This latest title in a strikingly beautiful series of collectable books turns our attention to the rich variety of art from the Ancient Americas. We gain fascinating insights into the design and production of a wide range of objects from Mexico and Central and South America. Enlarged details chosen to inspire, illuminate, and surprise bring us close to the world of the Olmecs, Mayans, Mixtecs, Aztecs, and Incans.

Beginning by asking what constitutes Ancient American art, Colin McEwan contextualizes this art in its complexity of form and meaning. The close-ups provide the reader with insights that even a behind-the-scenes museum tour cannot offer. As we move across a range of cultures and media, we understand larger issues within which these works of art are embedded: What is the relationship between art and nature in the Ancient Americas? How were these objects used in ritual and religious practices? What is the role of masks? How do the practices of ancestor deification, sacrifice, and rituals related to fertility and procreation shape the visual and material culture of the Ancient Americas?

Jade, turquoise, featherwork, metalwork, wood, stone, ceramics, textiles, and illustrations—each beautifully photographed object is part of the extraordinary Ancient American collection of the British Museum. The beauty of the smallest details is magnified and contextualized through accompanying essays written by experts in Ancient American art.

This concise survey is an introduction to the art and culture of ancient Cyprus, from the time of the first settlers around 7000 B.C. to the end of the Roman period in the late fourth century A.D..

The many splendid achievements of the early inhabitants of Iran range from the imaginatively painted pottery of the prehistoric period to the magnificent silver vessels of Sasanian times, and include the Luristan bronzes and the spectacular sculptures of Persepolis. Civilization began early in Persia, in common with other parts of the Middle East, and John Curtis traces the history, archaeology and art from the growth of settled communities in about 6000 B.C. through to the beginning of the Islamic period in the seventh century A.D. The author illustrates this concise introduction to ancient Persia with examples drawn from the rich collection of Iranian antiquities in the British Museum.

For almost three centuries, until 612 B.C., the small kingdom of Assyria dominated the Middle East, its empire at one point extending from Iran to Egypt. The story of those years--the triumphs of the Assyrian kings in war and peace, their exploits in the hunting field, and the gods who watched over them--were recorded in stone on the walls of a succession of royal palaces. These sculptures, offering eyewitness views of a long-lost civilization, were not rediscovered until the nineteenth century.

The finest collection, transported with great difficulty to Europe, is now preserved at the British Museum. This book describes how the sculptures were found and what they meant to those who created them. It is both a richly illustrated history of Assyrian sculpture in general and a guide to the outstanding collections of the British Museum. For this Second Edition of Assyrian Sculpture, in a new format, the author has updated the text and bibliography.

In the light of current knowledge about early life in the islands, the author draws upon the impressive and remarkably comprehensive collection of Early Cycladic sculptures and other works in the British Museum, supplemented by striking examples from major American and Greek collections, to illustrate the development and increase our enjoyment of Early Cycladic art.

This illustrated volume reproduces and describes effectively every early modern German color print held at the British Museum, one of the world’s most significant collections of these rare milestones of cultural heritage and technology. New photography reveals 150 impressions in jaw-dropping detail, some of which have never been seen in public or reproduced. 

From artworks to missals and icons to wallpapers, this book breaks new ground by revealing the fascinating underlying technologies that enabled the production of these color-printed objects. Further, the volume offers significant new scholarship, pinpointing attributions to printers—not just to artists or designers. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for a new understanding of the history of print, one that encompasses all forms of printed material. Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, this collection guide will be a standard reference on German graphic art, early modern visual culture, and the history of printing itself.

From the earliest times the Egyptians used bold, bright colours to decorate their buildings, sculptures, papyri, coffins and funerary chests. The large tomb-paintings in the British Museum are the most brilliant examples of their artistry but their love of colour shows also in the small vignettes of painted papyri.

This book surveys the whole range of Egyptian painting, illustrated chiefly by the wealth of material in the British Museum. T. G. H. James examines the material used by the ancient painters and explains the conventions and methods which governed some great artists, whose work should be valued in its own right as well as for its incomparable record of Egyptian life 3,000 years ago.

Who says you can’t be pious and fashionable? Throughout the Muslim world, women have found creative ways of expressing their personality through the way they dress. Headscarves can be modest or bold, while brand-name clothing and accessories are part of a multimillion-dollar ready-to-wear industry that caters to pious fashion from head to toe. In this lively snapshot, Liz Bucar takes us to Iran, Turkey, and Indonesia and finds a dynamic world of fashion, faith, and style.

“Brings out both the sensuality and pleasure of sartorial experimentation.”
—Times Literary Supplement

“I defy anyone not to be beguiled by [Bucar’s] generous-hearted yet penetrating observation of pious fashion in Indonesia, Turkey and Iran… Bucar uses interviews with consumers, designers, retailers and journalists…to examine the presumptions that modest dressing can’t be fashionable, and fashion can’t be faithful.”
—Times Higher Education

“Bucar disabuses readers of any preconceived ideas that women who adhere to an aesthetic of modesty are unfashionable or frumpy.”
—Robin Givhan, Washington Post

“A smart, eye-opening guide to the creative sartorial practices of young Muslim women… Bucar’s lively narrative illuminates fashion choices, moral aspirations, and social struggles that will unsettle those who prefer to stereotype than inform themselves about women’s everyday lives in the fast-changing, diverse societies that constitute the Muslim world.”
—Lila Abu-Lughod, author of Do Muslim Women Need Saving?