Spanning six centuries of global design, this far-reaching survey is the first to offer an account of the vast history of decorative arts and design produced in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and the Islamic world, from 1400 to the present. Meticulously documented and lavishly illustrated, the volume covers interiors, furniture, textiles and dress, glass, graphics, metalwork, ceramics, exhibitions, product design, landscape and garden design, and theater and film design. Divided into four chronological sections, each of which is subdivided geographically, the authors elucidate the evolution of style, form, materials, and techniques, and address vital issues such as gender, race, patronage, cultural appropriation, continuity versus innovation, and high versus low culture.
Leading authorities in design history and decorative arts studies present hundreds of objects in their contemporary contexts, demonstrating the overwhelming extent to which the applied arts have enriched customs, ceremony, and daily life worldwide over the past six hundred years. This ambitious, landmark publication is essential reading, contributing a definitive classic to the existing scholarship on design, decorative arts, and material culture, while also introducing these subjects to new readers in a comprehensive, erudite book with widespread appeal.
Pat Kirkham is a professor at the Bard Graduate Center, where Susan Weber is founder and director.
Director’s Foreword
Editor’s Acknowledgments
Editor’s Introduction
Editor’s Note to the Reader
1400-1600
Chapter 1: East Asia
Chapter 2: India
Chapter 3: The Islamic World
Chapter 4: Africa
Chapter 5: Europe
Chapter 6: The Americas
1600-1750
Chapter 7: East Asia
Chapter 8: India
Chapter 9: The Islamic World
Chapter 10: Africa
Chapter 11: Europe
Chapter 12: The Americas
1750-1900
Chapter 13: East Asia
Chapter 14: India
Chapter 15: The Islamic World
Chapter 16: Africa
Chapter 17: Europe
Chapter 18: The Americas
1900-2000
Chapter 19: East Asia
Chapter 20: India
Chapter 21: The Islamic World
Chapter 22: Africa
Chapter 23: Europe and the Americas
Resources
Maps
Quotation Sources
Further Reading
Index
Author’s Acknowledgments
Illustration Credits
Independent art historian and writer on India
Marcus B. Burke
Senior Curator, The Hispanic Society of America, New York
Silke Bettermann
Librarian and Scholar at the Beethoven-Hause, Bonn
Jeffrey Collins
Professor and Chair of Academic Programs, Bard Graduate Center
Aimee E. Froom
Independent scholar
Annette Hagedorm
Independent scholar specializing in Islamic applied art and European Orientalism in the decorative arts
David Jaffee
Professor and Head of New Media Research, Bard Graduate Center
Rose Kerr
Honarary Associate of the Needham Research Institute, Cambridge
Pat Kirkham
Professor, Bard Graduate Center
Patricia Lara-Betancourt
Research Fellow, the Modern Interiors Research Centre, Kingston University, London
Christian A. Larsen
Doctorial candidate and Curatorial Fellow, Bard Graduate Center
Dana Leibsohn
Professor, Art Department, Smith College
Sarah A. Lichtman
Assistant Professor of Design History, Parsons, The New School for Design, New York
Andrew Morrall
Professor, Bard Graduate Center
George Michell
Independent Scholar
Barbara E. Mundy
Associate Professor, Art History, Fordham University, New York
Amy F. Ogata
Professor, Bard Graduate Center
Jorge F. Rivas Perez
Curator, Coleccion Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
Maria Ruvoldt
Assistant Professor, Fordham University, New York
Tomoko Sakomura
Associate Professor of Art History, Swarthmore College
Enid Schildkrout
Curator Emerita, American Museum of Natural History
Lee Talbot
Curator, Eastern Hemisphere Collections, The Textile Museum, Washington, DC
Sarah Teasley
Reader in Design History and Theory, Royal College of Art, London
Carol Thompson
The Fred and Rita Richman Curator of African Art, High Museum, Atlanta
Tom Tredway
Doctoral candidate, Bard Graduate Center
Norman Vorano
Curator of Comtemporary Inuit Art, Canadian Museum of Civilization
Susan Weber
Director, Founder, and Iris Horowitz Professor, Bard Graduate Center
Catherine L. Whalen
Assistant Professor, Bard Graduate Center
