Dragons & Pagodas- A Celebration of Chinoiserie- Book

Chinoiserie is not about China but about what Europe imagined China to be — and that imagination, at its best, produced some of the most exuberant decoration in the history of Western interiors. Aldous Bertram has spent years with this material, and Dragons & Pagodas has the quality of genuine enthusiasm: he is not surveying a field so much as sharing an obsession. The book moves between grand summer palaces and the plasterwork detail of a single ceiling with equal pleasure, and his own chinoiserie watercolors and collages give it the feeling of a living practice rather than a scholarly survey.

Book Details

• 240 pages
• 9.6 × 1.2 × 12.3 inches
• Cloth bound with edge stain
• Published by Vendome Press

Complete the Set

Custom Bookplates · Chinoiserie Collection · The Library

• Chinoiserie is a term for Western art and design inspired by a largely invented vision of China. Marco Polo’s sensational account of his visit to the exotic East in the 13th century sparked a fascination with China that reached a fever pitch in the 18th century and continues to this day. Art historian and artist Aldous Bertram has long been captivated by chinoiserie.
• 240 pages with tons of color photos
• 9.6 x 1.2 x 12.3 inches
• Cloth bound with edge stain
• English text
• Published by Vendome Press