A Rothschild Renaissance: The Waddesdon Bequest
- ISBN-10
- 0714123455
- ISBN-13
- 9780714123455
- Category
- Art
- Pages
- 352
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2015-06-08
- Publisher
- British Museum Publications Limited
- Author
- Dora Thornton
Description
A beautiful and sumptuously illustrated book presenting the highlights of Renaissance court treasuresThis book presents and explores the Waddesdon Bequest, the name given to the Kunstkammer or cabinet collection of Renaissance treasures which was bequeathed to the British Museum by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, MP in 1898. The Bequest is named after Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, a fairy tale French chateau built by Baron Ferdinand from 1874-83, where the collection was housed during his lifetime. As a major Jewish banking family, the Rothschilds were the greatest collectors of the nineteenth century, seeking not only the finest craftsmanship in their treasures, but also demonstrating great discernment and a keen sense of historical importance in selecting them. Baron Ferdinand's aim, often working in rivalry with his cousins, was to possess a special room filled with splendid, precious and intricate objects in the tradition of European courts of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. It was understood at the time that a collection of this quality could never be formed again, given the rarity and expense of the pieces, and the problems of faking and forgery of just this kind of material.The book will unlock the history and romance of this glorious collection through its exploration of some of its greatest treasures and the stories they tell. It will introduce makers and patrons, virtuoso craftsmanship, faking and the history of collecting from the late medieval to modern periods, as told through the objects. Treasures discussed will include masterpieces of goldsmiths' work in silver; jewellery; hardstones and engraved rock crystal; astonishing microcarvings in boxwood, painted enamel, ceramic and glass; arms and armour and 'curosities': exotic treasures incorporating ostrich eggs, Seychelles nut, amber or nautilus shell. Scholarly catalogues have appeared for parts of this splendid collection but this book will open up the Bequest for the general reader. By looking at individual objects in detail, and drawing on new photography and research, the book will enable readers to see and understand the objects in a completely different light.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2017
- - pages
- Paperback
- British Museum Research Public
Similar books
-
Italian Renaissance Ceramics: A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection
By Dora Thornton, British Museum, Timothy WilsonA superb catalogue of the British Museum collection of maiolica and other Italian Renaissance pottery, published in two volumes with a slipcase, ribbon and cloth binding. The British Museum collection...
-
The Waddesdon Bequest: The Legacy of Baron Ferdinand Rothschild to the British Museum
By British Museum, Hugh TaitThe Waddesdon Bequest: The Legacy of Baron Ferdinand Rothschild to the British Museum
-
A Royal Renaissance Treasure and Its Afterlives: The Royal Clock Salt
By Dora Thornton, Timothy SchroderAt center stage in this volume is the Royal Clock Salt, a national treasure from the courtly culture of the Renaissance and one of only a handful of treasures surviving from the Jewel House of Henry VIII.
-
The Collection of Jewels, Plate, and Other Works of Art: Bequeathed to the British Museum (Classic Reprint)
By Baron Museum RothschildAbout the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work.
-
Forming Sleep: Representing Consciousness in the English Renaissance
By Nancy L. Simpson-Younger, Margaret SimonTaken together, these essays demonstrate how early modern depictions of sleep shape, and are shaped by, the philosophical, medical, political, and, above all, formal discourses through which they are articulated.
-
The Silver Caesars: A Renaissance Mystery
By Julia Siemon... including Alexis Kugel, Peta Motture, Stuart W. Pyhrr, Pamela Smith, Femke Speelberg, Richard E. Stone, and Ginette Vagenheim. ... Kristen Hudson, Daniel Kershaw, Jaime Krone, Mortimer Lebigre, Christine McDermott, Rachel Mustalish, ...
-
Men of Wealth
By John T. Flynn... Benedict, 405 Arthurian legends, 142-3 Ashikaga Shogunate, 264 Aspinwall family, 218 Astor, John Jacob, 189, 194, ... 77 Aurangzeb, Emperor of Hindustan, 377 Averill, William J ., 488 Babeuf, Francois Noel, 166 Babiaan, 319 Backus, ...
-
Economic Sentiments
By Emma RothschildA benchmark in the history of economics and of political ideas, Rothschild shows us the origins of laissez-faire economic thought and its relation to political conseratism in an unquiet world.
-
Sacred Stitches: Ecclesiastical Textiles in the Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor
By Rachel BoakIntroduction -- Catalogue -- Altar frontals -- Banners, cushions, hangings et pictures -- Furniture -- Fragments et accessories -- Image robes -- The collection of textiles at Waddesdon.
-
Architecture and Panelling: James A.De Rothschild Bequest at Waddesdon Manor
By Bruno PonsWaddesdon Manor was built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the late 19th century. This book contains a scholarly account of the origins of the house and the first ever...