A BOOK OF PORCELAIN
FINE EXAMPLES IN THE
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM
AGENTS
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PLATE 1
Jar, Chinese, period of the Ming dynasty, decoratedin colours of the demi-grand feu, withchased brass cover of Persian workmanship.Height. 15¼ in.
No. 1730-1876. See p. 14.
Unmarked.
A · BOOK · OF
PORCELAIN
FINE EXAMPLES IN THE
VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM
PAINTED BY WILLIAM GIBB
WITH TEXT BY
BERNARD RACKHAM, M.A.
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
SOHO SQUARE · LONDON · MCMX
DEDICATED
BY PERMISSION
TO
H.M. QUEEN ALEXANDRA
The twenty-eight water-colour drawings reproducedin this volume have been made from specimens ofporcelain in the collections of the Victoria and AlbertMuseum, South Kensington, many of which have neverbeen published before, while others have not hithertobeen reproduced in colours. The selection has beenmade not merely of those pieces in their several classeswhich have a high sale-room value; due considerationhas been given to those which by their aesthetic qualitiesappealed to the sympathies of the artist, while at thesame time an effort has been made to include objectshaving some particular historical or personal interest, orimportant as documents in the history of ceramics. Inthis connection it should be explained that the drawingswere made before Mr. George Salting’s unrivalled collectionof Oriental porcelain passed by his death into thehands of the nation.
The text does not pretend to be a general treatiseon porcelain, or even an exhaustive summary of itshistory. The aim of the writer has been to record everything