Japanese art : masterpieces in the British Museum /

The opening of a new suite of Japanese galleries in the British Museum provided the occasion for the publication of this work, which in several chapters briefly but clearly discusses the history of Japanese art and illustrates it with 251 excellent, high-quality reproductions of items from the museum. The authors review traditions of painting, prints (including a chapter devoted to the 20th century), sculpture, lacquerware, and the less-familiar arts of armor, swords, money, mirrors, and clocks. One chapter deals with the tea ceremony, in honor of the complete chashitsu (tea ceremony room) now in place inside the museum, donated by the Urasenke Foundation of Kyoto. An extensive and useful glossary of Japanese art terms is appended. This book would be an excellent introduction to Japanese art for the lay reader or a useful supplement to traditional histories for college and university libraries.-- Patricia R. Hausman, Coll. of William and Mary Lib., Williamsburg, Va. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.