Writing Material Culture History

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.

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.

• List of FiguresNotes on ContributorsIntroduction: Material Culture History: Methods, Practices and Disciplines, Anne Gerritsen and Giorgio RielloObject in Focus 1. Broken Saints, House Cats, Other Historical Matter, Dana LeibsohnPart I: The Disciplines of Material Culture 1. Material Culture and the History of Art(efacts), Viccy Coltman2. Written Texts and the Performance of Materiality, Catherine Richardson3. Anthropology, Archaeology, History and the Material Culture of Lycra®, Kaori O’ConnorObject in Focus 2: Material Culture, Archaeology and Defining Modernity: Case Studies in Ceramic Research, David GaimsterObject in Focus 3: Father Amiot’s Cup: A Qing Imperial Porcelain Sent to the Court of Louis XV and - Kee Il ChoiObject in Focus 4: Broken Objects: Using Archaeological Ceramics in the Study of Material Culture, Suzanne Findlen HoodObject in Focus 5: Writing Our Maritime Pasts: The Belitung Shipwreck Controversy, Natali PearsonObject in Focus 6: Identity, Heritage and Memorialisation: The Toraja Tongkonan of Indonesia, Kathleen M. AdamsObject 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 Riello5. Material Culture and Materialism: The French Revolution in Wallpaper, Ulrich Lehmann6. How Things Shape Us: Material Culture and Identity in the Industrial Age, Manuel CharpyObject in Focus 8: Invisible Beds: Health and the Material Culture of Sleep, Sandra CavalloObject in Focus 9: Material Culture and Sound: A Sixteenth-Century Handbell, Flora DennisObject in Focus 10: Interwoven Knowledge: The Understanding and Conservation of Three Carpets, Jessica Hallett and Raquel SantosObject in Focus 11: Lustrous Things: Luminosity and Reflection before the Light Bulb, Ann Smart MartinObject in Focus 12: Cosmopolitan Relationships in the Crossroads of the Pacific Ocean, Christina HellmichObject in Focus 13: Digital Microscopy and Early Modern Embroidery, Stefan HanßObject 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. Lasser8. Handle with Care: The Future of Curatorial Expertise, Glenn Adamson9. As Seen on the Screen: Material Culture, Historical Accuracy and the Costume Drama, Hannah GreigObject 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 SargentsonObject in Focus 18: Objects of Empire: Museums, Material Culture, and Histories of Empire, John McAleerObject in Focus 19: The Lost Heritage of China: Dismantling Beijing, Digitizing Beijing, Di LouObject in Focus 20: ‘Black Gold’: Industrial Heritage of the Nineteenth-century Ruhr Area, Christian KleinschmidtObject 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 DavyIndex