20th Century Glass (Dk Collector's Guides) 
asked by iread on November 12, 2006 12:51 PM
Exploring one of the fastest growing collecting areas, the DK Collector's Guides: 20th Century Glass covers all the designers, designs, and movements that are regularly collected. From Art Deco and Studio Glass to Bohemian and Scandinavian, the book has over 1,110 individually priced items.
Reviews
I think this may well become the standard reference guide for glass collectors. Beautifully designed, accessible and I thought very comprehensive in its coverage. Starting with blown and cased glass then pressed and moulded, iridescent, enamelled, painted, stained, engraved and finally cut glass. Each of these sections is broken down into national styles, for instance, the Scandinavian section of blown and cased glass covers Kosta Boda, Orrefors, Holmegaard, Riihimaki and Karhula-Iittala. All the glass shown has a caption that includes a dimension and price guide. The back of the book includes a glossary, dealer and museum addresses and that all-important index.
A particularly interesting chapter is the last one, contemporary and studio glass. Eighty-two artists are featured with one or two examples of their work. This is beautiful fine art glass and with some items it is hard to believe that they are made out of such a brittle substance. Predictably, there is not much in this section costing less than a thousand dollars.
I think it is worth commenting on the presentation. All the pages are very cleanly designed with typographic clarity for the main text, captions, key dates and designer information. The photos (over a 1,100) are presented as cutouts and almost jump off the page, all this glass looks just stunning.
BTW. The main US publishers of collector's books should study '20th-Century Glass', this is what highly visual titles should look like!
A particularly interesting chapter is the last one, contemporary and studio glass. Eighty-two artists are featured with one or two examples of their work. This is beautiful fine art glass and with some items it is hard to believe that they are made out of such a brittle substance. Predictably, there is not much in this section costing less than a thousand dollars.
I think it is worth commenting on the presentation. All the pages are very cleanly designed with typographic clarity for the main text, captions, key dates and designer information. The photos (over a 1,100) are presented as cutouts and almost jump off the page, all this glass looks just stunning.
BTW. The main US publishers of collector's books should study '20th-Century Glass', this is what highly visual titles should look like!
reviewed by librarian on November 29, 2006 7:00 PM
A very good selection of designers and examples. I miss more elaborate explanations about the technics used in glass production. Images are in very good quality and the colors are vivid and beutifull. Very recomended for an overall study of 20th. century glass art.
reviewed by jrivera on November 26, 2006 9:27 AM
