TrueToForm

Down through the centuries Chinese craftsmen have worked with clay, wood, bamboo, paper, cloth, stone and even gourd to being humble utilitarian objects to the level of art.

The appeal of these objects to the collector-whether birdcage or basket, box or brushpot, plate or bowl, comb or basket, box or brushpot, plate or bowl, comb or pipe, shadow puppet or wood block print-transcends simple nostalgia, lying as it does in their intrunsic beauty and vitality as much as in the fact that, transmitted from father to son, the skills with which they have been so finely wrought are in danger of perishing.

This lavish collection of photographs, richer and more eclectic in examples than have ever been gathered between the covers of a single book before, celebrates the art of the Chinese craftsman.

Lynn Pan, who was born in Shanghai, is the author of eight books including Sons of the yellow Emperor and Tracing It Home.