Britain, industry and perceptions of China : Matthew Boulton, 'useful knowledge' and the Macartney Embassy to China 1792–94

Global history has debated the emergence of a divergence in economic growth between China and the West during the eighteenth century. The Macartney Embassy, 1792–94, the first British embassy to China, occurring as it did at the end of the eighteenth century, was an event which revealed changing perceptions of China and the Chinese by different British interest groups from government, trade, industry and enlightened opinion. Many histories of the embassy recount failures of diplomacy and cultural misconception, or divergent ideas of science. This article examines attitudes of British industry to the embassy through the part played in its preparations by the Birmingham industrialist, Matthew Boulton, and revealed in correspondence in the Matthew Boulton Papers. The article uncovers debate among different interest groups over the objects and skilled personnel to be taken on the embassy. Were the objects purveyors of trade or tribute, or of ‘useful knowledge’ and ‘industrial enlightenment’

Report on Archaeological Investigations Conducted at the St. Mary's Site (18AP45), 107 Duke of Gloucester Street, Annapolis, Maryland, 1987-1990

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Archaeology in Annapolis was invited to excavate the Carroll House and garden on 107 Duke of Gloucester Street in Annapolis, Maryland. The site, named the St. Mary's Site (18AP45) for the Catholic church on the property, is currently owned by the Redemptorists, a Roman Catholic congregation of priests and brothers who have occupied the site since 1852. Prior to the Redemptorists' tenure, the site was owned by the Carroll family from 1701-1852 and is perhaps best known as the home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), signer of the Declaration of Independence. Excavations at the site were conducted during four consecutive summer seasons from 1987-1990. The investigation focused on three research questions. The first line of inquiry were questions surrounding the dating, architectural configuration, and artifact deposits of the "frame house," a structure adjoining the west wall of the brick Carroll House via a "passage" and later a three story addition. The frame house was partially demolished in the mid-nineteenth century but the construction was thought to pre-date the brick portion of the house. The second research question was spurred by documentary research which indicated that the property might have been the location of Proctor's Tavern, a late 17th-century tavern which served as the meeting place of the Maryland Provincial Assembly. Archaeological testing hoped to determine its location and, if found, investigate Annapolis' early Euro-American occupation. The third research question focused on the landscape of the site as it was shaped by its occupants over the past three hundred years. The research questions included investigating the stratigraphy, geometry, and architectural and planting features of Charles Carroll of Carrollton's terraced garden built during the 1770s, and investigating the changes to the landscape made by the Redemptorists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While no structural evidence associated with Proctor’s Tavern was uncovered during limited excavations along Spa Creek, the historic shore of Spa Creek was identified, buried beneath deep fill deposits laid down during construction of the Carroll Garden. Features and deposits associated with this period likely remain intact in a waterlogged environment along the southeastern sea wall at the St. Mary’s Site. Evidence of extensive earth moving by Carroll is present in the garden and was identified during excavation and coring. This strongly suggests that the garden landscape visible at the St. Mary’s Site is the intact Carroll Garden, which survives beneath contemporary and late nineteenth century strata. The extant surviving garden should be considered highly sensitive to ground-disturbing activities, and is also highly significant considering demonstrable associations with the Carroll family. Other garden-related features were also discovered, including planting holes, and a brick pavilion or parapet located along Spa Creek to the south of the site. The Duke of Gloucester Street wall was shown to be associated with the Carroll occupation of the site. Finally, intensive archaeological research was directed at the vicinity of a frame house constructed and occupied by the Carrolls to the east of the existing brick house, which was replaced by the Redemptorists in the nineteenth century with a greenhouse. These superimposed buildings were documented in detail and remain highly significant features at the St. Mary’s Site

The provenance of export porcelain recovered from the Nan’ao One: a shipwreck in the South China Sea

A compositional study employing neutron activation analysis was performed on eleven fragments of Ming dynasty blue-and-white export porcelain recovered from the Nan’ao One shipwreck and 64 samples from three kiln sources. Examination of the compositional data was successful in determining the provenance of the porcelain fragments from the shipwreck. The results indicate that the blue-and-white export porcelain recovered from the Nan’ao One came from two sources: the Jingdezhen and Zhangzhou kilns

Out of The Mould: Contemporary Sculptural Ceramics in Vietnam

‘Out of the Mould: Contemporary Sculptural Ceramics in Vietnam’ is a study of the current practice of sculptural ceramics in Hà Nội, Vietnam and its historical antecedents within Vietnam and in the West. It examines the transition from a craft based practice to an art practice in some areas of ceramic practice in Hà Nội during the twentieth and early twenty first century. The theoretical basis for the thesis centres on Alőis Riegl's writings, especially Stilfragen (Problems of Style), 1893, in which he makes a close chronological examination of stylistic changes in various media, while intentionally disregarding any hierarchy within artistic disciplines. This is considered an appropriate model for the study of Vietnamese ceramics as the thesis proposes that, in recent years, ceramics has once more resumed its place as one of the major art forms in Vietnam. This status is in contrast to its relegation to a 'decorative', as opposed to a 'fine art', form in the discourse of the French colonial era. As background, the thesis examines the history of sculptural ceramics in Vietnam and discusses what is currently known of ceramic practice and the lineages of potters in particular villages famous for their ceramic works in the area around Hà Nội. The transition in ceramics practice is discussed in terms of the effect of changing conditions for the education of ceramicists, as well as the effect of other institutional structures, the economic changes as reflected in the art market and exhibitions structure and sociological changes. The role which ceramics has played in the emergence of installation art in Vietnam is also examined

Designometry – Formalization of Artifacts and Methods

Two interconnected surveys are presented, one of artifacts and one of designometry. Artifacts are objects, which have an originator and do not exist in nature. Designometry is a new field of study, which aims to identify the originators of artifacts. The space of artifacts is described and also domains, which pursue designometry, yet currently doing so without collaboration or common methodologies. On this basis, synergies as well as a generic axiom and heuristics for the quest of the creators of artifacts are introduced. While designometry has various areas of applications, the research of methods to detect originators of artificial minds, which constitute a subgroup of artifacts, can be seen as particularly relevant and, in the case of malevolent artificial minds, as contribution to AI safety

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE WAVES IS THE BLANK SPACE

A pasta de porcelana comercial disponível no mercado português tem uma plasticidade excepcionalmente baixa, pelo que não é muito adequada para ser trabalhada à roda ou para ser conformada manualmente. Em estudos anteriores, comecei por desenvolver porcelana com maior plasticidade e criar esculturas usando a técnica de conformação à roda. Ao continuar este trabalho, um dos objectivos foi explorar outra característica importante da porcelana, que é a translucidez. Esta qualidade torna a porcelana única entre os outros materiais cerâmicos. A translucidez é uma parte importante da obra de arte, porque esta comunica por meio da materialidade, forma, cor e composição. Tornar a porcelana mais plástica e translúcida exigia o uso de matérias-primas opostas, o que implicou o estudo de todas as matérias-primas existentes na porcelana e entender como a translucidez pode ser explorada. Neste trabalho foi estudada a formação do cristal de anortite, um dos componentes que torna a porcelana mais translúcida. O objetivo principal era encontrar uma combinação na composição da porcelana de forma a manter a plasticidade trabalhável enquanto se aumenta também a translucidez. A porcelana produzida durante este trabalho tem plasticidade suficiente para ser conformada à roda e modelada em esculturas. Também possui translucidez que dá suporte ao conceito artístico.The commercial porcelain available on the Portuguese market has an exceptionally low plasticity and therefor it is not very suitable for wheel throwing or hand building. In my previous studies I was able to develop porcelain with higher plasticity and create sculptures using the wheel throwing technique. When continuing this work, I wished to work on another important quality for the porcelain, which is translucency. This quality makes porcelain unique among other ceramic materials. The translucency is an important part of the artwork as it communicates through the materiality, shape, colour, and composition. Making porcelain plastic and translucent required quite opposite raw materials, which forced me to study every raw material and understand how the translucency can be explored. In this work the formation of anorthite crystal, which is one of the components that makes the porcelain more translucent, was studied. The main aim was to find a combination to keep the workable plasticity while increasing the translucency. The porcelain that was produced had enough plasticity to be thrown on the wheel and to be modelled into sculptures. It also has translucency that supports the artistic concept