asia in amsterdam - Tapa blanda

A museum exhibition collaboration publication of the Rijksmuseum and the Peabody Essex Museum. In the Golden Age, Dutch merchants shipped treasures from Asia to Amsterdam, enriching both increasingly prosperous Dutch households and the imagination of artists and craftspeople. Made of special, precious materials and adorned with intriguing exotic patterns no one had ever seen before, the Asian treasures caused a sensation. Fine white porcelain with blue designs from China, lacquer work from Japan, gems from India, silk fabrics and textiles from China, Japan and India, remarkably shaped shells, black ebony. the Dutch gasped at the beauty of it all and enthusiastically incorporated these treasures into their hitherto more modest interiors. Not only the wealthy, but also a large part of the growing middle class could afford to buy these exclusive items. Artists shaped new ways of looking at the world around them. In essays and entries by over thirty expert authors, this catalogue examines how a culture of luxury developed in the Golden Age. Softcover with flyleaves: 356 pages, 100 enteries with colour photographs. ISBN: 9780875772295 Printed in Belgium. Ex-Libris Camilla T. Knapp, Mass.