Beginning in the Middle Ages Europeans mounted exotic objects such as oriental porcelain in settings of precious or semiprecious metal as a tribute to the rarity and value of the pieces. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, it became increasingly fashionable in Parisian society to decorate the interiors of houses with Far Eastern materials such as lacquer and mounted porcelain. The marchands-mercier, the merchants of the luxury markets, devised settings of silver, gold, and gilt bronze, many examples of which are in the collection of the Getty Museum and illustrated in Mounted Oriental Porcelain.
In this revised edition, thirty-two items are catalogued, ranging in date from 1665 to 1785. Gillian Wilson, curator of decorative arts at the Getty Museum, provides commentary on each object, along with information on marks, provenance, exhibitions, and publications. The introductory essay is by the late Sir Francis Watson, who was director of the Wallace Collection in London and surveyor of the Queen's works of art.
Price: $80.00 
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