1880 BIRDWOOD INDUSTRIAL ARTS INDIA 1ST SIGNED RIVIERE MOROCCO GILT BINDING For Sale

GEORGE C. M. BIRDWOODTHE INDUSTRIAL ARTS OF INDIA1880 FIRST EDITIONSIGNED RIVIÈRE FULL MOROCCO BINDINGELABORATE INTERLACED GILT DECORATIONCROWNED VR CYPHER91 PLATE LEAVES & FOLDING COLOR MAPSOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM ART HANDBOOK

BIRDWOOD, George C. M. The Industrial Arts of India. London: Chapman and Hall, Limited, published for the Committee of Council on Education, 1880.

First edition.

A particularly decorative copy of Birdwood’s important Victorian study of Indian art and craftsmanship, preserved in a signed full morocco binding by Rivière, richly tooled in gilt with an elaborate interlaced architectural design and a central crowned VR royal cypher.

The fine binding is the outstanding feature of this copy. Its complex geometric decoration, fleur-de-lis tools, gilt spine, and royal imagery form an unusually appropriate complement to a publication issued under the auspices of the South Kensington Museum.

The work contains 76 numbered plates, actually comprising 91 plate leaves, together with a folding colored map of India. It forms part of the influential South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks series. Library of Congress

THE SIGNED RIVIÈRE BINDING

Bound in full golden-brown morocco leather by Rivière, with the binder’s printed ticket:

“BOUND BY RIVIERE.”

Both covers are elaborately decorated in gilt.

The design is constructed from multiple interlacing and angular gilt fillets forming an intricate architectural framework across the boards. The outer and inner compartments are enriched with:

• fleur-de-lis tools
• small floral ornaments
• geometric corner devices
• interlocking strapwork-like fillets
• fine gilt borders
• small decorative flourishes

At the center of each board is a crowned VR royal cypher, providing a striking visual link with the book’s origins as an official South Kensington Museum publication during the reign of Queen Victoria.

The overall design is unusually elaborate without becoming overcrowded, with the broad gilt framework set dramatically against the warm grain of the morocco.

The spine has five raised bands, gilt rules, gilt lettering, and fleur-de-lis ornaments within the compartments.

Further features include:

• gilt board edges
• gilt turn-ins
• dark brown endpapers
• all edges gilt

The binding is signed by one of the best-known London bookbinding firms of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and substantially elevates this copy above the usual publisher-bound examples.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

George C. M. Birdwood.
The Industrial Arts of India.

London: Chapman and Hall, Limited, for the Committee of Council on Education, 1880.

First edition.

Two volumes in one.

xvi, 344 pages.

76 numbered plates, actually comprising 91 plate leaves, plus folding colored map. Library of Congress

South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks.

GEORGE C. M. BIRDWOOD

George Christopher Molesworth Birdwood was closely involved with the South Kensington Museum’s Indian collections and with the developing British institutional study of Indian decorative arts.

The book appeared at an important moment in the history of the museum’s presentation and classification of Indian craftsmanship.

Birdwood notes that Part II, “The Master Handicrafts of India,” incorporates and expands material originally prepared for his handbook to the Indian Court at the Paris International Exhibition of 1878. Library of Congress

CONTENTS

The work is divided into two principal sections.

PART I — THE HINDU PANTHEON

An extensive discussion of Hindu religious imagery and iconography, including deities, sacred animals, religious traditions, temples, and associated symbolism.

PART II — THE MASTER HANDICRAFTS OF INDIA

A substantial examination of Indian decorative and applied arts, addressing the traditional handicrafts of the subcontinent within their historical, religious, and cultural contexts.

The work became an important early English-language survey of Indian decorative art and design.

PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

The volume is extensively illustrated with plates depicting Indian religious imagery, sculpture, decorative objects, traditional craftsmanship, costume, architectural details, and related subjects.

The standard bibliographical collation calls for 76 numbered plates comprising 91 actual plate leaves. Library of Congress

The numerous images provide an extensive visual record of Indian artistic traditions as they were being documented and collected by British institutions in the late nineteenth century.

FOLDING MAP OF INDIA

The folding colored map is present.

Captioned:

INDIA 1880

and prepared for the South Kensington Museum, Indian Section, by Trelawny Saunders.

The map provides a valuable geographical complement to Birdwood’s discussion of regional crafts and artistic traditions.

SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM

The work was published for the Committee of Council on Education as part of the South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks.

The museum, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum, played a central role in the nineteenth-century British study and display of decorative and applied arts.

The formal Victorian character of the Rivière binding, particularly the central crowned VR device, makes it especially well suited to the institutional origins of the text.

PROVENANCE

Formerly in the University of Bristol Library.

The volume retains institutional evidence including:

• University of Bristol armorial bookplate
• library markings
• embossed ownership stamp
• withdrawal markings
• small former shelf label at the foot of the spine

The book has been formally withdrawn from the library.

These markings are clearly visible in the photographs and have been fully taken into account in the pricing.

CONDITION

Good overall, with an attractive and substantially intact signed Rivière binding.

The full golden-brown morocco shows noticeable but generally sympathetic wear.

There is rubbing and abrasion along the joints, raised bands, spine ends, board edges, and corners, with localized areas where the leather has become lighter from surface wear. There are several small nicks and abrasions, particularly around the spine and extremities.

Despite this wear, the elaborate gilt decoration to both covers remains bright, crisp, and highly impressive, with the complex interlaced design and crowned VR cyphers retaining strong definition.

The spine remains attractive, with gilt lettering and ornament still clearly visible. A small former library shelf label remains at the foot.

The all-gilt edges remain bright.

The dark endpapers show library labels, bookplate, and associated institutional markings, together with some surface scuffing and wear.

The preliminary leaves have light toning, occasional foxing, and institutional markings. The title page bears the University of Bristol Library blindstamp, with additional accession and withdrawal indications elsewhere in the preliminary matter.

Internally there is occasional spotting, minor toning, and localized marginal staining, but the plates and text remain generally clean and well preserved.

The folding colored map is present, retaining its original folds and showing light age toning.

An unusually decorative copy of an important Victorian study of Indian art, combining the 1880 first edition, extensive illustration, folding map, South Kensington Museum association, and a striking signed Rivière full morocco binding.

Please examine all photographs carefully, particularly the binding, institutional markings, map, and internal condition, as they form part of the description.