Artisans in Early Imperial China

There's a reason why this wonderful book is back in print! In this marvelous study of the craftspeople of Han dynasty China (approximately 200 BCE-200 CE), Anthony Barbieri-Low looks at the people who made the beautiful objects that now fill museums around the world--what were their lives like? Who cast these bronzes, wove this silk, threw these pots, painted this lacquer, and beyond that, who chopped down the trees and mined the metal? This is a fantastic account of the manufacturing processes that created physical objects, and wherever possible, the author has looked beyond conventional aesthetic approaches (isn't this a… show more.