Compositional Analysis of 14th–15th Century Enamels from the Altar of San Giovanni in Florence: an Integrated Study by Portable X‐Ray Fluorescence and Electron Probe Microanalysis

The enamels of the Altar of San Giovanni, from the Baptistery of Florence, were investigated using both non‐invasive and micro‐invasive analysis in order to elucidate the glass melting and colouring techniques. A few fragments detached from the altar and recovered by the restorers were analysed in cross‐section by electron probe microanalysis. Moreover, non‐invasive investigations by portable XRF allowed a large number of enamelled plaques to be investigated. The results showed a good agreement between the two techniques and made it possible to identify similarities or differences in the enamels of the three manufacturing periods of the altar.     

Macroscopic analysis of the bead assemblage from the South Arabian port of Sumhuram,Oman (seasons 2000–2013)

The city of Sumhuram (300 BC–AD 500) is the most important pre‐Islamic settlement in Dhofar, southern Oman. Since the time of its discovery it was evident that its commercial vocation placed it within a complex system of exchange between India and the Mediterranean. Sumhuram was a key site of the kingdom of Hadramawt, built in a place that was geographically strategic to control the most important Indian Ocean trade routes. The importance of the site made the bead assemblage exceptionally rich in materials, technologies used in the production, and provenance. The study of the relationship between materials and shapes, necessary for the creation of a specific typology, has revealed a number of trends. These, in connection with the reference stratigraphy have, in some cases, enabled the identification of differences on a chronological basis. Furthermore, it is possible to detect different uses of materials in different areas of the city. The variety of imported products (raw materials and products) once again underlines the importance of this city‐port in the international maritime trade and its strong connections with India.     

中国古代金饰文化板块论

古代金饰记载缺佚,其发展状况实难廓清。经耙梳发掘出土金饰,不难发现金饰晚出,始于夏商,承传至清。各地金饰功能不同,其工艺、形式、风格异彩纷呈,独具一格而又互有联系、取长补短。从宏观层面以板块概全4000余年金饰文化的运动规律,先后出现了北方草原游牧部落金饰文化、黄河长江流域粟稻农作华夏族群金饰文化、西南高原红土带农牧群落金饰文化、中原帝王金饰文化等四大金饰文化板块,始终处于互为碰撞、交流、整合、承传、创新的运动过程之中,创造了金丝片、锤鍱、錾刻至焊金粟珠、编丝、掐丝、累丝、镶嵌以及错金银等金细工艺。这四大板块是由于环境、气候、产业、食物链的多样性等物质的、文化的客观条件决定的,同时又促成其局部范围金饰文化亚板块的形成与发展。4000余年的中国古代金饰文化发展变化无不受其板块运动的制约和推动。     

Gender,craft labour and the creative sector

This paper responds to a resurgence of interest in craft labour as an integral aspect of policy generation in the creative sector. It highlights the local, and industrial, cultural, and political histories and processes that create divisions and distinctions within craft economies. Drawing on research with designer makers in Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, the paper demonstrates how gender infuses the responses of policy actors in their regeneration plans for the local economy. It notes the significance of local meanings of craft and how this leads to misrecognition and devaluation. It also illustrates how the economic importance of designer makers is diminished within a policy environment that has had a long-standing focus on large-scale manufacturing. This leaves designer makers occupying a role that is predominantly focused on their symbolic and decorative value. This bodes ill for cultural policy reformulation that is based on the economic significance of flexible specialisation within small-scale, networked businesses.