The catalogues of the Paris Salons from the turn of the century provide a unique archive of illustrations of the decorative arts at a pivotal time in their development. These volumes contain over 5,500 illustrations of items of jewellery by leading designers such as Boucheron, Chaumet and Lalique. The pictures have been sourced and re-photographed from the original and often rare catalogues. They have been rearranged alphabetically by artist-designer thus providing an indispensable and practical reference for this seminal twenty year period. They are a unique source for identification and authentication and an invaluable key both to design ideas and the jewellery of the period. AUTHOR: Alastair Duncan is a consultant on nineteenth and twentieth century decorative arts to Christie's, New York. He is author of books, catalogues and articles on this and related subjects and one of the world's foremost authorities on the subject of Art Nouveau. 8 colour and 2500 b/w illustrations

The kingdom of France, a byword for upheaval and instability for a century before 1660, was transformed over the subsequent generation into the greatest power in Europe and an institutional model admired and imitated almost everywhere. A further century elapsed befoer this hegemony was challenged, and even then the collapse of monarchy in 1788 took most people by surprise. This book, bringing together an authoritative international panel of historians, portrays and analyses the life of France between two revolutions, a time later known as the old regime. All aspects of French life are covered: the economy, social development, religion and culture, French activity overseas, and not least politics and public life, where our understanding has been completely renewed over recent years. A detailed chronology and full bibliography complete this compelling analysis of an age behind whose calm and assured facade forces were developing which were to shape a very different country and continent.