CA Book Publishing – serie

The book Arts from the Scholar’s Studio has long been out-of-print. In light of increasing demands from collectors, and in the hope of stimulating further interest and scholarship in the field, the book was reprinted and now available for sale. It is the catalogue of an exhibition jointly presented by the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong held from 24 October to 13 December 1986. The exhibition illustrated the life of the Chinese scholar as seen through their arts, and, through the medium of certain objects, to demonstrate their attitude to life and connoisseurship. The book includes an introductory essay and descriptive captions of 277 exhibits by Gerald Tsang and Hugh Moss.Text in English and Chinese.

The owner of The Lotus Pond Collection first ran into Chinese snuff bottles in an antique store in San Francisco in 1993 and has been fascinated by them ever since.

This collection covers mostly imperial porcelain and enamel on metal snuff bottles from the Qianlong period, mid-Qing imperial glass and jade snuff bottles, and some organic snuff bottles from mid-Qing. Others include bottles from Jingdezhen, Yangzhou and Suzhou Schools, Beijing glasses, inside painted and enamel on glass snuff bottles. There are also samples of Official School agate snuff bottles.

The whole collection covers 500 plus snuff bottles and was named The Lotus Pond Collection as it is the name of the owner’s hometown.

It is not only the quality and beauty of the bottles that will hold appeal for collectors but also the scholarly expertise which is apparent throughout the collection. This reflects the interest that the owner of the collection has in the cultural significance of his collection.

Text in English and Chinese.

The bilingual book comes in two volumes – one in English with 295 images and the other in Chinese. A well-researched and lavishly illustrated book, that offers a wealth of new facts, images and insights into the subject in a broad context.This book has detail research into saddle rugs from China and related areas like Inner-Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet. The research includes images of saddle rugs published in books, magazines and on the internet. The literature research the author conducted has not been exhaustive. The author has used major manuals, museum-collection and exhibition catalogues, auction catalogues, magazines and other publications.Simply a must for anyone who loves textiles, horses or the history of China’s military, sports or culture.Text in English and Chinese.

This exhibition catalogue features 20 exquisite pieces of Chinese works of art, with the majority dated from the Song dynasty. Exhibited items include a Neolithic period pottery bottle; Machange-type Neolithic Period jars; Northern Song to Jin Dynasty June ware of Li-type tripod censer; a bubble-bowl with blue glaze and splashes; Northern Song Jun-type sky blue-glazed plate with everted rim and rose-purple splashes, Qingliangsi Ware; a celadon glazedlobed candlestick, Longquan ware; a sky-blue glazed ware dropper carvedwith peony design, Yaozhou Ware; a persimmon-red glazed saucer, Ding ware; white glazed small cup, Xing ware; paper-mallet vase with iron-rust splashes, Cizhou ware; porcelain child-shaped pillow, Changzhiware.Text in English and Chinese.

Jason Chen, the owner of this collection, is a man with a passion for life, of which much time is devoted to collecting snuff bottles, although he runs a thriving business. His collection houses over 2,000 bottles, with a select portion shown in these two volumes. Volume I illustrates bottles from varying materials, while the second, slimmer volume shows part of Jason's collection of miniature snuff bottles. While the whole collection is a work of art in itself, Jason, like other passionate collectors, has a story for every bottle, often the story of acquisition. He is a collector who enjoys both the thrill of the chase and the pleasure of ownership. When other collectors think of Jason Chen and his collection, they often speak of his love of great agate bottles.Few collectors have dedicated themselves to forming a collection of miniature snuff bottles in the way that Jason has. For the most part, although collectors have affection for the smallest of the small, Jason has applied himself to hunting down and acquiring these minute treasures.Text in English and Chinese.

Chinese furniture design had been improved through the centuries, maturing during the 14th century. The Qing furniture developed from Ming style furniture; it was attractive with ornate novel decorative elements. In the olden days of China, thosewho had resources could afford to live in a gracious residence such as the four-closed courtyard house (siheyuan). The four-closed courtyard house is the Chinese art of enclosing space to create an idealenvironment for habitation. The multifunctional Chinese classical furniture facilitates the indoor and outdoor activities of its inhabitants. Siheyuan is divided into chambers such as the Hall, female chamber etc.Thisbook provides details on which pieces of furniture should be displayed in each chamber, as well as full-colour illustrations and diagrams of how each piece was made and assembled. This includes three-dimensional drawings by Philip Mak and perspective views of the interior of various rooms. The author guides the readers through them, narrating the placement of furniture with inherent social implications. For easy reference, each piece is numbered and a more detailed description available in the catalogue section of this book.Text in English and Chinese.

This Shang Shan Tang collection is one of the rare assemblages of Chinese ceramics specialising in Yaozhou wares. With over a hundred examples, it is very likely the largest repository of its kind; covering an extremely wide range of Yaozhou artefacts of outstanding quality, including both classic types and highly rare specimens, it is uniquely suited to illustrate the kilns’ history. This catalogue covers extremely rare black and white and celadon-green wares samples of Tongchuan kilns made Yaozhou wares from the Tang dynasty and Five Dynasties. This catalogue also includes a magnificent and wide range of Song's pieces such as the most iconic dishes and bowls with carved nature motifs and combed details, which feature peony and other flower patterns, ducks, fish and conch shells among lotus or waves; and with similar molded designs of flowers, boys among flowers, or fish among waves. This catalogue is one of the most important reference books for Yaozhou wares and is a must for collectors and connoisseurs of Yaozhou wares to own it.Text in English and Chinese.

The jade in this collection covers those which have never been buried underground, as well as excavated finds. Excavated jades retain their original palettes, and examples are found in the collections of international museums and institutions involved with archaeological excavations. In contrast, jades that have never been buried have gone through time suffering the effects of handling, dying, and exposure to air. These two aforenamed varieties have different qualities, and preference is a matter of a collector's individual taste.Originally published in 2011, this new edition includes the collector's most recent acquisitions.

This fully illustrated and researched catalogue commemorates an exhibition of over 200 pieces of Chinese and related ceramics collected within the members of the Oriental Ceramic Society of London. The selection spans the complete range from Neolithic to contemporary ceramics, from minor kilns in many different regions to the major kilns working for the court, and from pieces of academic interest to world-famous masterpieces. It privileges unusual and rarely seen artifacts and avoids well known, repetitive designs such as that of the dragon, which is so firmly identified with China that it has become a cliche of Chinese art. It also aims to demonstrate the vast variety of wares and the inventiveness of Asian potters well beyond the classic confines.Text in English and Chinese.

These 100 examples, from various Neolithic cultures throughout the region known today as China, are described in this catalogue by the collector himself, focusing on their design and engineering ingenuities and their artistic merits. After a 50-year career in consumer product design, author Ronald W. Longsdorf applies the principles of that discipline to these marvellous pots. Thisis the only book currently available in the market for collectors who wish to study Neolithic ceramics from China from this exquisite collection. It includes lots of information and comparisons from other pieces in museums.Text in English and Chinese.

The Chinese title of this book reads “The Profound Reflection of Brushpots: A Collector’s Enlightenment” literally, citing reference to the book Imperial Profound & Reflective Encyclopedia commissioned by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, and The Collected Works of Long Ying, published during the reign of Emperor Wanli, Ming Dynasty. The word “Profound” was chosen meticulously to highlight the breadth and variety of the brush pots collected, and the proposition of their illustrations. The author’s intent to make this book an encyclopedia of brush pots was fairly explicit. On the other hand, “reflection” comes from a mirror, which shows how you look and who you are. It represented the collector’s experience in soul-searching and self-reflection during his journey of art appreciation. Text in English and Chinese.

The textiles here have been organised by several broad categories, beginning with type, and then by area of origin, dating and style. First are ikats and prints from India: the ikats woven in silk as “double ikats” and known as patola, and two prints that are cotton chintz. Though made in India, these textiles were all found in Sumatra, with the patola being highly-prized heirlooms used ceremonially, and the prints being used widely in trade across Indonesia from Sumatra to the Eastern Islands.Next are ikats and other woven textiles organised by origin, moving West to East, from Sumatra to Borneo, Sulawesi, Bali, and Timor. For all of these pieces, the material was hand spun or commercial cotton, silk, or sometimes a mixture of the two.Lastly are batiks, mostly from Java. The first three are the oldest batiks in this collection, each of which has been analysed by radiocarbon dating and found to originate in the 17th and 18th centuries, respectively. These batiks are made on hand spun cotton.The batiks here are from Sumatra and Java (the great mother-temple of batik artistry), ranging in age, after the proto-batiks described above, from the early 19th century to mid-20th century. They vary in style from the most traditional, including those distinctive in colour and pattern from the kratons (palaces) of the sultans, Indian influences from chintz and other Indian imports, to Chinese-inspired depictions of animals, insects, plants and flowers, to French-inspired Art Nouveau mostly via Batik Belanda.This collection of Indonesian textiles and some related Indian textiles that were popular and influential in Indonesian usage and design came together in a series of collecting periods spanning nearly 40 years.