The Pot BookEdmund de WaalLabel: Phaidon Press LtdDescription: Documenting an extraordinary range and variety of ceramics spanning more than 30000 years this updated edition of The Pot Book surveys mankind’s fascinating exploration of this inexhaustible vessel The history of ceramic art is ingrained in the history of mankind. Clay is one of the very first materials ‘invented’ by man. An essential part of our lives it has been moulded thrown glazed decorated and fired for over 30000 years in order to preserve and transport food and water. And it was on the surface of these early jugs vases dishes plates beakers and amphorae that man placed some of his first decorative markings. In more recent times clay has been used not just by artisans and potters but also by artists designers and architects. The Pot Book is the first publication to document the extraordinary range and variety of ceramic vessels of all periods from a delicate bowl made by an unnamed artisan in China in the third millennium bc or a jug made in eighteenth-century Dresden to a plate made by Picasso in 1952 a ‘spade form’ made by Hans Coper or the vases of Grayson Perry today. Now with a generous selection of new and updated entries each chosen to ensure a diverse spread of well-known and previously underrepresented artist the book is sequenced in alphabetical order by the name of the artist/potter the school or style creating a grand tour through the very finest examples of the artform.
