150
BOOK REVIEWS
The handsome volume has a short preface by James Cahill who wisely cautions the reader to keep in mind that the book "is not an authority, but a tool." He says that anyone “who passes final judgment on the authenticity of a painting according to whether or not the artist's or collectors' seals on it seem to match those reproduced here, without taking into sufficient account of other kinds of external evidence, and without considering all such evidence secondary to the painting itself, will certainly not be using the book as its compilers intended.”
There are also short appropriate essays by the compilers themselves: C. C. Wang's "Seals and Authentication," in which he too affirms that "seals are useful only as aids in the work of authentication," and stresses that brush work and calligraphy remain the most important factors in judging a painting; and Victoria Contag's "The Chinese Seal, its evolution, cutting and use, with a note on vermilion ink." The book also has separate Chinese bibliographies (with title translations into English) on both Chinese paintings and seals. Painters and collectors included in the volume are listed according to stroke-count, while "fancy names" are separately listed alphabetically. Also included are a listing of prominent circles of painters and a useful Publisher's Note and Key to Abbreviations. The latter is especially helpful in that most translated entries in the book are in German. Thus the Key explains to the English language reader the contents of each of the nine lettered entries which follow each painter's name. There is one error, however, in the Key: "I", one of the nine letters, in this case signifying "subject matter,” should be “T” which instead of “I” appears throughout the actual text itself.
The book is expensive, but beautifully done and an indispensable tool for the specialist,
STEPHEN UHALLEY, Jr.
CHINESE COMMUNIST SOCIETY: THE FAMILY AND THE VILLAGE, C. K. Yang. Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press, 1965. Part 1: xii, 246 pp. Part 2: xii, 276 pp. Paper. US$3.95.
This volume contains two studies, The Chinese Family in the Communist Revolution and A Chinese Village in Early Communist Transition, which were published separately in 1959.
150
BOOK REVIEWS
The handsome volume has a short preface by James Cahill who wisely cautions the reader to keep in mind that the book "is not an authority, but a tool." He says that anyone “who passes final judgment on the authenticity of a painting according to whether or not the artist's or collectors' seals on it seem to match those reproduced here, without taking into sufficient account of other kinds of external evidence, and without considering all such evidence secondary to the painting itself, will certainly not be using the book as its compilers intended.”
There are also short appropriate essays by the compilers themselves: C. C. Wang's "Seals and Authentication," in which he too affirms that "seals are useful only as aids in the work of authentication," and stresses that brush work and calligraphy remain the most important factors in judging a painting; and Victoria Contag's "The Chinese Seal, its evolution, cutting and use, with a note on vermilion ink." The book also has separate Chinese bibliographies (with title translations into English) on both Chinese paintings and seals, Painters and collectors included in the volume are listed according to stroke-count, while "fancy names" are separately listed alphabetically. Also included are a listing of prominent circles of painters and a useful Publisher's Note and Key to Abbreviations. The latter is especially helpful in that most translated entries in the book are in German. Thus the Key explains to the English language reader the contents of each of the nine lettered entries which follow each painter's name. There is one error, however, in the Key: "I", one of the nine letters, in this case signifying "subject matter,” should be “T” which instead of “I” appears throughout the actual text itself.
The book is expensive, but beautifully done and an indis- pensable tool for the specialist,
STEPHEN UHALLEY, Jr.
CHINESE COMMUNIST SOCIETY: THE FAMILY AND THE VILLAGE, C. K. Yang. Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press, 1965. Part 1: xii, 246 pp. Part 2: xii, 276 pp. Paper. US$3.95.
This volume contains two studies, The Chinese Family in the Communist Revolution and A Chinese Village in Early Com- munist Transition, which were published separately in 1959.
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