How was it made? How interdisciplinary collaborations in Material Culture Studies and Art History can unlock new avenues of knowledge

Traditionally in Art History, the study of Material Culture and Decorative Arts has been relegated to a subordinate role. Only more recently, objects and their materiality have received more rigorous attention: from Smith’s interdisciplinary project ‘Making and Knowing’ to work by e.g. Yonan, Adamson, Scott, etc. While object-based and Technical Art History approaches do consider the material knowledge of curators, conservators, heritage scientists, and others, rarely is the knowledge and material intelligence of makers considered through this art historical lens.

‘How was it made?’ With this question as our starting point, this panel argues that material literacy should be an art historical priority. New avenues of knowledge can be unlocked through interdisciplinary collaboration when we consider the material processes of an object, combining the unique and often tacit knowledge of craftspeople and artists with the knowledge of conservators, art historians, heritage scientists, and curators.

As such this panel will demonstrate how historic objects in Art History can be further interrogated by extending the object biography approach and by also encompassing an even earlier point of material processes and specialist knowledge leading up to the object’s very creation.

As professional curators and conservators we invite professionals of various disciplines, including the above, working with and in various media, across all time periods to explore the question ‘How does our understanding of material and manufacturing processes enhance our understanding of an object’s historical value?’ and ‘What can material literacy and material intelligence offer the study of art history today?’

Session Convenors:

Rebecca Klarner, University of Leeds & Victoria and Albert Museum

Julia Tuveri, University of Leeds

Speakers:

Matthew Martin, University of Melbourne

Creating ‘Jasper Porcelain’ in Dresden: Alchemist’s Folly, Apothecary’s Insight and Technical Triumph

The material turn in art history has alerted us to the insights into the cultural values attributed to artworks that can be discerned by understanding the processes of their manufacture, including the nature of the materials from which they were made and the techniques by which these materials were manipulated. But such material literacy is by necessity historically contingent. An artist’s understanding of the materials they work and the changes they subject them to reflects the historically-bounded epistemological frameworks within which they work. Reconstructing an artist’s worldview can thus give us insight into the meaning of an artwork at the time of its creation.

This paper will examine the invention of a red stoneware in Dresden in 1706 by Johann Böttger and Ehrenfried von Tschirnhaus. Scientific chemical histories of ceramic technology can obscure the nature of the work undertaken by these early eighteenth-century natural philosophers, including privileging the efforts of the ‘scientist’ Tschirnhaus over the contributions of the alchemist and apothecary Böttger. But the use of the Nuremburg bolus – a fine clay consumed for its medicinal properties – in the manufacture of this ceramic body must reflect Böttger’s training as an apothecary, whilst natural philosophical speculation about the red bolus, the metallogenesis of gold, and natural occurrences of the mineral jasper in the earth, reflect contemporary alchemical theory, contributing to the name given the ceramic – jasper porcelain. This stoneware, of little intrinsic value, nevertheless became a Kunstkammer treasure because of its role in evidencing human mastery over the forces of nature.

Tullia Fraser, University of Glasgow, National Museums Scotland, Durham University

Collecting and Transforming Chinese Lacquer in Scotland in the Early Twentieth Century

Upon the sudden passing of the architect-turned-enamellist James Cromar Watt in 1940, his substantial collection of Chinese art was dispersed to Aberdeen Art Gallery and National Museums Scotland. The collection included a selection of lacquerware: objects decorated with the treated sap of the Chinese lacquer tree. Beyond showcasing a range of decorative techniques, inspection of these objects also revealed for the first time a startling range of conditions, from well-preserved examples to those which have been repainted, reconstructed, or even taken apart.

Adapted from a case study from my PhD project which combines methodologies in material culture studies, provenance research and art history, this paper showcases in several dimensions, how makers’ knowledge can enrich our understanding of objects and their biographies. I will reference Xiushilu 髹飾錄, the only known surviving manual of Chinese lacquer-working, to demonstrate how maker’s knowledge is necessary in detecting and explaining the alterations made to the lacquerware. I will then consider James Cromar Watt as a maker equipped with his own material literacy, situating his collecting (and altering) activities in the contexts of his artistic practice, ethos as an Arts and Crafts practitioner, and impact on inducting Chinese art into the civic history of northeastern Scotland. Finally, through referencing other collections of Chinese lacquerware in Scotland, I will account for how ‘empirical knowledge’ on Chinese lacquerware was constructed in the United Kingdom in the early twentieth century. I ultimately argue that material intelligence is necessary in the art historical study of Chinese lacquerware.

Camilla Fabretti, Ca’ Foscari University

‘La bellezza dei vasi vostri sembra respirare lo spirito’: How Murano Glass Survived Through Art

On October 2nd, 1921, the creative impasse that had halted the artistic evolution of the Murano glass industry at the turn of the new century was finally overcome. Through the brilliant intuition of newborn maison Venini, glass masters would from then on be flanked by the innovative figure of the artistic director, encouraging an intertextual exchange between art and craft. From the Veronese vase inspired by the artist’s Annunciazione, and created as a superb translation of the streamlined language of Art Decò, to the invention of the pulegoso technique, which best conveyed the more textured quality of the Novecento Italiano movement, this revolution marked a turning point in glass manufacture.

After the sterile years of WWII, through the unique parable of Egidio Costantini’s Fucina degli Angeli, art assumed an even more prominent role and artists were enabled to become makers themselves, as in the case of Oscar Kokoshka and Jean Cocteau. Today, their symbiotic relationship has reached new heights, as glass directors like Giberto Arrivabene openly use art as a medium to jumpstart their collections and, vice versa, artists like Marta Sforni have instead made the finished object the premise of their work.

The scope of the paper is to outline the interdisciplinary relationship between visual art and material culture as it played out in the unique environment of the Murano glass industry, retracing the steps of the masters and designers that powered a paradigm shift that rippled through to the present day.

Laurence Wen-Yu Li, Royal College of Art

Making and Remaking Traditional Chinese Dress: Refining Recreative Practice through Collaboration with Professional Qipao Tailors

Reconstruction of historical dress is a methodology that has increasingly been embraced by historians of dress. Making and wearing dress reconstructions allows researchers to garner first-hand knowledge of garment production and construction techniques, allowing better tacit understanding of the production processes of historical garments. Reconstructions can also be used to generate and test hypotheses, like how undergarments affect the figure and posture of the wearer. However, it is difficult for researchers to match professional tailors with decades of experience in technical proficiency.

While creating a detailed reconstruction of a late Qing Dynasty (1840-1911) Chinese woman’s ensemble, I consulted extant garments through the lens of “slow looking”, noting the stitches and other details used in surviving pieces, supplementing with visual sources from the period such as prints and photographs. After my reconstruction project, I was involved in scripting a documentary series where modern qipao tailors who had apprenticed under qipao masters in the 1960s were recruited to make reconstructions of qipao from different decades of the 20th century. Firsthand exposure to their processes helped identify certain traditional techniques that have carried to the present, such as the use of chalk lines, starch paste, and shuixian (water lines), confirmed by surviving material evidence of similar tools in the Qing, as well as inform further reconstructive projects. Observing the speed and ease with which they plied their craft is a reminder that as much as we historians can learn from making, there is still much to be gleaned from collaborations with craftspeople.

Clare Twomey, University of Westminster

The Invisible Vase: The Shattered History and Remaking of the Portland Vase

The Portland Vase is a litany of material processes and fragility, this is embedded in material, human skills and a continual historic collaboration with new and old technologies these aspects are at the core of this paper. The world renowned Portland Vase sits in the care of the British Museum. Later famously copied by Josiah Wedgwood in 1786, the Portland Vase entered the British Museum in 1810 the 4th Duke of Portland deposited it in the British Museum for safekeeping, where it went on public displays. Thirty-five years later, at 3.45 p.m. on 7 February 1845, a young man named William Lloyd picked up a sculpted stone in the room where the Vase was displayed and smashed both it and the showcase into fragments.

Twomey’s artwork made in response to the glass vessel is formed of the mending lines of the broken vase. This delicate web of lines is accurate to the shape of the vase and to every line of mending of the vase thanks to being able to make the first 3D scan earlier this year and the incredible access to the British Museum restoration department and their records. The Invisible Vase illuminates an untold history of the impact point of the vase and also tells us of the absolute wonder of this object, not only by its form, but by the human endeavour to share its knowledge and history for the public into the future.

Olena Bogdanova, Lviv National Academy of Arts

Miao Jewellery Art: Unravelling Cultural Narratives and Material Practices Through Interdisciplinary Inquiry

This paper introduces the intricate jewellery art of the Miao ethnic group in China, highlighting it as a significant cultural and historical phenomenon shaped by centuries of migration, military challenges, and the necessity to convey national mythology and folklore without a written tradition. The unique characteristics of Miao jewellery reflect these conditions, embodying a rich narrative history and artistic expression.

Historically, studies of Chinese art have predominantly centred on the Han majority, often neglecting the diverse cultural practices of other ethnic groups. It is only since the mid-20th century that scholarship has begun to address the Miao’s cultural and artistic contributions, with valuable insights from both American and Chinese researchers. This paper will analyse the choice of silver as the primary medium for Miao jewellery, drawing on firsthand field research conducted in Guizhou Province.

The discussion will encompass traditional silver processing techniques, as well as the evolution of craftsmanship in response to societal changes and historical events. By investigating the processes behind Miao jewellery-making, this study underscores the importance of material literacy in art history, aligning with the panel theme of “How was it made?” The expertise of Miao master silversmiths, who have preserved ancient techniques, emphasises the need for interdisciplinary collaboration among ethnologists, historians, and art critics to ensure the careful documentation and preservation of these practices for future generations.

This exploration aims to broaden our understanding of material culture within the context of Chinese art history, fostering appreciation for the intricate relationships between craftsmanship, identity, and historical narrative.

Makiko Tsunoda, University of Oxford

Shen Nanpin and Japanese Nanpin School paintings through art historical andmaterial analysis, focusing on the British Museum Collection

From 1771 to 1773 Chinese painter Shen Nanpin (1682-c.1760) visited Japan. His colourful bird and flower and animal paintings became extremely popular and led to the emergence of the Nanpin School of artists painting in his style. This presentation outlines an investigation of materials and techniques in the paintings of Nanpin and his followers through combined research into contemporary painting treatises and material analysis of selected paintings.

To gain a better understanding of Nanpin’s painting techniques and materials, the painting treatises Ransai gafu and Ransai gafu kōhen, written by Nanpin School painter Mori Ransai (1740-1801) to introduce the work of Shen Nanpin in Japan, were translated and firstly compared to treatises by other contemporary Chinese and Japanese painters, then considered in relation to a select body of related paintings in Japan and in the British Museum. Non-invasive scientific analysis, conducted in collaboration with the NTU ISAAC Lab, was carried out on the selected paintings in the British Museum and the results of this analysis were compared with descriptions in the painting treatises. This presentation discusses the discoveries emerging from this interdisciplinary approach, focusing in particular on the technique of reverse painting. The study revealed that this technique, long practised in China, was used by Nanpin School painters to achieve their characteristic bright colours and realistic three-dimensional shading. By contrast, only limited use of reverse painting was found in traditional Kanō and Tosa School Japanese paintings.

Inés Moreno, Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, Paris and School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris

Curating Dexterity and Material Knowledge: On Technical Processes in Museum Practices’

An increasing number of museums are seeking ways to integrate the material and technical processes that underlie the objects they preserve, study, and exhibit. Some museum institutions also initiate or collaborate on interdisciplinary research projects to deepen understanding of the socio-technical processes and production conditions that shaped the objects in their collections. For example, the British Museum’s Endangered Material Knowledge Project focuses on documenting diverse material knowledge systems, while the more recent Making the Museum at the Pitt Rivers Museum explores the identities and agency of the makers behind its collection objects. In the French context, successive research projects such as Mingei (2018-2020) and Craeft (2023-2026) have been developed with the involvement of a constellation of European technical and craft museums, which have designed and implemented an interdisciplinary methodology to study and highlight the technical and material knowledge embedded in heritage objects. These approaches draw on the disciplinary tradition of French anthropology of techniques with the aim to develop research tools to bring material culture into dialogue with the gestural processes that make it possible, emphasising the key role of tacit knowledge in the comprehension of technical processes.

This paper examines how these methodological and conceptual innovations can benefit research and curatorial practices in art history and museum studies. Through case studies of the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris and the Museum of Marble Crafts in Tinos, Greece, it reflects on the potential of these approaches to reassess collecting strategies, refine documentation methods, implement experimental re-enactments for capturing know-how and skills from the past, or inspire the creation of novel display devices.