One of the most important collections of medieval sculpture and metalwork ever assembled, available to the public for the first time This is the definitive catalogue of one of the most important collections of medieval art that exists in private hands, not previously accessible to the public. Comprised of outstanding European sculptures of the medieval period, as well as some Late Antique and Byzantine pieces and related works of the post-medieval era, this stunning volume includes detailed descriptions of many items rarely or never before seen in print. The featured objects are made from wood, stone (including alabaster and marble), terra- cotta, and metal— mostly consisting of crucifix figures (corpora) and other functional metalware, such as aquamanilia (water vessels for the washing of hands) and candlesticks—all of which are beautifully showcased by specially commissioned photography.

Over 200 photographs and illustrations of decorative sculpture and useful metalware at the forefront of the Art Deco movement. Art Deco's most significant artists, as well as their predecessors and modern counterparts, are discussed, including an introduction to the designs of Hagenauer, WMF, the Bauhaus, Ferdinand Priess, Chiparus, Brancusi, and Brandt.

This is an accessible historical and technical guide to the materials and techniques of European sculpture, based on the collections at the V&A. Casting, carving, and modeling practices are explored from medieval times onwards. Each chapter concentrates on a specific material or category. Beautiful color photography highlights the works and illustrates contemporary workshop practices.

This book presents the first full length study in English of monumental bronzes in the Middle Ages. Taking as its point of departure the common medieval reception of bronze sculpture as living or animated, the study closely analyzes the practice of lost wax casting (cire perdue) in western Europe and explores the cultural responses to large scale bronzes in the Middle Ages. Starting with mining, smelting, and the production of alloys, and ending with automata, water clocks and fountains, the book uncovers networks of meaning around which bronze sculptures were produced and consumed. The book is a path-breaking contribution to the study of metalwork in the Middle Ages and to the re-evaluation of medieval art more broadly, presenting an understudied body of work to reconsider what the materials and techniques embodied in public monuments meant to the medieval spectator.

J. Paul Getty had a passion for the exquisitely made furniture and decorative objects of eighteenth-century France, which he began collecting in the 1930s. Gillian Wilson, curator of decorative arts since 1971, has broadened and strengthened the collection, adding Boulle furniture, mounted oriental porcelain, tapestries, clocks, ceramics, and more. In the 1980s and 1990s the Museum continued to enlarge its decorative arts holdings, creating a European sculpture department in 1984 and adding glass, maiolica, goldsmiths’ work, pietre dure, and furniture from Italy and Northern Europe. This book is a revised and expanded edition of Decorative Arts: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue of the Collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum (1993). In addition to more than forty recent acquisitions—among these four wall sconces from Versailles that once belonged to Marie Antoinette and an elaborate upholstered bed from the collection of Karl Lagerfeld—it includes the results of years of research. Designed for scholars, students, and devotees of the decorative arts, this volume provides a comprehensive look at the Getty's fine collection.