The Wares of the Ming Dynasty

Benn Brothers Limited, London, 1923 Book. Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. English text; Hardcover (brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine and gold motifs on the front cover); 23.7 x 29 cm; 2.219 Kg; 240 pages with 128 illustrations of which 11 are in colour. All tissue guarded.; Limited edition of 1500 copies of which this is 365. Includes bookplate of Hilda Wynnefred Fitzwilliams Greatford; Edgeworn. Signs of wear on the front cover, spine and back cover. The spine has a small crack. The interior is in good condition with minor signs of wear. Hinges cracked. Hardcover cloth now protected with a clearcover.; First monograph on Ming wares.; "The purpose of this book is to explain and illustrate as many varieties of Ming as possible. The text is based primarily on information obtained from Chinese sources and the occasional notes made by Europeans who visited China in the Ming period. To this must be added the deductions which can be made from the study of well-authenticated specimens, and, of course, the valuable work enshrined in the books which are mentioned in the bibliography. The first twelve chapters are occupied almost exclusively by the porcelain of Ching-tê Chên; the next four by the porcelain and pottery made at other centres. For the convenience of printing, all the Chinese characters have been collected together in the final chapter, to which reference is made in each case." excerpt from the preface by R.L. Hobson, January 1923..