Highlights
Nordic Private Collections of Chinese Objects
The latest publication by Minna Törmä explores the development of four private collections of Chinese art by people from Nordic countries. Törmä’s research may be seen as a continuation of her interest in the Finnish-born Swede, Osvald Sirén (1879–1966), a preeminent historian of Chinese art in Europe. Sirén was one of the first academically trained art historians who visited China to conduct research on Chinese art history, in contrast to others who went on exploratory excursions or archaeological activities and extracted objects for museums or institutional studies.
Textiles in Burman Culture
Sylvia Fraser-Lu is a respected author in the world of Southeast Asian textiles. Her painstaking research and attention to detail ensure this book will be an important source for students and textile enthusiasts. A comprehensive text is accompanied by relevant colour and black-and-white plates. The author carries the reader through the history of textiles from early settlements to the workshops of today. Chapters on techniques and production highlight areas of the country where beautiful fabrics continue to be produced.
Henri Bertin and the Representation of China in Eighteenth-Century France
John Finlay’s long-anticipated book highlights a sizeable number of understudied Chinese objects in the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. They are part of the legacy of Henri Léonard Jean Baptiste Bertin (1720–92), a French statesman who maintained an extensive, decadeslong correspondence with the Jesuit missionaries in Beijing. Known as the cabinet de curiosités chinoises, Bertin’s collection comprised several hundreds of paintings, books, and artefacts of various kinds that he received from Beijing.