3 comments about Antique Santa Claus Collectibles.

1. This book is great. The background text is very informative, yet keeps Santa fun. The book contains a wide variety of items covering many years. I found both the pictures and prices helpful. I'm always very happy with Mr. Longest's books.



2. As the author of this book, I wanted to explain to readers its purpose.
   This book is filled with photographs from many personal collections around the Midwest and also includes background information as to the history of Santa Claus and Santa Collecting. This is my NINTH published price guide for Collector Books, and I have been an author with the same publisher for 25 years. I have never written a response for any of my other books on AMAZON but have been a loyal customer since its inception. Since the very FIRST review was from a purchaser who gave this product a very low rating but did compliment the pictures...I wanted to respond. This book is a general overview to Santa collecting and was intended to be a reference for new collectors, general antique dealers, and people just interested in Santa antique collecting. It is not the ULTIMATE guide to Santa antiques...I am not sure any guide could ever be that. Just know that I spent many months on this project and gave it my best, including personally doing all the photography. Readers who know my work also know that I don't produce "one star" efforts. Thank you for reading this review!



3. Photo's in book are very good, however the description of the individual Santa's are poor and the values presented are very inflated. Would not recommend the book.

1 comments about California Pottery: From Missions to Modernism.

1. This colorful and enjoyable book makes a strong case for the importance of California's commercial potteries in drawing on the state's unique cultural heritage to introduce dramatic new colors and styles to the United States. The book is easy to read and filled with interesting facts, with beautiful color photos on almost every page. I was fascinated by pictures of pottery from the 30's, side-by-side with the handmade folk pottery on which the designs werte based. This is a must for any serious pottery collector! Note that the book parallels an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The author, Bill Stern, was the curator for that exhbition.

No comments about American Stonewares: The Art And Craft of Utilitarian Potters.

2 comments about Collector's Encyclopedia Of Made In Japan Ceramics: Identification & Values (Collector's Encyclopedia).

1. The book has clear vivid photos and a overview of all the catagories of Made in Japan collectibles but while she has the marks listed, far too many of them are not identified. There are 189 marks shown of which 101 are not identified. But nice pictures and well organized.



2. Rich in illustration, a mind boggling output of work from Japan which seems well documented and categorized.

No comments about Kovels' Depression Glass and Dinnerware Price List, 8th edition (Kovel's Depression Glass and Dinnerware Price List).

3 comments about Chinese Porcelain: Art, Elegance, and Appreciation (Art of China) (Arts of China).

1. Kelun Chen has provided a wonderful essay and overview on Chinese ceramics in this rather tiny volume. The best thing about the book how it demonstrates ways to think about China and its porcelain products from antiquity through the end of the Qing (Ching) Dynasty in 1911. One learns to think of porcelain secondarily in terms of period, but primarily in terms of kiln sites, clay, glaze and color. This is much the opposite of the beginner's or American antiquarian's (my own) typical tendency. The brief 80-page text is rich with details and insights, many of which are sparsley but adequately illustrated in the accompanying photographs in color and black & white. A book such as this must be evaluated (and "starred") in terms of what it intends to be: in this case a thoughtful overview in limited space, not a reference text. There are no indices of markings or summary observations, and the photographs occur with widely varying proximity to the related text, which fails to indicate the illustration under discussion. It takes only modest effort to find them. But the book still delivers an intelligent and thoughtful discussion that a person can go back to and refer to over time, while studying more advanced, ambitious and comprehensive works. A real bargain, and not necessarily a beginner's book. It will stay in my library on ceramics. For a tiny volume, it is really a five star work, and rated at four here only because of the limitations of space provided by the publication series.



2. A very interesting book. Only drawback for me was that I was hoping to get greater information on actual marks of chinese pottery.



3. A beautiful and informative book for the library of the connoiseur of Chinese Porcelain.

1 comments about Antique Trader Oriental Antiques & Art: An Identification and Price Guide.

1. Lots of example values of pieces. Few have pictures, and even fewer have color pics. The listings are organized by category, but beyond that the details are buried in text and could have been better-separated. (I.e. having date and location of manufacture called out would be helpful.)
   
   I have a particular example--Chinese cloisonne pieces of particular ages have hand-written "China" on the bottom, while others have stamped "China" instead. This book does not clarify which mark identifies which era.
   
   This sort of thing definitely could use digitization. I would *love* to be able to search the entire text with keywords. I am a collector of Chinese pieces with bats. These pieces range from cloisonne to porcelains.
   
   I do appreciate identification guides for "signatures" and makers marks. I would have appreciated a guide to identifying fakes, as many of these items are faked on a regular basis.

5 comments about Collectors Encyclopedia of Limoges Porcelain (Collector's Encyclopedia of Limoges Porcelain).

1. This is a very thorough history of Limoges. I did not find the pattern that I inherited, but after reading the book, I now understand why there are an amazing number of patterns.



2. Purchased this book as a gift for my wife, who has some Limoges dinnerware. She loved the book and has been able to identify much of her collection with its help.



3. If you collect Limoges Porcelain this is an excellent reference book, with a large section on marks and their dates. The colour pictures identify many patterns, along with a detailed section on manufacturers and a history of Limoges porcelain.



4. I purchase books online based on the reviews so lets be honest. Debby DuBay's book Antique Limoges at Home is the book to purchase. Gaston's book has terrible photographs & just can not compare to DuBay's books.



5. Mary Frank Gaston wrote the foreword to Debby Dubay's Antique Limoges at Home and the introduction to Collecting Hand Painted Limoges Porcelain and I'm thrilled. Two experts collaborating to give collectors all of the info they require to collect successfully. Please write a book together.

3 comments about Heath Ceramics: The Complexity of Simplicity.

1. Definitely not a "coffee table" dust collector but a book that I have spent many pleasant hours enjoying. It gives the reader an appreciation of how the multi-faceted potter Edith Heath brought classic design into the home through her ceramics. This book is a wonderful addition to my library and it makes gift giving easy.



2. The book for anyone with a passion for Edith Heath's designs as well as people interested in ceramics from the 40s until today. What the book lacks is a catalog of Heath's ceramic designs. But this shortcoming is not a big deal. What this wonderfully designed and produced book boasts is the vision of a singular woman who will forever be a part of the design landscape. The book is an absolute steal at the amazon.com price. Dense editorials, fantastic photography. A beautiful tribute.



3. Finally, a respectable book on Edith Heath! Klausner's work really stands out in the small but discerning crowd of Heathophiles. The more I tuck into this extraordinary book the more I become fascinated by the miraculous and timeless techniques of the House of Heath. I recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in ceramics.

No comments about The World of Wade Whimsies.