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New Books for Collectors
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March 2009
Deco Décor
by Donald-Brian Johnson and Leslie Pina
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
Dashing Art Deco is presented as something of a “home tour” in the just released Deco Décor by Donald-Brian Johnson and Leslie Pina.
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The book offers sweeping coverage of related porcelain, glass and metal accessories as they appeared in the fashionable and affluent homes of America during the 1920s and 1930s.
Chapters of the book are arranged by room, including the living room, bathroom, kitchen, sitting room and the dining room. It is a novel idea that makes the vision of how functional and fun Art Deco had become then that is clearer today.
“Art Deco,” note the authors, “isn’t all black and white. Or zigzags or chrome. Or uncluttered and uncompromising furniture.”
They add:
“Although black and white were important elements, the Art Deco era was also alive with a riot of color, as designers and decorators offered up a unique blend of the traditions of the past and the innovations of the present.”
Certainly the book offers a room full of Art Deco designers from Rockwell Kent to Russel Wright. Others mingling in the crowd included Camille Tharaud, Edouard-Marcel Sandoz, Charles Schneider, and Lurelle Guild.
Overall coverage is both entertaining and extensive. There are glamorous brand names from Aladin and Bakelite to Kensington and Limoges. There are glamorous objects as well, from stately clocks and stunning radios, to creative perfume lamps.
Johnson and Pina have both written numerous books in the antiques and collectibles field. Deco Décor by Donald-Brian Johnson and Leslie Pina, hardcover, with 695 quality color photos, index, and 240 pages is $69.99 from Schiffer Publishing, 4880 Lower Valley Rd., Atglen, PA 19310.
Art of Worcester
Porcelain, 1751-1788
by Aileen Dawson
Reviewed by Robert Reed
(Antique & Collectible News Service)
The Art of Worcester Porcelain, 1751-1788 provides a beautiful presentation of the finest collection of such ware in the British Museum.
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Worcester porcelain, both attractive and durable, was once renowned for its utilitarian purpose and is now greatly admired by collectors. Striking decorative techniques combined with lasting over-glaze printing techniques clearly influenced the worldwide ceramic industry.
This top-quality book is written by Aileen Dawson, a curator at the British Museum. As the author points out, “the British Museum now houses more dated pieces than any other except for the Worcester Porcelain Museum. This outstanding group of Worcester is an especially useful reference tool for the study of historical and technical context of this most long-lasting of all 18th century British porcelain factories.”
The book is arranged into three sections. The first includes pieces painted at the Worcester factory. It is followed by pieces decorated with prints, and then follows with pieces painted outside the factory, which mostly includes those decorated at the workshop of James Giles in London.
Readers will find the volume effectively deals with the Worcester factory’s production methods and decorative, plus the overall history of the British Museum collection. Perhaps just as importantly, it illustrates the work with outstanding color photographs of the finest representatives of this ware.
The Art of Worcester Porcelain, 1751-1788 by Aileen Dawson, hardcover, 248 pages, $60, is offered by the University Press of New England in Lebanon, NH.
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