Estelle Nikles Van Osselt (Editor)
Asia Imagined: In the Baur and Cartier Collections.
Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2015. 9788874397228 334 pages.
Large-format hardcover volume, measuring approximately 10.5" x 13.75", and dust jacket are new, still in shrinkwrap. Glossary appears on 331-333.  Catalogue of an exhibition held in Geneva at Fondation Baur, Musee des Arts d'Extreme-Orient from November 12, 2015 to February 16, 2016. With texts by Pascale Lepeu and Song Haiyang. "The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw the emergence of collections of "curios", so named because they stimulated curiosity. Exotic objects from China and Japan -- embellished with fanciful decorations and made from a variety of materials, many of which were little known in Europe -- enthralled the West. They kindled a fad for Asia, beguiled art lovers, and exerted a profound influence on the graphic arts in Europe. This fascinating period also inspired lifelong callings: that of the collector in Alfred Bauer (1865-1951); and, in Alfred Cartier (1841-1925) and his three sons, Louis (1875-1942), Pierre (1878-1964), and Jacques (1884-1941), that of the creator. Whereas Cartier's Asian-influenced pieces are widely admired, their historical and cultural context is less known. Thus was born the idea of exhibiting Cartier's Asia-inspired innovations alongside masterworks from the collections of the Baur Foundation, Museum of Fine Art. As the book unfolds, an "Asia Imagined" gradually takes shape. Diamond-encrusted pagodas and pavilions, literati engrossed beneath starry skies, pearly moonlit scenes, sparkling phoenixes, jade dragons, and multi-coloured, cherry-blossom-like gems depict an imaginary land. This unprecedented juxtaposition of exquisite objects from the Baur Collections -- imperial porcelains, lacquerware works sprinkled with precious metals, embroidered silks, jades, enamels, netsukes, sword fittings, and Japanese prints -- with the shimmering beauty of the creations of Maison Cartier conjures a rare sense of the magic an marvels of ancient China and Japan."