Quebec and Related Silver at the Detroit Institute of Arts

Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1978. Hardcover. VG/G+ (book has inscription of previous owner on inside cover, all pages clear and intact - dust jacket shows shelf wear at edges and corners, two small tears, still protective). Blue cloth boards with silver gilt spine lettering, gray and blue illustrated dust jacket with white and blue lettering on cover and spine, 174 pp., bw illustrations throughout. "In Quebec and Related Silver at The Detroit Institute of Arts, a catalogue of pieces from the Institute collection, virtually the entire history of silverscarfting in Quebec can be traced. The reader is introduced to the work of many master silversmiths, nineteen of them known, others still anonymous. The biographies which Fox provides are the result of intensive research in the archives of churches, museums, and other depositories. Often he has discovered information about the lives of these men which has not been known until now. In his introductory essay, Fox explains why silver was of major importance in Quebec society and then traces the stylistic development of the art up to the late nineteenth century. Each piece in the catalogue is described in detail, with particular emphasis on construction. The metallic composition of the objects has been closely analyzed in order to detect modern repairs, replacements, or outright forgeries. This elemental analysis, carried out at te Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, represents a pioneering effort and will be of intense interest to collectors and scholars. Forty-eight pieces are covered in the catalogue and for comparative purposes or detail sixty-two figures are shown. The catalogue contains an extensive bibliography, a glossary, appendixes, and an index." - dust jacket description.