In the library of Sir John Soane’s remarkable house at 13, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, several volumes of Italian architectural drawings of the 16th and 17th centuries have remained until today one of London’s hidden treasures. They have never been catalogued before in detail. More
This fully illustrated catalogue brings to light a forgotten masterpiece of Regency sculpture - the beautiful and mysterious Capriccio by the Italian gem-engraver and medallist Benedetto Pistrucci (1783-1855). Thought lost since 1855, the Capriccio is an enigmatic composition of heaped-up fragments brilliantly carved from a single block of white marble. More
Wotton has been dealt many blows and survived them all. Today it is a blossoming country house with the mark of Sir John Soane's essential reconstructions. Wotton's hardships and reconstructions are described and illustrated in a variety of ways. More
Susan Palmer, archivist to Sir John Soane's Museum, tells the story of the Soane family's social and domestic life. This exquisitely illustrated book looks into the tiniest detail of everyday life in the Soane household. From what meals were cooked and ow te house was heated to supper parties and the relationships of his servants, this promises to be an emotive and informative book. More
“I am not a modernist but ... I agree with the modernists in every way except that I think their brand of modernism is not very good.” Raymond Erith looked to achieve what he called the true “economy of means”, using traditional means to create original buildings with progressive ideas behind them. More
The sculptor and draughtsman John Flaxman (1755-1826) is here celebrated and described in six essays followed by a catalogue illustrating the various directions of his work. More
A Rake’s Progress (1734-5) and An Election (1755) are the most famous of William Hogarth’s series of ‘modern moral subjects’. Hazlitt described Hogarth’s paintings as ‘A perpetual collision of eccentricities, a tilt and tournament of absurdities, the prejudices and caprices of mankind let loose’ and they still delight, interest and amuse as much today as two hundred years ago and the biting quality of their moral satire is undiminished. More
Although the life of George Scharf has not been well documented, he has left a remarkable legacy of drawings, watercolours and lithographs, which, in a most vivid and detailed manner, describe the life of London in the first half of the 19th Century. In many ways, his work can be compared to that of other great chronicler of early Victorian London – Charles Dickens. The characters that populate The Pickwick Papers or Little Dorrit can all be glimpsed in Scharf’s sketches and prints. More
Made from scraps and slivers of wood, ivory, bone, stag-antler and metal, netsuke developed from a simple utilitarian toggle worn at the belt into a fine art. Some of it made geniuses. This book brings together prime examples of these delightful treasures – a rare and perfectly formed horse by Masanao of Kyoto; an extraordinary Ashinaga and Tenaga by Totenko; a fine study of a running boar with a snake upon its back, a masterpiece by Naito Toyomasa. More
This book explores the surprising heights of the idiosyncratic lone Japanese artist, the odd man out, experimenting his way through the fine arts and laying his own pathway forwards as he did. It is intended as a joyous celebration of his genius. Dating from the late 17th to the early 20th century, 69 special and individual works of painting, sculpture, ceramic, lacquer, fancy metalwork and a striking selection of pipecases and their sagemono, inro and netsuke in various materials, are catalogued with beautiful photography and detailed descriptions. More