Explains process of importing goods into the U.S., including informed compliance, invoices, duty assessments, classification and value, marking requirements, etc.

Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.

A sweeping survey of the arts of Ireland spanning 150 years and an astonishing range of artists and media This groundbreaking book captures a period in Ireland's history when countless foreign architects, artisans, and artists worked side by side with their native counterparts. Nearly all of the works within this remarkable volume--many of them never published before--have been drawn from North American collections. This catalogue accompanies the first exhibition to celebrate the Irish as artists, collectors, and patrons over 150 years of Ireland's sometimes turbulent history. Featuring the work of a wide range of artists--known and unknown--and a diverse array of media, the catalogue also includes an impressive assembly of essays by a pre-eminent group of international experts working on the art and cultural history of Ireland. Major essays discuss the subjects of the Irish landscape and tourism, Irish country houses, and Dublin's role as a center of culture and commerce. Also included are numerous shorter essays covering a full spectrum of topics and artworks, including bookbinding, ceramics, furniture, glass, mezzotints, miniatures, musical instruments, pastels, silver, and textiles.

"The catalogue ... is truly excellent and makes an important contribution to the study of Greek Art." --Bryn Mawr Classical Review "An overwhelming volume. The subject matter ... is described in great detail in nine chapters. Essential." --Choice This catalogue documents a major exhibition at the Getty Villa that was the first ever to focus on ancient Athenian terracotta vases made by techniques other than the well-known black- and red-figure styles. The exhibition comprised vases executed in bilingual, coral-red gloss, outline, Kerch-style, white ground, and Six's technique, as well as examples with added clay and gilding, and plastic vases and additions. The Colors of Clay opens with an introductory essay that integrates the diverse themes of the exhibition and sets them within the context of vase making in general; a second essay discusses conservation issues related to several of the techniques. A detailed discussion of the techniques featured in the exhibition precedes each section of the catalogue. More than a hundred vases from museums in the United States and Europe are described in depth.

"Duncan Phyfe (1770-1854), known during his lifetime as the "United States Rage," to this day remains America's best-known cabinetmaker. Establishing his reputation as a purveyor of luxury by designing high-quality furniture for New York's moneyed elite, Phyfe would come to count among his clients some of the nation's wealthiest and most storied families. This richly illustrated volume covers the full chronological sweep of the craftsman's distinguished career, from his earliest furniture-- which bears the influence of his 18th-century British predecessors Thomas Sheraton and Thomas Hope--to his late simplified designs in the Grecian Plain. More than sixty works by Phyfe and his workshop are highlighted, including rarely seen pieces from private collections and several newly discovered documented works. Additionally, essays by leading scholars bring to light new information on Phyfe's life, his workshop production, and his roster of illustrious patrons. What unfolds is the story of Phyfe's remarkable transformation from a young immigrant craftsman to an accomplished master cabinetmaker and an American icon."--Publisher's website.