Description
Book SynopsisWriting Material Culture History 2e examines the methodologies used in the historical study of material culture. Looking at archaeology, anthropology, art history and literary studies, the book provides students with a fundamental understanding of the relationship between artefacts and historical narratives. The book addresses the role of museums, the impact of the digital age and the representations of objects in public history, bringing together students and specialists from around the world. This new edition includes: A new substantive introduction from the editors, providing a useful roadmap for students and specialists. A more balanced and easy-to-use structure, including methodological chapters and object in focus' chapters consisting of case studies for classroom discussion. New chapters showing greater engagement with 20th-century material culture, non-European artefacts and the definitions and limits of material culture as a discipline. Offers global coverage and disc
Trade ReviewGerritsen and Riello offer us a rich and eclectic collection of essays devoted to the multiple methodologies associated with the study of material artifacts, as well as fascinating and instructive case studies of particular objects, all well-suited for undergraduate teaching and the training of future researchers. That this book should merit a second, and expanded, edition in so short a period (a scant five years) is testament to the vitality of the field of material culture studies. Noteworthy areas of new attention include the political study of objects, the material history of urban space, and the application of new technologies (3-D printing or big data for example) to the study of material culture. If historians have indeed “experienced a Damascene conversion to material culture” as Gerritsen and Riello argue, then surely they should be credited in large measure for bringing it intellectual coherence and a global reach. This book, now expanded, will be essential reading for those who join them. * Anne EC McCants, Professor of History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA *
The volume is an impressive collection of different views on material culture, written from anthropological, historical, and art historical perspectives. It should be an essential text in the appreciation of artefacts, and the role they play in the interactions of cultures over time and space. * Ruth Barnes, Thomas Jaffe Curator of Indo-Pacific Art, Yale University Art Gallery, USA *
Table of ContentsList of Figures Notes on Contributors Introduction: Material Culture History: Methods, Practices and Disciplines, Anne Gerritsen and Giorgio Riello Object in Focus 1. Broken Saints, House Cats, Other Historical Matter, Dana Leibsohn Part I: The Disciplines of Material Culture 1. Material Culture and the History of Art(efacts), Viccy Coltman 2. Written Texts and the Performance of Materiality, Catherine Richardson 3. Anthropology, Archaeology, History and the Material Culture of Lycra®, Kaori O’Connor Object in Focus 2: Material Culture, Archaeology and Defining Modernity: Case Studies in Ceramic Research, David Gaimster Object in Focus 3: Father Amiot’s Cup: A Qing Imperial Porcelain Sent to the Court of Louis XV and - Kee Il Choi Object in Focus 4: Broken Objects: Using Archaeological Ceramics in the Study of Material Culture, Suzanne Findlen Hood Object in Focus 5: Writing Our Maritime Pasts: The Belitung Shipwreck Controversy, Natali Pearson Object in Focus 6: Identity, Heritage and Memorialisation: The Toraja Tongkonan of Indonesia, Kathleen M. Adams Object in Focus 7: History by Design: The UK Board of Trade Design Register, Dinah Eastop Part II: The Methods of Material Culture 4. Spaces of Global Interactions: The Material Landscapes of Global History, Anne Gerritsen and Giorgio Riello 5. Material Culture and Materialism: The French Revolution in Wallpaper, Ulrich Lehmann 6. How Things Shape Us: Material Culture and Identity in the Industrial Age, Manuel Charpy Object in Focus 8: Invisible Beds: Health and the Material Culture of Sleep, Sandra Cavallo Object in Focus 9: Material Culture and Sound: A Sixteenth-Century Handbell, Flora Dennis Object in Focus 10: Interwoven Knowledge: The Understanding and Conservation of Three Carpets, Jessica Hallett and Raquel Santos Object in Focus 11: Lustrous Things: Luminosity and Reflection before the Light Bulb, Ann Smart Martin Object in Focus 12: Cosmopolitan Relationships in the Crossroads of the Pacific Ocean, Christina Hellmich Object in Focus 13: Digital Microscopy and Early Modern Embroidery, Stefan Hanß Object in Focus 14: Objects of Emotions: The London Foundling Hospital Tokens, 1741-60, John Styles Object in Focus 15: Time, Wear and Maintenance: The Afterlife of Things, Victoria Kelley Part III: The Preservation and Interpretation of Material Culture 7. The Return of the Wunderkammer: Material Culture in the Museum 225, Ethan W. Lasser 8. Handle with Care: The Future of Curatorial Expertise, Glenn Adamson 9. As Seen on the Screen: Material Culture, Historical Accuracy and the Costume Drama, Hannah Greig Object in Focus 16: Europe 1600-1800 in a Thousand Objects, Lesley Ellis Miller Object in Focus 17: Reading and Writing the Restoration History of an Old French bureau, Carolyn Sargentson Object in Focus 18: Objects of Empire: Museums, Material Culture, and Histories of Empire, John McAleer Object in Focus 19: The Lost Heritage of China: Dismantling Beijing, Digitizing Beijing, Di Lou Object in Focus 20: ‘Black Gold’: Industrial Heritage of the Nineteenth-century Ruhr Area, Christian Kleinschmidt Object in Focus 21: Indigeneity and Race and the Politics of Museum Collections, Beverly Lemire Object in Focus 22: Acts of creation: debating Indigenous American repatriation from Britain, Jack Davy Index
