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Celtic Art
In this revision, the author examines the craftpeople's techniques then follows the development of certain patterns, before finally describing a number of the surviving masterpieces of Celtic artistic achievement, such as the Battersea shield and the Aylesford bucket.
- GenresPrehistoryNonfictionArt
96 pages, Paperback
First published March 17, 1997
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 23, 2025
Between this one and the Megaws' Early Celtic Art in Britain and Ireland, I liked Stead's book more. Pagecount-wise it's just as short, but the format is bigger - so there's more text, more information, the photos are usually clearer too. It actually reads like a book - albeit short - and not like a summary. While the Megaws' overview was organised chronologically, in here the text is split into thematic chapters ('household', 'warfare', 'ritual' and such) - and in this category I have a hard time picking my favourite, as what I'd probably like most would be a mix of both approaches (thematic but then organised chronologically inside each such thematic chapter? Is there even enough material for doing that...?)
The illustrations are, obviously, beautiful; unsurprisingly, there was a huge overlap with the pieces presented in Early Celtic Art in Britain and Ireland, but seeing them again in here made it clear that the smaller format of the other book did them a disservice. In some cases it was only here that I managed to decipher what I'm supposed to be seeing at all! (All those alleged birds and animals, for example. Until I saw them here all I could see were abstract spirals; only now I'm inclined to believe that maaaaybe there's more to it than archaeological overexcitement ;)).
Oh, and even though Goodreads' database knows this book simply as Celtic Art, the full title is: Celtic Art In Britain before the Roman Conquest. So. You know. Such a tiny detail. If you're looking for an overview including the art of the continental Celts, look elsewhere. Ironically, in my case it worked in the book's favour as that was precisely what I was looking for, so it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Bonus points to the author for mentioning the woad controversy and leaving vitrum in Latin while quoting Caesar's infamous line! Also for providing alternative - imho more convincing - interpretations of this word.
96 pages is not much and I would've liked waaay more - but as long as getting a copy of Jope's Early Celtic Art in the British Isles would cost me 300 euro, this one is going to stay my go-to overview of the art of the Insular Celts.
(*I read the 2nd edition, no idea how the 1st would compare*)
The illustrations are, obviously, beautiful; unsurprisingly, there was a huge overlap with the pieces presented in Early Celtic Art in Britain and Ireland, but seeing them again in here made it clear that the smaller format of the other book did them a disservice. In some cases it was only here that I managed to decipher what I'm supposed to be seeing at all! (All those alleged birds and animals, for example. Until I saw them here all I could see were abstract spirals; only now I'm inclined to believe that maaaaybe there's more to it than archaeological overexcitement ;)).
Oh, and even though Goodreads' database knows this book simply as Celtic Art, the full title is: Celtic Art In Britain before the Roman Conquest. So. You know. Such a tiny detail. If you're looking for an overview including the art of the continental Celts, look elsewhere. Ironically, in my case it worked in the book's favour as that was precisely what I was looking for, so it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Bonus points to the author for mentioning the woad controversy and leaving vitrum in Latin while quoting Caesar's infamous line! Also for providing alternative - imho more convincing - interpretations of this word.
96 pages is not much and I would've liked waaay more - but as long as getting a copy of Jope's Early Celtic Art in the British Isles would cost me 300 euro, this one is going to stay my go-to overview of the art of the Insular Celts.
(*I read the 2nd edition, no idea how the 1st would compare*)
Displaying 1 of 1 review