The Materials of Sculpture

This is a book that explains, with copious illustrations, both textual and pictorial, how sculpture is made. It is a survey of world sculpture that cuts across the divisions of school and chronology and examines in detail works of art, taken from all the major civilizations (from the earliest surviving Egyptian and Chinese sculpture to that of the twentieth century in Europe and Northern America), in terms of the materials and techniques used. The book is divided into chapters according to the material used - granite, ivory, wax etc. The limitations and challenges special to each of the materials - its availability, durability, versatility, size, colour etc - are defined and discussed, not only between the materials themselves, but between the art of different cultures. The book gives a completely new perspective to the history of world sculpture, and provides an excellent basic introduction to the way sculpture is made and what it is made from.