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Meng, Ho Wing (Author) & Lim, Albert (Photographer) : The Emperor's Lost Treasure: Remnants Of Unrecorded Chenghua Porcelain

Times Editions, Singapore, 2003

ISBN B001B3WJSQ

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 225 pages. Ground-breaking Monograph on subject. One of the finest books on Chinese Dynasty porcelain ever published. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents "The Emperor's Lost Treasure: Remnants of Unrecorded Chenghua Porcelain". The culmination of Dr. Ho Wing Meng's life-work as a scholar of Classical Chinese art. A philosopher (of the Western School) by training and throughout his academic career, Ho Wing Meng single-handedly restored the great legacy of the Chinese Diaspora through four definitive books on Straits Chinese (what is now Singapore and Malaysia) arts. His book on the mystery of the Emperor Chenghua porcelain of the Ming Dynasty is provocative, speculative, and dazzling. Very little is known about Chenghua porcelain because most of it has mysteriously vanished. Very little has been found after more than five hundred years of legal and illegal search-excavations. Still, the little that has come to light indisputably surpasses the porcelain that any of the great Chinese Dynasties subsequently produced, particularly the legendary Kangxi Dynasty of the final Qing Period. Every successive ruler orders new porcelain designs to mark his reign, consigning his predecessors' to the past and thereby dispersing, neglecting, and eventually destroying them. By possibly destroying his porcelain, Emperor Chenghua was giving his successors a clean slate and helping to perpetuate porcelain art without the burden of Chenghua greatness. Ho Wing Meng has asserted for more than thirty years that the collection presented in this book gives an incomparable glimpse into precisely this greatness. Because the pieces differ radically from what is considered authenticated Chenghua porcelain, the book was not allowed to be published until 2003 by Singapore, which relented only after Ho Wing Meng agreed to present the collection as a "you-be-the-judge" provocation rather than the definitive guide to Chenghua porcelain. We have not seen anything like these pieces, which are the most refined and fully realized of Chinese figurative painting, perfecting the tradition's simplicity of line, but with none of the overripe mannerism of Kangxi porcelain. An absolute "must-have" title for art book collections. This title is now collectible. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. 120 color plates. One of the most beautiful art books of our time. A fine copy. . ISBN B001B3WJSQ.

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Meng, Ho Wing (Author) & Lim, Albert (Photographer) : The Emperor's Lost Treasure: Remnants Of Unrecorded Chenghua Porcelain

Times Editions, Singapore, 2003

ISBN B001B3WJSQ

First Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 225 pages. Ground-breaking Monograph on subject. One of the finest books on Chinese Dynasty porcelain ever published. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents "The Emperor's Lost Treasure". The culmination of Dr. Ho Wing Meng's life-work as a scholar of Classical Chinese art. A philosopher (of the Western School) by training and throughout his academic career, Ho Wing Meng single-handedly restored the great legacy of the Chinese Diaspora through four definitive books on Straits Chinese (what is now Singapore and Malaysia) arts. His book on the mystery of the Emperor Chenghua porcelain of the Ming Dynasty is provocative, speculative, and dazzling. Very little is known about Chenghua porcelain because most of it has mysteriously vanished. Very little has been found after more than five hundred years of legal and illegal search-excavations. Still, the little that has come to light indisputably surpasses the porcelain that any of the great Chinese Dynasties subsequently produced, particularly the legendary Kangxi Dynasty of the final Qing Period. Every successive ruler orders new porcelain designs to mark his reign, consigning his predecessors' to the past and thereby dispersing, neglecting, and eventually destroying them. By possibly destroying his porcelain, Emperor Chenghua was giving his successors a clean slate and helping to perpetuate porcelain art without the burden of Chenghua greatness. Ho Wing Meng has asserted for more than thirty years that the collection presented in this book gives an incomparable glimpse into precisely this greatness. Because the pieces differ radically from what is considered authenticated Chenghua porcelain, the book was not allowed to be published until 2003 by Singapore, which relented only after Ho Wing Meng agreed to present the collection as a "you-be-the-judge" provocation rather than the definitive guide to Chenghua porcelain. We have not seen anything like these pieces, which are the most refined and fully realized of Chinese figurative painting, perfecting the tradition's simplicity of line, but with none of the overripe mannerism of Kangxi porcelain. An absolute "must-have" title for photography and art book collections. This title is now collectible. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws. A scarce copy thus. 120 color plates. One of the most beautiful art books. A fine copy. . ISBN B001B3WJSQ.

1
0

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