The Silk Road (Exhibition Catalogue, Oliver Hoare, London, 2018)

180pp, profusely illustrated in full colour.  Illustrated, laminated stiff card covers.  4to. A little gentle edge wear to card covers else neat, clean, bright and tight.  

A catalogue produced to accompany ‘The Silk Road’ exhibition held by celebrated art dealer, Oliver Hoare, at the Lavery Room, London, in late 2018.  The catalogue documents a wide variety of items that passed through Hoare’s hands in his final years, ranging across ancient archaeological treasures to never-before seen historical artifacts.  It included a rare bronze goblet from ancient Arachosie featuring intricate illustrations that scholars have deciphered as depicting the ancient epic of Prince Kunala and Queen Tisyarasita.  The companion text serves a record of Hoare’s unique approach in relating history through artificers, celebrating them mostly for their beauty, intrigue and cross-cultural history.  Rather than treating the Silk Road as simply a static trade route, Hoare protrays it as a metaphor for global interconnectedness and the flux of human culture.  The exhibition turned out to be one of Hoare’s last projects – he passed away in August 2018 during the final part of the exhibition’s run.