Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment. Australia, Oceania, Asia, Africa

Adelaide : Ethnic Art Press ; South Yarra, Vic. : Macmillan, 2009. Quarto, cloth in illustrated dustjacket, pp. 420, illustrated in colour. As new copy, still sealed in shrinkwrap and in publisher’s carton.

“A sumptuously produced book with an elaborate, informative text and 704 beautiful photographs of adornment from many parts of the world, ranging from Aboriginal Australia to Africa. A unique feature of this 420-page book is its starting point in Aboriginal Australia with 85 spectacular photographs, followed by 119 photographs of fascinating ornaments from New Guinea, and 68 images showing equally arresting objects from the rest of Oceania. These chapters draw on the extensive holdings of the South Australian Museum as well as the substantial private Daalder collection. Other cultures collected by the Daalders are also strongly represented, with 66 pieces of jewellery from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, and 136 from Southeast Asia, China and Mongolia. The book subsequently highlights the Himalayas, India, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Hardbound in linen, with a laminated dust jacket and printed on excellent paper, this volume presents both a stunning visual experience through its large and colourful illustrations, and an accessible but scholarly discussion of the regions and cultures which produced the objects shown, as well a detailed description of the salient features of each ornament.” –Publisher