Buckland Books

René Simmermacher, Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2000, German text, 118pp, 516 colour illus, illustrated boards

This is a superb record of the German Art Nouveau (or Jugendstil) tiles in the Landesmuseum's collection, including excellent full colour illustrations of the tiles and their backs - a great help in identification. It also has a number of Belgian and English tiles, but sadly many of these are miss-attributed. In particular, tiles by Alfred Meakin are attributed to Maw and Co (!), and most others are just listed as 'unidentified' when the back patterns shown are well known and give firm attributions. That apart, this is still a superb book and to resolve the problem, we are producing a 'checklist' of the English and Belgian tiles with correct attributions, which is available on request (order ref: 1004a - price £1.00).

Anne Maillard, Éditions Septima, France, 2000, French text, 176pp, 60 colour + 63 b & w illus, A4 paperback, DUE NEXT WEEK

The museum of architectural ceramics at Auneuil, near Beauvais in France has a very fine collection of catalogues of tiles and other architectural ceramics. Here we have a complete catalogue of this collection, with the added bonus of superb illustrations taken from the original books themselves. Covering tin-glazed tiles, machine-made tiles, roof tiles and garden ornaments, even complete chimneypieces, this is a documentary record of French architectural ceramics from the Victorian and particularly Edwardian eras. Fabulous!

Various authors, Nederlands Tegelmuseum, Otterlo, Netherlands, 2000, Dutch text with English summary, 60pp, 74 colour + 6 b & w illus, paperback

The catalogue of a current exhibition featuring the tiles and tile panels made by the De Distel pottery in Amsterdam, mainly in Art Nouveau style. The designs in this excellent little book are mainly in ‘Continental’ Art Nouveau style, along the lines of Alphonse Mucha, but there are also some later designs more in Art Deco style.

Arq. Alejandro Artucio Urioste, Museo del Azulejo, Montevideo, Uruguay, 1998, Spanish text, 112pp, 1322 colour illus + 61 b & w illus of tile backs, large paperback

A catalogue raisonné of the French stencilled tin-glaze tiles exported to South America in vast quantities at the end of the 19th century. The number of illustrations reflects the enormity of the task. All the tiles are identified to area and manufacturer too, making this an invaluable reference work, if a little awkward in layout.

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Our latest secondhand booklist is now available and will be e-mailed to you on request. In particular, we have a number of rare and interesting books on mosaics from a reference library, together with a few items form the library of the late Peter Fischer, which we are selling on behalf of the British Association for Modern Mosaic.  All the proceeds from the sale of these books will be donated to the Society.

BUCKLAND BOOKS, Holly Tree House, 18 Woodlands Road, LITTLEHAMPTON, West Sussex, BN17 5PP, England

Tel/fax: +44 (0) 1903 717 648
E-mail: cblanchett@lineone.net