Author: ECKE, GUSTAV
Title: Chinese Domestic Furniture
Description: Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan. 1979, 1st Edition. (ISBN: 0804800987). Hardcover, with dust jacket. Book, English text.; Hardcover (cloth with dust jacket); 23.5 x 31 cm.; 1.6 Kg.; 49 pages with text plus 161 black and white plates.; Used with signs of wear on the dust jacket, namely some scratches on the front and rear cover and also edgewear. Interior in very good condition with minor signs of wear. Good condition overall.; Throughout the history of Chinese domestic life, architecture, layout, and furniture have been governed by rigid standards. While the Chinese had early developed to perfection the art of cultured ease, the setting of their daily life retained an appearance of archaic austerity - an austerity observed no less in the restraint in design and ornament than in the power of line and cubic proportion that were second nature to the classic Chinese builder and the cabinetmaker. It is with the work of the later that this unusual book is concerned. Published in Peking in 1944 and limited to an edition of 200 copies, Gustav Ecke's Chinese Domestic Furniture was destined before long to become one of the most sought-after items in the book trade - to the extent, it appears, that owners of the books have even had their copies stolen. Its reputation among collectors and interior decorators, particularly during the recent upsurge of interest in Chinese furniture, has risen in new heights. It it therefore a pleasure to make this rare book available once again - this time in a complete and unabridged photographic reprint of the original edition, including all of its 161 plates, in which 122 masterpieces of Chinese furniture are illustrated, 21 of them in measured drawings. Chinese furniture, as Dr. Ecke points out in his illuminating introductory essay, has retained its architectural character and its imprint of pristine dignity throughout centuries of changes in taste down to the present day of dying tradtions. Subordinate to the symmetry of the Chinese room, it displays methods that quite probably date from the very beginnings of Chinese culture. While this holds true even for elaborately carved and lacquered work, it is particularly evident in the plain hardwood pieces, with their emphasis on structure, that are presented in this book. In his choice of examples, Dr. Ecke explains, he has been guided by the creative spirit of the Chinese as it reveals itself in the wood and in the interpretation of traditional patterns. "The purity, the plastic strength, and the flawless polish of these pieces" he says, "constitute their chief aesthetic appeal." Such qualities have long since aroused the admiration of Western decorators and makers of fine furniture, for in functional joinery the Chinese craftsman, as Dr. Ecke puts it, "manifests his respect for the spirit of the wood and his command of line, curve, and cubic proportion. Here are found the rules of Chinese cabinetmaking which, in the early eighteenth century, became the ideal of the English ebonist. He learned and borrowed from China.". Good/Dust Jacket Included.

Keywords: 0804800987 china,chinese furniture,gustav ecke,chinese art Chinese Art


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