Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #797114 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-20
• Binding: Hardcover
• 252 pages

Synopsis
An encyclopaedic guide to antiques dating from the last century. Written by the experts of TV's "Antiques Roadshow", it features over 1500 entries on antiques ranging from porcelain and glass to furniture and fine art.

Customer Reviews

Not too bad
The biggest problem with this book is that it simply lacks focus. It tries to cover som many different types of antiques and collectables that the information given on each item leaves a great deal to be desired.

Still it is entertaining in its own way, and may be a nice introduction to collecting.

Sold as reproductions, resold as ?
The book mentions the Jingdezhen potteries in China which have been in operation, with certain interruptions,for many hundred years. They make among other things reproductions of period pieces. According to The Far Eastern Economic Review, published in Hong Kong, of 1998-03-19 a pottery salesman is quoted as saying "I tell the customer they are copies, but what he tells his customer I don't know". "They're technically very, very expert.The potting is very good and a lot of the decorating is also very good" says Julian thompson of Sotheby's. The book does not mention the Ming Village pottery in Singapore who publish beautifully illustrated catalogues and who reproduce museum and period pieces, some with the appropriate reign marks. Their latest catalogue states "... when you see the hundreds of replicas on display ... you'll know that each of them possesses a finish that has been acknowledged by experts to even more superb than the original."

Is recognising a fake as easy as Lars Tharp states?