What is maiolica? What is the difference between hard-paste and soft-paste porcelain. What is a piatto da pompa? This book offers definitions of these and other terms related to the techniques, processes, and materials used in the making of ceramics in Europe from the Middle Ages throughout the beginning of the twentieth century. Concise and readable explanations of the technical terms most frequently encountered by the museum-goer, accompanied by numerous illustrations of works from the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Museum, are presented in an easily portable...

J. Paul Getty had a passion for the exquisitely made furniture and decorative objects of eighteenth-century France, which he began collecting in the 1930s. Gillian Wilson, curator of decorative arts since 1971, has broadened and strengthened the collection, adding Boulle furniture, mounted
oriental porcelain, tapestries, clocks, ceramics, and more. In the 1980s and 1990s the Museum continued to enlarge its decorative arts holdings, creating a European sculpture department in 1984 and adding glass, maiolica, goldsmiths' work, pietre dure, and furniture from Italy and Northern...

This newest publication in the popular Looking At series deals with glass terminology. The often arcane technical terms relating to the production and decoration of glass, as well as names of special shapes of glass beakers, are defined in succinct language. Ranging from ancient Roman moldmade glass to modern pressed glass, this glossary is a handy guide for museum-goers and anyone interested in the art of glassmaking.
Illustrated with samples of Roman, Renaissance, Victorian, and modern glass, as well as engravings showing glassmakers at work, the book is both a visual delight and an...