The White Road A Pilgrimage Of Sorts

Author: Edmund De Waal

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $28.00 NZD
  • : 9780701187712
  • : Chatto & Windus
  • : Chatto & Windus
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  • : September 2014
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 40.0
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  • : books

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  • : Edmund De Waal
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  • : Paperback
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  • : 738.092
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  • : 416
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Barcode 9780701187712
9780701187712

Description

An intimate narrative history of porcelain, structured around five journeys through landscapes where porcelain was dreamed about, fired, refined, collected, and coveted. Extraordinary new nonfiction, a gripping blend of history and memoir, by the author of the award-winning and bestselling international sensation, " The ""Hare with the Amber Eyes." In "The White Road," bestselling author and artist Edmund de Waal gives us an intimate narrative history of his lifelong obsession with porcelain, or "white gold." A potter who has been working with porcelain for more than forty years, de Waal describes how he set out on five journeys to places where porcelain was dreamed about, refined, collected and coveted-and that would help him understand the clay's mysterious allure. From his studio in London, he starts by travelling to three "white hills"-sites in China, Germany and England that are key to porcelain's creation. But his search eventually takes him around the globe and reveals more than a history of cups and figurines; rather, he is forced to confront some of the darkest moments of twentieth-century history. Part memoir, part history, part detective story, "The White Road" chronicles a global obsession with alchemy, art, wealth, craft, and purity. In a sweeping yet intimate style that recalls" The Hare with the Amber Eyes," de Waal gives us a singular understanding of "the spectrum of porcelain" and the mapping of desire.

Promotion info

The gripping story of the lure of porcelain, or 'white gold', from the Number One bestselling author of The Hare with Amber Eyes

Reviews

"De Waal writes beautifully, wears his learning lightly and charmingly and makes sure anyone and everyone will care deeply about the white stuff too" -- Robert Bound Monocle

Author description

Edmund de Waal is an artist whose porcelain is exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. His bestselling memoir, The Hare with the Amber Eyes, won the RSL Ondaatje prize and the Costa Biography Award and in 2015 he was awarded the Windham-Campbell prize for non-fiction by Yale University. He lives in London with his family. www.edmunddewaal.com