1940 Signed Numbered Chinese Houses & Gardens Henry Inn

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1940 Signed Numbered Chinese Houses & Gardens Henry Inn

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Sold Date: 02/24/2007
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

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STARTING AT ONLY $1.00

Henry Inn - Chinese Houses and Gardens

Rare ltd. edition run -First Edition. #1682 of 2000 printings. Singed by author. Published by Honolulu: Fong Inn's Limited, 1940. Edited by Shao Chang Lee. 140 pp.

Condition: Good, Inscribed front cover (see below)

Book measures approximately 12.25 x 9.25 inches.

Chinese Houses and Gardens
Henry Inn

The book when it first appeared was also well received by House and Garden Architecture Forum and Landscape Architecture. "The handsome book will be a joy to possess for those who love beauty in architecture and cultivated nature," so wrote Pearl S. Buck. In 1940 Henry Inn of Honolulu, art collector, designer, and photographer, produced a collection of Chinese architectural pictures that is extraordinary. In 1936, Henry Inn of Honolulu - a connoisseur of Chinese art - made his tenth extensive tour of China to study the designs of houses and gardens. Travelling from Canton to Beijing and from Shanghai to Hangchow, he visited homes of culture and refinement built according to the traditional Chinese principles of architecture, interior decoration and landscape gardening developed over many centuries, sketching and photographing characteristic details. These illustrations form the core of this volume, supplemented with chapters by distinguished Chinese specialists on houses, gardens, architecture and the Chinese love of home and symbolism. The result is a unique work that gives readers a sense of the subtly symbolic and decorative art that is a vital part of the cultural inheritance of the Chinese people, and presents an informal and intimate picture of Chinese living. Beautifully pictured and described are tall temple doorways of lacquered teak, graceful pavilions with glazed tile roofs and enclosed gardens which beckon to the wanderer through moon gates. Soon after the volume was prepared, the events of World War II irreparably injured or completely destroyed the houses and gardens that Inn recorded, and later events transformed the way of life described by his collaborators. The value of Chinese Houses and Gardens is two-fold. It is an important record of architecture, gardens and lifestyles which are gone forever though their legacy survives, and through it the reader can see and understand the relationship between house and garden in China which for over two hundred years has profoundly influenced home and garden planning in the West.

Author Biography

Author/Location: HENRY INN was a noted connoisseur and collector of Chinese art.
Editor/Location: Shao Chang Lee was Professor of Chinese Culture at Michigan State University.

Although probably the only record of its kind, many of the photographs were taken as recently as 1936. Of those locations very few remain if any. A veteran traveller to his ancestral homeland, Henry In had an extraordinarily wide set of acquaintances which gave him an entrance into some of the choicest homes and gardens throughout China. This combination of artistic shell and unusual opportunity are unique.

About the Author
Henry Inn was a resident of Honolulu in the early part of this century.

From the private collection of the late Hugo Steccati and his wife Alva Tofanelli. Hugo Steccati (1916-2004) was a well recognized listed artist and professional photographer, along with his wife Alva (1916-2000) whom also was an abstract artist and pupil under Dick Gremke.(Oakland/San Francisco Ca.,) many of the books we will be offering personal gifts from the authors and artists.

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