Elizabeth Coatsworth – författare

The latest volume in the acclaimed Corpus series completes the cataloguing of the stone sculptures of Yorkshire, and boosts our understanding of the artistic development of southern Northumbria in the pre-Viking and Anglo-Scandinavian periods.The monuments in the historic West Riding of Yorkshire include important collections from Dewsbury, Ilkley, Leeds and Otley, containing individual pieces of the highest quality; and there are fine examples of early architectural sculpture at Ledsham and Rothwell.Many of the finest monuments are connected with important ecclesiastical estates, such as Ripon; the iconography of the sculptures tells us about how these estates continued into the Anglo-Scandinavian period.Introductory chapters set the material within an historical, topographical and art-historical context, and there are specialist contributions concerning the inscriptions and geology of the monuments. There is a full photographic record of each monument which includes many new illustrations. The volume complements Corpus Volume III (York and Eastern Yorkshire) and Volume VI (Northen Yorkshire). It volume will be an indispensable research tool both for students of the early English church, and for all those interested in the relationship between artistic styles and the successive waves of settlement in England.

Goldsmiths' products examined, combining discussion of object with analysis of inscription and design, and literary and archaeological evidence for smiths and their work.Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period, goldsmiths produced work of a high standard in both design and craftsmanship, both for personal adornment, and to embellish bookbindings, reliquaries, vessels and weapons. Some works are well known, particularly the magnificent gold and garnet regalia from Sutton Hoo, but this represents only a fraction even of the surviving work, and much more has been lost. This book is the first to look at the goldsmiths' products through the eyes of both a specialist in the period and a practical craftsman, combining close examination of the surface and structure of the objects with analysis of inscriptions and evidence for design, and with literary and visualsources of evidence for smiths and their work. Archaeological and documentary evidence for workshops, tools and working processes is also assessed, and up-to-date technical information on materials and techniques is juxtaposed with new practical research to throw light on manufacturing and decorative processes, and, more widely, to give a fresh idea of the position of the goldsmith in his society.Dr ELIZABETH COATSWORTH is Senior Lecturer inthe Department of History of Art and Design, Manchester Metropolitan University; Dr MICHAEL PINDER is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Architecture, Landscape and 3DD, at the same university.

A Newberry Medal Winner This timeless fable has been a classic since its first publication in 1930, and this beautifully reillustrated edition brings the magic and wonder of the tale to a new generation of readers.In ancient Japan, a struggling artist is angered when his housekeeper brings home a tiny white cat he can barely afford to feed. But when the village’s head priest commissions a painting of the Buddha for a healthy sum, the artist softens toward the animal he believes has brought him luck. According to legend, the proud and haughty cat was denied the Buddha’s blessing for refusing to accept his teachings and pay him homage. So when the artist, moved by compassion for his pet, includes the cat in his painting, the priest rejects the work and decrees that it must be destroyed. It seems the artist’s life is ruined as well—until he is rewarded for his act of love by a Buddhist miracle.

An astonishing number of medieval garments survive, more-or-less complete. Here the authors present 100 items, ranging from homely to princely. The book's wide-ranging introduction discusses the circumstances in which garments have survived to the present; sets and collections; constructional and decorative techniques; iconography; inscriptions on garments; style and fashion. Detailed descriptions and discussions explain technique and ornament, investigate alleged associations with famous people (many of them spurious) and demonstrate, even when there are no known associations, how a garment may reveal its own biography: a story that can include repair, remaking, recycling; burial, resurrection and veneration; accidental loss or deliberate deposition. The authors both have many publications in the field of medieval studies, including previous collaborations on medieval textiles such as Medieval Textiles of the British Isles AD 450-1100: an Annotated Bibliography (2007), the Encyclopedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles of the British Isles (2012) and online bibliographies.