Ceramics: elitist or egalitarian passion?

First published in Peking in 1938, Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen became the standard work on the wares of the reigns of Yung Lo (1403-24) and Hsuan Te (1426-35). The author Brankston, brought to the subject a rare combination of taste and enthusiasm, documentation from Chinese sources and knowledge gained in the field. It remains an important pioneering work.

Legend and Reality was originally published as a catalogue for a series of exhibitions in European cities in 1977 (the year I joined OUP) & 1978. It has been included in the Oxford in Asia Studies in Ceramics series because the publishers feel the material presented wil help bring about a wider appreciation of, and stimulate an increasing interest in the earl-y ceramics of SEAsia in general and of Thailand and Khmer in particular...

nothing like stacking them up for posterity...hahaha....

The Tao Shuo, or Description of Chinese Pottery, by Chu Yen, was the first work written on the subject of chinese ceramics. It has been described by Bushell as a series of extracts gathered from a vast field of native literature, loosely strung together and accompanied by a running commentary by the author, and has come to be regarded no less in China than in the West as an important work of reference on the subject. The Tao Shuo, translated for his own use by Dr S W Bushell, physician to the British Legation in Peking, was completed in Peking in 1891, and published by the Clarendon Press Oxford in 1910. Being an unrevised and unedited posthumous work, it suffers from deficiencies and defects, as the only complete western-language translation of this importance treatise, the value of the Tao Shuo as a work of reference to the original sources of the literature is indisputable...

Amongst the wealth of ceramic ware from south east asia, the ceramics of the Khmer empire of Angkor are probably the least well-known, just as this aspect of the art and culture of the great civilisation is also the least explored. In this important contribution to the growing body of literature on the ceramics of the region, the author presents the first comprehensive study of the Khmer ceramics. The study examines the backgound, influences, characteristics, shapes and uses of this branch of the ceramic industry and provides the reader with a composite picture of the Khmer contribution to the craft. The volume is lavishly illustrated with twenty-five colour plates and more than 100 black & white pictures and drawings of examples of Khmer ware, providing examples many of which are in private collections and therefore not accessible to the general public. Dr Dawn Rooney is an art historian and reside and works in Bangkok...

This book brings to the attention of collectors, ceramicists and historians a virtually unknown group of kilns that have previously been considered, if at all, as poor country cousins of the well known ones at Sukhotai. It is understandable that so little is known about Northern Thai ceramics and its importance...

The above books are my most prized collection which I have kept for 30 years now. My ex-boss Raymond Earnest Brammah, MD & Publisher, or OUP Travellers (as we were known those days..) was the first North Yorksire Englishman who first opened the OUP office in Malaya in 1954. I picked up a liking and an interest (not so much a passion cos you gotta have deep pockets to start collecting antiques and ceramics..heheh) in ceramics during my travels with him to all the antique shops in Pekan, Kuala Trengganu and Kota Baru in those good ole days. We somtimes do it together with T Kawawaki, his confidante and close friend, manager of OUP Tokyo. It has been a while since I last met Kawawaki san...I hope he is still alive...

This ceramic legacy of asia's maritime trade is a catalogue of the Song Dynasty Guangdong Wares and other 11th to 19th century Trade Ceramics found on Tioman Island, Malaysia. It is a catalogue of the second members; exhibition of the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, West Malaysia Chapter, held in Muzium Seni Asia, Universiti Malaya, April 1981.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend folks...if I have triggered an interest in ceramics to any of you reading my blog...is satisfaction par excellence enough for me...cos...you know what?...don't you get bored with management, leadership, board meetings and all that stressful stuff? hehe... take a break, pick a book, new hobby...rejuvenate yourself...hehe..