Clay Works
Earthen Sculpture in South Asia
Seiten
2026
Bloomsbury Visual Arts (Verlag)
978-1-350-50504-9 (ISBN)
Bloomsbury Visual Arts (Verlag)
978-1-350-50504-9 (ISBN)
- Noch nicht erschienen (ca. Februar 2026)
- Versandkostenfrei
- Auch auf Rechnung
- Artikel merken
Explores the prominence of painted air-dried clay (polychrome terracruda) in sculptural practices in South Asia, and the dynamic collaboration between materials, clay modelers and clienteles.
Until recently, polychrome terracruda (air-dried clay) sculpture has been virtually absent from exhibitions and scholarship on South Asian art history. This is beginning to change.
As early Indic texts and accounts published in the last few centuries attest, this malleable and dynamic medium has played a fundamental role in the region’s visual arts.
This boundary-breaking book traces the longstanding interactions between clay, sculptors, and their clienteles; shaping and reshaping religious practices, social formations, and aesthetic values across the region. The first chapter explores the history of terracruda as artistic medium; the following two chapters present long trajectories of practice in the Buddhist Himalayas and the Deccan; and the latter two chapters offer insight into terracruda sculpture’s role in cultural transformations—the 18th and 19th-century artistic florescence in Bengal, and British colonial displays of terracruda figures at international exhibitions. Employing an ecological approach that recognizes substances, things, and objects as players in the world, Clay Works celebrates the contributions of clay’s supple plasticity and ephemerality and brings a much-needed and timely perspective to South Asian art history.
Until recently, polychrome terracruda (air-dried clay) sculpture has been virtually absent from exhibitions and scholarship on South Asian art history. This is beginning to change.
As early Indic texts and accounts published in the last few centuries attest, this malleable and dynamic medium has played a fundamental role in the region’s visual arts.
This boundary-breaking book traces the longstanding interactions between clay, sculptors, and their clienteles; shaping and reshaping religious practices, social formations, and aesthetic values across the region. The first chapter explores the history of terracruda as artistic medium; the following two chapters present long trajectories of practice in the Buddhist Himalayas and the Deccan; and the latter two chapters offer insight into terracruda sculpture’s role in cultural transformations—the 18th and 19th-century artistic florescence in Bengal, and British colonial displays of terracruda figures at international exhibitions. Employing an ecological approach that recognizes substances, things, and objects as players in the world, Clay Works celebrates the contributions of clay’s supple plasticity and ephemerality and brings a much-needed and timely perspective to South Asian art history.
Susan S. Bean is an Independent Scholar and Former Senior Curator of South Asian Art at Peabody Essex Museum. She is Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Center for Art & Archaeology, American Institute of Indian Studies, India and USA.
List of Illustrations
Prologue: Adventures with Clay
1. Clay Matters
2. Precious Earth in Bhutan and the Buddhist Himalayas
3. The Career of Clay in the Deccan
4. Modelling Modern Bengal
5. Pax Britannica—The Empire’s Clay Subjects
6. Epilogue—Inside Out
Index
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 5.2.2026 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 102 colour illus. |
| Verlagsort | London |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 162 x 236 mm |
| Gewicht | 740 g |
| Themenwelt | Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Kunstgeschichte / Kunststile |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-350-50504-8 / 1350505048 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-350-50504-9 / 9781350505049 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
aus dem Bereich
kleine Kulturgeschichte einer brillanten Allianz
Buch | Softcover (2025)
Iudicium (Verlag)
CHF 33,90
