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BERT & MOLLY EASTMAN THEIR BOOK of INDIAN TOYS When their children were still young, the Eastman's began collecting small wooden toys at that time imported from India. Although the children are now grown, the house is still alive with these lovely little creatures. On a low table near the front door a water buffalo gazes into the eyes of a nearby tiger; up on a nearby window ledge an Indian deity looks benignly at an exotic bird; elephants, tigers, and horses jostle for space on tables and bookcases, while from pride of place on the living room wall an eight-piece brass band, brightly coloured in orange and yellow coats, play so heartily you can almost hear the music. Bert, whose Tiger formed the centrepiece of our 1999 New Year Booklet, has transformed these toys into lino-cuts as joyful as the originals, while the story that he and Molly weave around their collection explains how they came to buy these toys, and what little they've been able to find out about the craft of hand-carved and painted toys in India. Now we have taken over the task of printing these little beauties; there are over twenty of them, all two- to five-colours, each picture close to the size of the toy depicted. As befits a book concerning hand-carved and hand-painted toys, it is printed on hand-made paper from fifty-nine hand-cut blocks. The Bembo type is hand-set, each copy of the books hand-sewn and hand-bound, and each book will be autographed in the fair hands of the authors. The books is 28 pages in three sections, 10 x 7 inches, and cloth-bound. Fewer than 200 copies have been printed, priced at £96 or $145. |
