The classic hardback edition, completely reimagined with gorgeous new photography of the now-famous ‘netsuke’ collection, and sumptuous full-colour images hand-picked by Edmund de Waal from his family archive.
Two hundred and sixty-four Japanese wood and ivory carvings, none of them bigger than a matchbox: Edmund de Waal was entranced when he first encountered the collection in his great uncle Iggie’s Tokyo apartment. When he later inherited the netsuke, they unlocked a story far larger and more dramatic than he could ever have imagined.
From a burgeoning empire in Odessa to fin de siècle Paris, from occupied Vienna to Tokyo, Edmund de Waal traces the netsuke’s journey through generations of his remarkable family against the backdrop of a tumultuous century.
Fans of the book have long been begging author and publisher for more illustrations and more insight into the netsuke and the world of the Ephrussis: this illustrated edition delivers in spades, and just in time for Christmas.
Edmund de Waal is one of the world’s leading ceramic artists, and his porcelain is shown in many museum collections. The Hare with Amber Eyes won the Costa Biography Award and the RSL Ondaatje Prize. It was also shortlisted for the the Duff Cooper Prize, the Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize, the PEN/Ackerley Prize and the Southbank Sky Arts Award for Literature. It was longlisted for the Orwell Prize and BBC Samuel Johnson Prize. Edmund was named New Writer of the Year at the 2010 Galaxy National Book Awards.
Chatto &Windus; NZ$69.99