Couch, Dale L., ed.. Neighboring Voices: the Decorative Culture of Our Southern Cousins: the Fifth Henry D. Green Symposium of the Decorative Arts, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia, January 29-30, 2010.

Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia. 2011. 111p. illus. ISBN 978-0-9159-7776-5. $25.00.

Marking the occasion of the Fifth Henry D. Green Symposium of the Decorative Arts, hosted by the Georgia Museum of Art in 2010 in Athens, GA, this generously-illustrated (more than 50 color reproductions) compilation of selected papers and commentaries pertains to the theme of “neighboring voices,” the nexus of the decorative arts and craftsmanship in Georgia and its nearby "southern" states. Nine contributors, including art dealers, curators, independent scholars, museum professionals, university professors, and others, present seven essays on pertinent subjects. In his essay entitled, “Georgia on Our Mind,” Robert A. Leath features decorative arts objects and installations that comprise the collections at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) in Winston-Salem, NC. Carol Crowe Carraco and Linda Crowe Chesnut showcase White Oak Plantation house and its furnishings as they previously existed in Oglethorpe County, GA. Charlotte M. Crabtree discusses the career and works of the Methodist silversmith John Mood (active 1859-1891), who eventually settled in Charleston, SC. Robert Doares and Barbara Wood examine the connections of Haviland porcelain to the Antebellum southern states while Joey J. Brackner sets forth his findings on the influence of Georgians on Alabama folk pottery. Finally, June Lucas presents a recently-discovered, paint-decorated, chest from North Carolina (c. 1850-1860) that bears aesthetic similarities to pieces from the Georgia Piedmont. Dale L. Couch compares the Johnson chest discussed in Lucas’s article to a well-documented, painted Georgia chest (c. 1839) that belonged to Mary Cronic. Filled with colorful photographs, this well- presented book will interest students, scholars, museum professionals, and others. It belongs in large public, special, and academic, research-oriented book collections. Review copy. Availability: Amazon.com, Georgia Museum of Art Shop

McCann, Patrick. Faces in the Sky: the Gargoyles and Grotesques of Philadelphia.

Blurb. 2009. 36p. illus. NO ISBN. $17.95 (Softcover). $26.95 (Hardcover, Dust Jacket). $27.95 (Hardcover, Image Wrap).

In this small, square book (6 ¾ X 6 ¾ in.), McCann, a bartender from New Orleans, LA., who likes “to take pictures of stuff,” compiles his photographs of the “gargoyles and grotesques” in the city of Philadelphia, “one of the great collections of public art … that mostly goes unnoticed.” Hoping that his publication will encourage passersby to “look up” and “appreciate” the “gems of a nearly forgotten art,” the author provides a brief one-page introduction and sets forth more than two-hundred and fifty images of stone kings, animals, jesters, monsters, dragons, children, musicians, clowns, fair maidens, gargoyles, grotesques, masks, Indians, and other types, all of which ornament various structures in the city, including City Hall, the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University campuses, private residences, and other commercial buildings. While a few reproductions may feature portraits of famous people, such as Benjamin Franklin, others may constitute photographs of purely ornamental forms, thereby perhaps rendering the subtitle of this publication slightly misleading. Each page of images is arranged in groups of four, six, or nine thumbnail photographs, with nine being the most common. Lacking an author’s biography, table of contents, pagination, captions, a selected bibliography, list of locations, map, and an index, this book constitutes an entirely visual study. Some viewers hoping to find the pictured art forms in Philadelphia may be frustrated by the author’s approach. Nicely designed, although its logic and organization may not be apparent, this publication will appeal mostly to general readers and others. It is recommended for some local and large, public library collections as well as for special libraries. Personal copy. Availability: www.blurb.com