemental of media, clay.

• List of Illustrations Prologue: Adventures with Clay1. Clay Matters2. Precious Earth in Bhutan and the Buddhist Himalayas3. The Career of Clay in the Deccan4. Modelling Modern Bengal5. Pax Britannica—The Empire’s Clay Subjects6. Epilogue—Inside OutIndex