Antique Tools and Instruments - Hardcover

Nessi, Luigi; Cesati, Alessandro; Plassmayer, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 8874391242 ISBN 13: 9788874391240

Publisher: 5Continents, 2008

Synopsis

Utensils, tools, and instruments manufactured from the Renaissance through the mid-19th century are featured in this lavish collection of photographs and writings that highlight the artistry of objects used in the sciences, crafts, trades, and home. Cultural commentary offers a contextualization of the objects with a focus on such issues as the relationship between the object and the way it is portrayed in paintings, engravings, and illustrations; how the functional purpose guided the choice of materials and the addition of symbolic decoration; and how certain objects reflect a shift from artisan-based craft to industrial production. Astrolabes, surgical instruments, sundials, and implements for smoking are among the objects exhibited in this rarely displayed private collection.

About this title

About the Author:

Luigi Nessi is an architect specializing in material culture. His collections have been displayed at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan and the Museum der Kulturen in Basel. Alessandro Cesati is an architect and art dealer. He is the author of Clavis, Chiavi, serrature, forzieri dalla collezione Conforti and Fire-Steels. He is a former cocurator of the Milan exhibit of the Nessi collection. Richard J. Wattenmaker is the director of the Smithsonian Institution's archives of American art. He is the author of Maurice Prendergast. He lives in Washington, D.C. Peter Plassmayer is the curator and director of the clock and watch collection at the Dresden Institute of Mathematics and Physics. Marie-Véronique Clin is a curator at the Musée d’Histoire de la Médecine in Paris. Claudine Cartier is head curator at the Inspection Générale des Musées. She is the author of L’héritage industiel, un patrimoine.

About this edition

• Publisher: 5Continents
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 8874391242
• ISBN 13: 9788874391240
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368
• Editor: Wattenmaker Richard J.