Looking at European Ceramics: A Guide to Technical

What is maiolica? What is the difference between hard-paste and soft-paste porcelain. What is a piatto da pompa? This book offers definitions of these and other terms related to the techniques, processes, and materials used in the making of ceramics in Europe from the Middle Ages throughout the beginning of the twentieth century. Concise and readable explanations of the technical terms most frequently encountered by the museum-goer, accompanied by numerous illustrations of works from the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Museum, are presented in an easily portable volume. The fourth in a series of "Looking at" books co-published with the British Museum Press, this guide will be invaluable to all those wishing to increase their understanding and enjoyment of ceramics.

Catherine Hess is Associate Curator of Sculpture and Works of Art at the J. Paul Getty Museum and is the author of Italian Maiolica (Malibu, 1987).
David Harris Cohen is Associate Curator of Decorative Arts at the Museum. His article "The Chambre des Portraits Designed by Victor Louis for the King of Poland" appeared in the 1991 issue of The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal.