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9781350505049

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Clay Works is a revelation. Susan Bean’s tour-de-force book brings into focus the vibrant, living quality of unfired clay, as shaped by expert craftspeople across South Asia. It will fundamentally transform the way art historians think about the most elemental of media, clay. * Rebecca Brown, Professor of History of Art, Johns Hopkins University, USA * This pioneering book brings together a life-time’s research in a major, yet largely ignored, subject in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. * Richard Blurton, Former Head of the South & Southeast Asia Section, British Museum, UK * A paradigm-changing and deeply-nuanced study that prompts profound engagement with the significance of raw clay’s dynamic nature. It will be valuable reading for those in a range of disciplines. * Janice Leoshko, Associate Professor Emerita of Art History (South Asian Art), The University of Texas at Austin, USA * Moves the art form of terracruda from the margins of South Asian art history into the mainstream—not merely probing the medium’s versatility, but opening our eyes to raw earth as a sentient material that supports life. * Jyotindra Jain, Former Professor of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India * Clay Works is fresh art history, written with deep research that invites readers to reimagine the complex life of a ubiquitous and familiar material. In covering a diversity of locations and practices, it will be meaningful for anyone interested in the region's many micro-material cultures. * Annapurna Garimella, Managing Trustee, Art, Resources and Teaching Trust, India, and editor of The Long Arc of South Asian Art (2022) *

Author Information

Susan S. Bean is an Independent Scholar and Former Senior Curator of South Asian Art at Peabody Essex Museum. She is Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Center for Art & Archaeology, American Institute of Indian Studies, India and USA.

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