Post by Lady Kimiko on Jul 23, 2011 11:25:30 GMT -5
Title: Japanese Animal Art - Antique & Contemporary
Price I paid: $20
Size: 111 pages
By: Lea Baten
Period?: See the review
At a glance most people would not assume this book is "period". I disagree...
The meanings and myths behind most of the modern symbolism and animals used in Japanese art gets their meaning from history. While not everything in this book is perfectly period, it provides great insight or 'trails' for you to follow back to find period roots behind the meaning of various things. Many animals have kept their same symbolic meaning through the centuries.
So...don't approach this as a "modern" book. Approach it as a stepping stone to lead you back through history ...a guide and direction. I know in terms of the Momoyama period, this book is mostly accurate. Additionally, there are some parts and bits that date clean back to heian. The cat page includes lore dating back to 987ad! the Jewel Beetle has info dating back to 593ad! WHOW! Lots of period gems in here!
Tread gently, and learn to sift through the information to find real gems of period info.
This book does have great color photos, high quality glossy pages, and includes a quick review of Japanese periods in history in the front of the book.
Price I paid: $20
Size: 111 pages
By: Lea Baten
Period?: See the review
At a glance most people would not assume this book is "period". I disagree...
The meanings and myths behind most of the modern symbolism and animals used in Japanese art gets their meaning from history. While not everything in this book is perfectly period, it provides great insight or 'trails' for you to follow back to find period roots behind the meaning of various things. Many animals have kept their same symbolic meaning through the centuries.
So...don't approach this as a "modern" book. Approach it as a stepping stone to lead you back through history ...a guide and direction. I know in terms of the Momoyama period, this book is mostly accurate. Additionally, there are some parts and bits that date clean back to heian. The cat page includes lore dating back to 987ad! the Jewel Beetle has info dating back to 593ad! WHOW! Lots of period gems in here!
Tread gently, and learn to sift through the information to find real gems of period info.
This book does have great color photos, high quality glossy pages, and includes a quick review of Japanese periods in history in the front of the book.