MOSAIC HISTORY: General:
20056 TURQUOISE MOSAICS FROM MEXICO £12.99
Colin McEwan, Andrew Middleton, Caroline Cartwright & Rebecca Stacey, The British Museum, 2006, 96pp, illustrated throughout in full colour, paperback
This long-awaited book is a true delight! The magnificent Turquoise mosaics in the British Museum are an incredibly spectacular display of the mosaicist's art. I marvel at how they created these (effectively) micro-mosaics from such a hard material, given only the most basic of tools. All the museum's mosaics are included, along with details of how they were made, their religious significance and the materials they were made from. Fabulous!
16079 LES PAVEMENTS D'OPUS SIGNINUM, Technique, Décor, fonction architecturale £38.00
Véronique Vassal, BAR International Series 1472, 2006, French text, 245pp, 28 illustrations, 4 in colour, A4 paperback
A study of this simple form of mosaic decoration is long overdue. Includes a gazetteer of 557 sites having significant opus signinum mosaics and a detailed study of the patterns, materials etc that go to make up this distinctive mosaic technique. 13188 MOSAICS AS HISTORY, The Near East from late antiquity to Islam £14.95
G W Bowerstock, Belknap Press, Harvard, USA, 2006, 147pp, 50 colour + 6 b & w illustrations, 20.0 x 15.0 cm, cloth, dustwrapper
The mosaics that have been unearthed over the last couple of hundred years have shed an interesting and fascinating insight into life in antiquity. Mosaics depict everyday events, combat, even maps of the known world and as such are a unique resource for historians in general as well as art-historians. This book looks in detail at a number of mosaics and shows how they enlarge our knowledge of historic events and places.
03089 COSMATESQUE ORNAMENT, Flat Polychrome Geometric Patterns in Architecture £60.00 Paloma Pajares-Ayuela, Thames and Hudson, April 2002, 320pp, 569 illus including 377 in colour, cloth, dustwrapper Known for their remarkable mosaic work, the ‘Cosmati’ stoneworkers of the 12th and 13th centuries left a legacy of some of the most beautiful ornament in the world. Distinguished by their complex geometric patterns, Cosmatesque designs can be found today in the churches of Rome and its environs, and as far afield as Westminster Abbey This book richly illustrates Cosmatesque Monuments and techniques in over 300 pages of colour photographs, and defines their geometric and mathematical basis. It provides a revealing look at the state of building in Rome after the fall of the Empire; an analysis of the symbolic meaning behind the quincunx, the quintessential Cosmatesque design; a comparison of different sites; and a close examination of the Schola Cantorum in the Church of San Clemente, Rome.
LE DÉCOR GÉOMÉTRIQUE DE LA MOSAÏQUE ROMAINE:
04050 Vol I: Répertoire graphique et descriptif des compositions linéaires et isotropes (OUT OF PRINT)
Richard Prudhomme et al, Picard, France, 1985 (reprinted 2002), English/French/
German/Italian/Spanish complete texts, 432pp, over 1600 mosaic drawings, cloth
04051 Vol II: Répertoire graphique et descriptif des décors centrés £49.00
Marie-Pat Raynaud et al, Picard, France, 2002, English/French/German/Italian/
Spanish complete texts, 264pp, over 1000 mosaic drawings, cloth
This ambitious work, now completed by the publication of Vol II, covers all the ornamental works by the mosaic craftsmen of Roman antiquity created in the regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. All the designs are based on actual mosaics and are identified by a bibliographical reference. The descriptions are produced in a ‘standardized’ format in all five languages, thus eliminating any possible confusion of description. Each design is drawn, rather than photographed to ensure that it can be ‘read’ with ease and certainty.
13059 MOSAICS OF THE GREEK AND ROMAN WORLD £30.00
Cambridge University Press, 1999, 357pp, 276 x 219mm, 47 line drawings, 271 b&w illustrations, 24 colour plates, 8 maps, paperback
A comprehensive account of mosaics in the ancient world from the early pebble mosaics of Greece to the pavements of Christian churches in the east. The mosaics are detailed by region, emphasising the characteristics of the individual workshops and there are chapters on technique and production, role in architecture and social function.
GEOMETRIC DESIGN IN ROMAN TESSELLATED PAVEMENTS:
07028 CD-ROM, on screen access only £12.99 inc VAT
07029 Printed format, b & w edition £14.99
Susan Tebby, Walker Mayo Associates, 2003, 194 images, CD-ROM: for Windows, MS Powerpoint 97 or later, book: 80pp, A4, spiral bound, laminated covers
First presented at Leicester Polytechnic in 1980, and now updated and revised, this study establishes a basic framework for the comparative analysis of the geometric patterns used in Roman mosaics. Divided up into various geometric schemes, the database is simple to use and provides a structure for the study of mosaic design.
13064 MOSAÏQUES, TRÉSOR DE LA LATINITÉ £109.00
Edited by Henri Lavagne, Élisabeth de Balanda & Armando Uribe Echeverria, Ars Latina, France, 2001, French text, 627pp, 313 full colour plates, cloth, dustwrapper.
One of the finest books we have ever seen on mosaics. Comprising 313 fabulous colour plates, some double page, detailing the history of mosaic from antiquity to the present day. The text is excellent and includes critical analysis as well as historic reference. Also has an exhaustive bibliography, a chronology and a very detailed index.
13122 MOSAICO ROMANO DEL MEDITERRÁNEO £29.50
Various authors, Museo Arqueológico, Madrid, Spain, 2001, Spanish text, 192pp, 8 colour plates (mostly full page) + 6 b & w, oversize paperback
This is the fabulous catalogue of an exhibition held in Madrid in 2001, containing some of the ‘gems’ of mosaic art from around the Mediterranean Basin. Superb illustrations, excellent text. and great value!
13131 MOSAÏQUE ET CULTURE DANS L’OCCIDENT ROMAIN, Ier - IVe siècles £255.00
Janine Lancha, L’Erma di Bretschneider, Italy, 1997, French text, 427pp, 126 b & w plates, 12 colour illus, cloth
This book includes a catalogue of 129 mosaics depicting muses, poets, philosophers and various scenes from literature found in the eastern Roman Empire and dating from the 1st to the 4th centuries AD. The mosaics are studied iconographically and in relation to their literary and geographical contexts, and illustrate the process of Romanization of the various provinces.
13135 MOSAÏQUES GÉOMÉTRIQUE, Les Ateliers de Vienne - Isère £136.00
Janine Lancha, L’Erma di Bretschneider, Italy, 1977, 240pp, 101 b & w plates, cloth
A systematic study of the geometric patterns in the Roman mosaics from the Vienne and Isère schools, divided up into the various shapes commonly found in such mosaics.
13165 MOSAICS MAKE A SITE: The Conservation in situ of Mosaics on Archaeological Sites, Proceedings of the VIth ICCM Conference, 1996 £39.50
Demetrios Michaelides (ed), ICCM, Italy, 2003, mainly English text with a couple of sections in French, 398pp, 164 b & w illus, paperback
The report of the VIth ICCM conference which looked at the conservation of mosaics in situ around the world. The conference papers covered the conservation of a diverse selection of mosaics from ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine to the Albert Memorial in London. Each mosaic is treated as a case study with further discussion and cross reference. A must-have for all involved in mosaic conservation.
13171 MEDIEVAL MOSAICS, Light, Color, Materials £34.99
Various authors, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa Tatti, Italy, 2000, English and Italian texts, 328pp, 13 b & w + 120 colour illustrations, octavo cloth, dustwrapper
A fascinating insight into the techniques and problems faced by Byzantine mosaic artists, concerning the choice and manufacture of materials, the effects of light and social context, and the design and installation of the finished work. Excellent photos and comprehensive glossary and bibliography make this a most comprehensive work.
Manuela Farneti, Longo Editore, Italy, 1993, parallel Italian and English texts, 237pp, 34 colour + 13 b&w illus, paperback
An excellent overview of the history and development of mosaic techniques together with a much-needed glossary of mosaic terminology in both Italian and English. An essential work for all who study or make mosaics in any form or material.