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After ten years of austerity, the early 1950s saw rationing draw to an end. Gathered together in this colourful creation of over 1,000 products and images, The 1950s Scrapbook conjures up the life and times of the decade. From the Festival of Britain and the Coronation of Elizabeth II to the abundance of toys and television programmes, every facet of the era is covered. Memorable and evocative, The 1950s Scrapbook illustrates an extraordinary period of British history, from rationing to rock'n'roll, from Archie Andrews to the Mini Minor. It was a time when self-service shopping was a novelty, frozen foods a wonder, and detergents like Tide, Daz and Omo were the latest whirl for the washing machine. The flowing fashions were styled from nylon or Terylene, the space age was full of Dan Dare, and children watched the antics of Muffin the Mule, Hank or Andy Pandy. Decision time for girls was simpler — would their hair be in pigtails or a pony tail? Taking the best from the Robert Opie Collection, The 1950s Scrapbook adds to the different lifestyles portrayed in the companion volumes of The 1930s Scrapbook and The Wartime Scrapbook.

F.C.B. Cadell, J.D. Fergusson, G.L. Hunter and S.J. Peploe are now amongst the most admired of early twentieth-century British artists. Their direct contact with French Post-Impressionism and early knowledge of the work of Matisse and the Fauves, encouraged them to produce paintings which are considered some of the most progressive in British art of the early twentieth century. During their lifetime the Colourists developed an international reputation, exhibiting in Paris, London and New York as well as Scotland. Since their deaths they have often been overlooked in histories of British art, but in the last twenty years there has been a dramatic revival of interest in their work. Featuring essays describing the artists' lives and their involvement with the avant garde in Paris in the early years of the twentieth century, this book is richly illustrated with over 100 of the Colourists' most stylish and inventive paintings.

Focuses on Anthony van Dyck's religious work. This work highlights his ability to capture and convey his subjects' facial expressions.

Peter Monamy was the first English born and English trained specialist marine artist. He recorded the marine scene of the first half of the 18th century, when English Commerce and Sea Power were growing rapidly. He was a friend and contemporary of Hogarth and the precursor of the great school of English Sea Painters, including Samuel Scott, Charles Brooking and Dominic Serres, who were to follow him. This book gives a detailed account of his life and, for the first time, a proper assessment of his enormous artistic output. His reputation has, in the past, been somewhat tarnished by the large number of 'copies' by other minor artists. The author has been careful to illustrate only signed and undoubted examples of his work. Particular attention has been given to 'recognition details' of his technique and picture construction, which differentiate his work from others.

The dramatic 1925 Paris Exhibition heralded the emergence of the Art Deco movement as a great decorative style. The photographs in this book were originally published in three volumes to show the rooms furnished for the exhibition. These original books are now extremely rare and expensive.

- Contains some 1800 photographic images. — Valuable source of reference. — Up-to-date colour photographs — A scholarly introduction and detailed index.

This text describes the work of artists traditionally associated with the 'Animalier' school, from Troubetzkoy, to artists of the present day such as Kenworthy. The index includes 700 names and there is practical information on the technical processes.

The pieces in this book have passed through the hands of one of Britain's leading furniture dealers, Norman Adams. But it is far from being just a series of fine photographs for it concentrates principally on the British mahogany furniture of the eighteenth century, a period when British design and craftsmanship reached its pinnacle, a fact amply verified by the sustained demand for these fine pieces. Yet it is a period which curiously enough has, apart from some specialist work, been largely neglected by serious writers on the subject for many years. The book contains some 475 black and white and 56 colour photographs. The illustration of so many fine pieces, as well as unusual items, superbly photographed, would in itself have earned this book a place on the shelves of anyone seriously interested in the subject. But there is an added bonus. A firm like Norman Adams prospers by the skill of the selection in buying — a 'good eye' — and it is this essential facility, succinctly expressed in the captions to the pieces in this book, which will ensure its lasting reputation as an important work of reference.

This stunning new book presents an extraordinary panorama of eighteenth century ornamental bronzes and objets montes. Each piece is illustrated in colour and accompanied by a detailed caption and a current valuation, given in US dollar, pound Sterling and Euro. Historical surveys of ornamental bronzes and objets montes, mercury-gilt ormulu, porcelain and lacquer are provided. Text in English, French and Italian.

The nineteenth century produced dozens of independent designers, particularly towards the end of the period. As the furniture trade developed, so manufacturers and retailing split. Catalogues began to be used in retail shops as they are today. Competition between retailers and the use of the new design books resulted in a large number of designs, not only new ones but also a constant looking backwards to earlier centuries for inspiration. This change in the structure of the industry made full use of highly individual interpretations of Gothic, Renaissance, Elizabethan, Naturalistic styles, Egyptian, Old French, Louis XIV, Louis XV and Italian decorations, all applied to a wide variety of furniture. The complexity of the subject is best explained by a very large number of illustrations and this is the reason why some 6,000 appear within this book. The Dictionary is made up from forty-nine contemporary design and pattern books issued by manufacturers such as Heal s, Smith, Tatham, King, Pugin, Morris and Liberty s. Each piece of furniture has been sorted into its physical characteristics (e.g. table with three legs) so that it is only necessary to glance down the list of contents to identify into which category any particular piece belongs. Within each category the pieces are arranged in chronological order so that the evolution of each type is clearly seen. This Pictorial Dictionary, the first major study on the wide range of furniture produced in this century, is the standard work of reference on the subject.

• This is a critical study of drawings by Annibale (1560-1609) and Agostino Carricci (1557-1602), together with their cousin, Ludovico (1555-1619) The rich holdings of drawings by the Carracci in British collections can only be partially represented in this book; nevertheless, the variety of types of drawings and the high quality of the sheets here presented are striking. Over thirty of the drawings exhibited were in British hands before the middle of the eighteenth century, and thirty others entered the Royal Collection in the early 1760s. What was the appeal of Carracci drawings for British artists and amateurs from the early seventeenth to the nineteenth century? What opportunities were there for viewing or acquiring Carracci drawings, and what kinds of discussions did these drawings generate? Such questions are naturally bound up with the growth of interest all over Europe in drawings per se — still a highly specialised taste in the seventeenth century — and with the lure of Italy and its art treasures for the British as restrictions on travel gradually eased. This book looks at the changing perceptions of the Carracci as draughtsmen, and at some aspects of the history of collecting Carracci drawings in this country.

Michelangelo and Raphael each brought technical mastery to a new heights. The Ashmolean has one of the finest groups of Raphael drawings in the world and an important collection by Michelangelo.