7
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PREFACE AND
This book is a revised and expanded edition of
Decorative Arts: A Handbook of the Collections
of the J. Paul Getty Museum (Malibu, 1986).
The original volume contained entries on all
the objects acquired by the Department of
Decorative Arts through the middle of 1984.
The growth of the Museum's decorative arts
collection since that date and the formation of
the Department of European Sculpture and
Works of Art in 1984 have necessitated a new
edition. The larger part is devoted to objects in
the Department of Decorative Arts, which
covers the area of Northern Europe from 1650
to 1815, while the remainder of the entries
represent the acquisitions of the Department
of European Sculpture and Works of Art:
European objects to 1650 and Southern Euro
pean objects (from Italy, Spain, and Portugal)
to 1900.
The format remains the same: objects
are grouped by country of origin and then
arranged chronologically by medium and
form. Each object is illustrated. Wliere appro
priate and available, the following information
is given: place of manufacture, date, artist
or maker, materials, description of marks,
measurements, accession number, provenance,
exhibition history, and selected bibliography.
Two indexes are provided: the first lists
makers with their dates; the second, the
previous owners.
It is hoped that this new edition will
serve as an interim survey of the Decorative
Arts collection, pending the publication of
that department's catalogues, as well as an
introduction to a portion of the collections in
the Department of European Sculpture and
Works of Art. Objects which are not displayed
in the galleries may be viewed by students and
scholars by appointment.
This summary catalogue is based on
files created by Gillian Wilson, Curator of
Decorative Arts, and Peter Fusco, Curator of
European Sculpture and Works of Art. The
1986 edition was compiled jointly by Adrian
Sassoon and Gillian Wilson. The present book
is largely the effort of Charissa Bremer-David,
Department of Decorative Arts, and Peggy
Fogelman, Peter Fusco, and Catherine Hess,
Department of European Sculpture and Works
of Art.
Many others within the Museum have
contributed to the summary catalogue: the
late David Cohen, Associate Curator of
Decorative Arts, provided much essential
data and unfailing assistance. Jeffrey Weaver,
Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts, and
Bernard Jazzar, Intern in the Department of
Decorative Arts, contributed information
regarding marks, bibliography, and exhibition
history. Brian Considine, Conservator of
Decorative Arts and Sculpture, and Gordon
Hanlon, Assistant Conservator, aided in the
identification of materials. Jack Ross, Senior
Photographer, was responsible for new photog
raphy. Kathleen Ryczek, former Senior
Secretary in the Department of European
Sculpture and Works of Art, assisted in orga
nizing and typing portions of the manuscript.
A number of colleagues have generously
given information over the years: Theodore
Dell, New York; Rosalind Savill, Director of
the Wallace Collection, London; Sir Geoffrey
de Bellaigue, Surveyor of the Queen's Works of
Art, London; Patrick Leperlier, Paris; Bruno
Pons, Ecole Nationale du Patrimoine, Paris;
Alexandre Pradére, Paris; Jean-Nérée Ronfort
and Jean-Dominique Augarde, Paris; Anna
Maria Massinelli, Florence; Michael Bohor,
Florence; John Mallet, London; Kirsten
Aschengreen-Piacenti, Palazzo Pitti, Florence;
Bertrand Jestaz, Sorbonne, Paris; Leonard
Amico, former Assistant Curator in the
Department of European Sculpture and Works
of Art, J. Paul Getty Museum; Rainer Zietz,
