A Taste for the Exotic: Orientalist Interiors Hardcover – 26 Sept. 2011

Sumptuous interiors and artefacts allied to a scholarly but readable text. A superb book of reference but also a book to help you dream of putting together your own wall of blue-and-white Ming and Qing porcelain!

Great book, Great pictures and a very interesting read

This book is extravagant in every way. It will provide me with many hours of wonderful viewing. I have only flipped through but am going to make time to give this book hours and hours of my time.

A beautiful book anyone would be pleased to own (in fact I bought my copy for someone else, flicked through it, and was so enamoured I swapped him another book for it). Lovely, lovely

This is a large coffee table book, 240 pages, with heavy photo stock pages. It is the tale of how Chinese inspiration - Chinoiserie became fashionable in the 17th and 18th century. This style grew to include influences from most of the East. This will show and explain this fascination with Oriental design.The pictures are lush and rich in colour, many are full page photos which show good detail. Specific subjects covered are the taste for the exotic, the arts of China and Japan, India and the Near East. There is a brief, but not very detailed index.Each picture is identified with what is shown, where it originated and the dates. This is a history of the West's interest and the discovery of Eastern design. The text is not too technical, but it certainly does not have historical anecdotes to pull in some readers' interest.This will give you the information you want and need to know about the wallpaper, decors, textiles, porcelains, furniture and the collectors of these artistic works.In some cases the photos cut off some of the magnificence of the whole designs, such as the ones taken of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton England. Many times the whole buildings are not pictured to demonstrate the entire scope and influence of this style. What is also not shown are any of the oriental rugs that certainly have been one of the most outlasting influences of the east or the wood and fabric screens. We see everything luxurious but not the more common items.Still, this would be a good addition for those interested in art, the East, architecture, design and history.

i like it very much

Excellent