A Book of Porcelain: Fine examples in the Victoria & Albert Museum

AGENTS
PLATE 1
Jar, Chinese, period of the Ming dynasty, decorated in colours of the demi-grand feu , with chased brass cover of Persian workmanship. Height. 15¼ in.
Unmarked.
A · BOOK · OF PORCELAIN
FINE EXAMPLES IN THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM
PAINTED BY WILLIAM GIBB WITH TEXT BY BERNARD RACKHAM, M.A.
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK SOHO SQUARE · LONDON · MCMX

DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO H.M. QUEEN ALEXANDRA

The twenty-eight water-colour drawings reproduced in this volume have been made from specimens of porcelain in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, many of which have never been published before, while others have not hitherto been reproduced in colours. The selection has been made not merely of those pieces in their several classes which have a high sale-room value; due consideration has been given to those which by their aesthetic qualities appealed to the sympathies of the artist, while at the same time an effort has been made to include objects having some particular historical or personal interest, or important as documents in the history of ceramics. In this connection it should be explained that the drawings were made before Mr. George Salting’s unrivalled collection of Oriental porcelain passed by his death into the hands of the nation.