Sensuous surfaces is a richly illustrated and in depth introduction to the decorative arts in ming and qing dynasty china jonathan hay explores materials and techniques as well as issues of patronage and taste which together formed a loose system of informal rules that affected every level of decoration in early modern china from an individual object to the arrangement of an entire residential interior. With sensuous surfaces jonathan hay offers one of the most richly illustrated and in depth introductions to the decorative arts of ming and qing dynasty china to date examining an immense number of works he explores the materials and techniques as well as the effects of patronage and taste that together have formed a loose system of informal rules that define the decorative arts in early modern china. Sensuous surfaces the decorative object in early modern china preface and table of contents. In sensuous surfaces the decorative object in early modern china jonathan hay strives to understand how the human body senses and interacts with ornament or pleasurable things as the essayist and comic writer li yu 1610 1680 put it hay imagines how the hand and eye connected with the shape and texture of a decorated cup or figurine how a moving body experienced an object landscape in a residential interior where luxury goods were displayed and used. Sensuous surfaces the decorative object in early modern china by jonathan hay is a richly illustrated and in depth introduction to the decorative arts in ming and qing dynasty china hay explores materials and techniques as well as issues of patronage and taste which together formed a loose system of informal rules that affected every level of