
Writing Material Culture History
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
2nd Edition
Published on 11. February 2021
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-1-350-10521-8 (ISBN)
Description
Writing 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 discussion of both the early modern and modern periods.
Writing Material Culture History 2e is an essential tool for students seeking to understand the potential of objects to re-cast established historical narratives in new and exciting ways.
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 discussion of both the early modern and modern periods.
Writing Material Culture History 2e is an essential tool for students seeking to understand the potential of objects to re-cast established historical narratives in new and exciting ways.
Reviews / Votes
Gerritsen 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 *More details
Series
Edition
2nd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
100 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
689 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-10521-8 (9781350105218)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Anne Gerritsen | Giorgio Riello
Writing Material Culture History
E-Book
02/2021
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€30.99
Available for download
Persons
Anne Gerritsen is Professor of History at the University of Warwick, UK.
Giorgio Riello is Professor of Global History and Culture at the European University Institute and University of Warwick, UK.
Giorgio Riello is Professor of Global History and Culture at the European University Institute and University of Warwick, UK.
Content
List 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 (R), 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
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 (R), 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