Spanning some 350 years, the Thomson Collection of historic ship models contains examples of exquisite workmanship and some of the masterpieces of the genre. Pride of the collection are the rare British dockyard models made to scale for affluent 18th-century clients closely associated with the Navy. More
The most individual English architect since Vanbrugh, Sir John Soane was a Romantic classicist, known for his experimental interest in effects of light and space. Dulwich Picture Gallery is one of the few intact creations of his genius, not only remarkably preserved but still serving the function for which it was built, as a picture gallery (as such highly influential ever since). More
Published to accompany the first substantial exhibition on the tradition of Spanish drawings to take place at The Courtauld Gallery, London, this catalogue captures the excitement and importance of this rapidly developing field of study. More
The modes of dress adopted at the Spanish court were highly influential elsewhere in Europe from about the mid sixteenth to the mid seventeenth century – the period corresponding to Spanish political hegemony. The nature and prevalence of the diffusion of Spanish fashion is, however, a phenomenon that has never been systematically studied, partly because it is no easy task to pool the numerous sources of information, both archival (in many languages) and visual. More
Stanley Spencer (1891–1959) is perhaps best known for his mystical biblical scenes and candid self-portraits, but it was his magnificent paintings of gardens, houses and landscapes, set in the small alleys and overgrown backyards of his home village of Cookham, which proved more popular during his lifetime. Published to accompany an exhibition at Compton Verney, Warwickshire, this book is the first to focus specifically on Spencer’s landscape paintings, and to consider them as a group, rather than as punctuation marks between the figure paintings. More
Stowe House has been described as "the largest and most completely realised private neo-classical building in the world". The extraordinary family who built and re-built Stowe played a crucial role in the arts and politics of the Georgian age. Four prime ministers came from this or the closely related Pitt family, and with them and their house were associated a roll-call of artistic figures - to mention only Pope and Horace Walpole, Vanbrugh and Kent, Adam and Soane. More
A selection of the finest works from the well-known Willi G. Bosshard collection, the one hundred netsuke are extraordinarily strong in Kyoto school animals, particularly rats and tigers, of which there must surely be enough masterpieces for anyone at all interested. Works by Masanao, Tomotada, Okatomo and virtually every worthwhile follower form a richly varied, comprehensive overview of the period from the mid to late 18th century and of the repertoire of subjects. More
This book is a complete catalogue and commentary on a remarkable series of 130 coloured drawings executed in North Italy, almost certainly Padua, in the 1450s by a group of artists in the circle of Andrea Mantegna. The drawings illustrate subjects from the Tacuinum Sanitatis or Table of Health. Subjects touched on include medicine, sport, farming, animal husbandry, natural history, shopping, cooking and manufacturing – constituting an extraordinary record of everyday life (and life style) in early Renaissance Italy. This manuscript is one of four known series of the kind, and the only one not published. More
Recently acquired by Waddesdon Manor, Jean-Siméon Chardin's early masterpiece Boy building House of Cards has a self-contained stillness that contrasts with the splendour of its new setting. This book accompanies an exhibition at Waddesdon that will unite Chardin's four paintings of a boy with a house of cards for the first time. More
In as far as the Indian term 'tantrism' is known in the West, it is generally linked with mystery and mysticism as well as with sex, magic and hocus-pocus. Indeed, tantrism is connected with all these and even more. Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Jainism, Vajrayana, Bönpo, Ayurveda and Shamanism are some of the philosophies, religions and sciences that were somehow influenced by tantrism. More