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1
Bounia, Alexandra. "The nature of collecting in the Classical world : collections and collectors, c.100 BCE - 100 CE." Thesis, University of Leicester, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/31160.
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Contrary to general traditional belief, the origins of collecting, as a systematic activity that refers to the satisfaction of symbolic rather than actual needs, was not an invention of the Renaissance. Collecting made its first appearance in European prehistory, was a subject of interest and debate for the ancient Greeks and Romans, and has been present continuously ever since. This thesis aims to address a gap in the history of collecting and to contribute to the discussion of its origins and nature through an analysis of collecting in the classical Graeco-Roman world. As a result, the subject of this thesis is the nature of classical collecting as this is illustrated by the works of four Latin authors, M. Tullius Cicero, Gaius Plinius Secundus, M. Valerius Martialis, and T. Petronius Arbiter. This analysis aims to take a long view of the collecting attitudes in the classical world, and trace the seeds of this practice and mentality in a shared tradition that runs through European thought. Consequently, the views on collections and collecting expressed by the four writers are seen within the longer Graeco-Roman tradition, and are approached through four parameters that have been identified as fundamental for structuring the collecting discourse: the notion of the past and the role of material culture as a mediator between people and their perception of it; gift-exchange as a social tradition with deep social roots, that structures relations between people, people and the Gods, and people and material culture; the notion of identity, at a communal and individual level and the capacity of objects to shape and structure it; and finally, the notions of time and space, our understanding and appreciation of which require the mediation of material culture. The discussion of each of those parameters comes together in the four chapters on the Latin authors. The reading of the ancient texts has been influenced by philosophical concerns about issues of interpretation and appropriation, and in particular by the ideas of Barthes and Ricoeur.
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Wills, David. "Cultural Mulch : an investigation into collectors who create collections of mass produced objects and of the potential significance of those objects in relation to consumer culture." Phd thesis, Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/8036.
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Collecting is an activity that stems from humankinds roots as hunters and gathers, when necessity rather than want, was key. This dissertation considers the strategies and motivations behind collecting in the 21st Century and what the significance is of collected objects. It considers the many guises, aims and reasons for collections being made, from the attainment of wealth and status, to the filling of personal voids, or the simple pleasures of belonging to a like-minded group of people. The dissertation charts contemporary influences in collecting behaviour, from an increased interest in celebrity, the push by corporations to market mass-produced collectibles, alternative consumer trends, and what effect the internet has had on the availability of a vast array of objects globally and locally. Back grounded by a diminishing of the earth’s resources and the production of objects at a peak, it considers the notion of futility.
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Bracken, Susan Caroline. "Collectors and collecting in England c.1600-c.1660." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2011. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/45343/.
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Samson, J. O. (James Oliver), and n/a. "Cultures of collecting: Maori curio collecting in Murihiku, 1865-1975." University of Otago. Department of Anthropology, 2003. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20070504.115610.
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The ambivalence of many prehistorians toward curio collections has meant that, although they recognise some of their shortcomings, they nevertheless use collections as if they had qualities of archaeological assemblages. In this dissertation it is posited and then demonstrated that curio collections are very different entities to archaeological assemblages. In order to use collections in valid constructions of New Zealand�s pre-European past, the processes that led to their formation need to be understood. It is only then that issues of representation can be addressed.
In order to better understand the collecting process, a study of the activity of 24 curio collectors who operated in the Murihiku region of southern New Zealand during the period between 1865 and 1975 was undertaken. The study was structured about two key notions: the idea of the �filter� and the idea that tools and ornaments have a �life history� that extends from the time that raw material was selected for the manufacture to the present. The notion of the filter made possible a determination of the effects of particular behaviours on patterns of collector selectivity and the extent and nature of provenance recording; and the extended concept of life history recognised that material culture functions in multiple cultural and chronological contexts-within both indigenous and post-contact spheres.
Examination of the collecting process led to the identification of five curio collecting paradigms: curio collecting for the acquisition of social status, curio collecting for financial return, curio collecting as an adjunct to natural history collecting, curio collecting as an adjunct to historical recording, and ethnological or culture-area curio collecting. Filtering processes associated with each paradigm resulted in particular, but not always distinctive, patterns of curio selectivity and styles of provenance recording.
A switch in the focus of attention from examination of curio collectng processes generally to the study of the filtering processes that shaped collections from a specific archaeological site-the pre-European Otago Peninsula site of Little Papanui (J44/1)- enabled some evaluation of individuual collection representation. A database recording up to 19 attributes for each of 6282 curios localised to �Little Papanui� in Otago Museum enabled 31 dedicated or �ardent� collectors who operated at the site to be identified. These 31 dedicated collectors were grouped according to the paradigm that best described their collecting behaviour. It was found that the greater proportion of these dedicated collectors (n=12, 39%) had been influenced by the ethnological or culture-area collecting paradigm. These 12 collectors were responsible for recovering a remarkable 5645 curios or nearly ninety-percent (89.86%) of the meta-collection.
Because curio collections lack meaningfully recorded stratigraphic provenance, it is the technological and social context in which tools and ornaments functioned that must become the focus of curio collection studies. Appropriate studies of technological and social and context focus upon evaluations of raw material sourcing, evaluations of manufacture technique and assessments of tool and ornament use and reuse (and integrative combinations of these modes of study). These sorts of evaluation require large collections compiled in the least selective manner possible and the collections need to be reliably localised to specific sites. Collections compiled by the ethnological or culture-area collectors have these qualities. Collections compiled within other paradigms lack locality information and were assembled in highly selective manners.
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Cummings, Catherine. "Collecting en route : an exploration of the ethnographic collection of Gertrude Emily Benham." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/3138.
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In the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century the collecting of objects from colonized countries and their subsequent display in western museums was widespread throughout Western Europe. How and why these collections were made, the processes of collection, and by whom, has only recently begun to be addressed. This thesis is an exploration of the ethnographic collection of Gertrude Emily Benham (1867-1938) who made eight voyages independently around the world from 1904 until 1938, during which time she amassed a collection of approximately eight hundred objects, which she donated to Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery in 1935. It considers how and why she formed her collection and how, as a an amateur and marginalised collector, she can be located within discourses on ethnographic collecting. The thesis is organised by geographical regions in order to address the different contact zones of colonialism as well as to contextualise Benham within the cultural milieu in which she collected and the global collection of objects that she collected. An interdisciplinary perspective was employed to create a dialogue between anthropology, geography, museology, postcolonial and feminist theory to address the complex issues of colonial collecting. Benham is located within a range of intersecting histories: colonialism, travel, collecting, and gender. This study is the first in-depth examination of Benham as a collector and adds to the knowledge and understanding of Benham and her collection in Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. It contributes to the discourse on ethnographic collectors and collecting and in doing so it acknowledges the agency and contribution of marginal collectors to resituate them as a central and intrinsic component in the formation of the ethnographic museum. In addition, and central to this, is the agency and role of indigenous people in forming ethnographic collections. The thesis offers a foundation for further research into women ethnographic collectors and a more nuanced and inclusive account of ethnographic collecting.
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Karpathakis, George. "Rock stories: The discourse of rocks and rock-collecting." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2008. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/218.
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Humanity's relationship with rocks is a long-standing one. Belk (1995, p.2) describes archaeological evidence of early assemblages of rocks found in Cro-Magnon caves that would not be out of place in contemporary rock-collections. Historically, apart from being used as material for tools and buildings. rocks were also used for magical, pharmaceutical and decorative purposes. During the Renaissance and Enlightenment, the practice of collecting rocks became associated with the sense of discovery and the colonial expansion of western European civilization across world, and with advances in mining, science and industry. It is a practice that continues through to the present day. This thesis is an ethnography that asks contemporary rock collectors: why do they collect rocks? How do they collect rocks? And, how do they talk about them? Adapting Foucault's theoretical framework on discourse (1970) and utilising positions on collecting put forward by Baudrillard ( 1994), Belk ( 1995), Benjamin (1999), and others, the thesis analyses interviews and images of rock-collectors and their collections and puts forward a snapshot of the discourse of rocks and rock-collecting as currently practiced. The thesis's theoretical framework is first tested on texts of popular culture on rocks and rock-collecting to locate and identify the statements and discursive formations that make up the discourse, and then it is applied to the interviews of contemporary collectors talking about their collections. While some rock collectors practice alone and their approaches may appear idiosyncratic, others, sharing knowledge and experience, practice in a club environment. The collectors' approaches to rock collecting range from the taxonomic and scientific to the aesthetic and utilitarian, personal and historical, and, for some, to the metaphysical. In Australia some aspects of rock-collecting are allied to prospecting and mining. For some collectors the rocks are souvenirs, and are connected to travel. For other collectors rock-collecting is associated with understandings of nature, time and space. The interviews reveal that in a consumer society rocks are also commodities, with many of the collectors not only acquiring their rocks in the field, but also buying what they cannot find, or trade, for their collection. The analysis of the collectors' interviews demonstrates that the discourse does not stand as an isolated figure, but shares statements and configurations of statements with many other discourses in the field of knowledge, including science, history, archaeology and metaphysics. The interviews also illustrate how discourse and their associated practices are subject to external and internal rules and regulations, imposed by the State, and by institutions of academia and cultural and scientific practices, such as museums and universities. Some collectors aspire to emulate museums, and wish to share with others knowledge about to their collection through exhibition. The variety of themes and practices found in the interviews reinforce Foucault's proposition that within a discourse statements and configurations of statements may arise that are incompatible and form diffractions in the discourse. While apparently incompatible themes, variations and differences exist within the discourse, the analysis of the interviews and the conclusion of the thesis underscore the underlying unities of the discourse of rocks and rock-collecting.
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Cleveland, Larissa. "Collector : collection/possession/persona /." Online version of thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/6186.
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Allsop, Jessica Lauren. "Curious objects and Victorian collectors : men, markets, museums." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/14976.
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This thesis examines the portrayal of gentleman collectors in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century literature, arguing that they often find themselves challenged and destabilised by their collections. The collecting depicted contrasts revealingly with the Enlightenment practices of classification, taxonomy, and commodification, associated with the growth of both the public museum and the market economy. The dominance of such practices was bound up with the way they promoted subject-object relations that defined and empowered masculine identity. In the Dialectic of Enlightenment Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer note that “[i]n the most general sense of progressive thought, the Enlightenment has always aimed at liberating men from fear and establishing their sovereignty” (3). That being so, this study explores how the drive to classify and commodify the material world found oppositional, fictional form in gothicly inflected texts depicting a fascinating but frightening world of unknowable, alien objects and abject, emasculated subjects. The study draws upon Fred Botting’s contention that gothic extremes are a reaction to the “framework” of “reductive and normalising limits of bourgeois morality and modes of production” (89). Examining novels and short stories by Richard Marsh, M.R. James, Arthur Machen, Vernon Lee, George Gissing, Wilkie Collins, Bram Stoker, Mary Cholmondeley, and Mary Ward, the thesis shows how gothicised instances of unproductive-masochism, pathological collecting, thwarted professionals, and emasculated heirs broke down the “framework” within which men and material culture were understood to interact productively and safely. Individual chapters dealing respectively with acquisition, possession, dissemination and inheritance, respond to the recent “material turn” in the humanities, bringing together literary criticism and historically grounded scholarship to reveal the collector and the collection as the locus 3 for concerns with masculinity and materiality that preoccupied a turn-of-the-century mindset.
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Kell, Patricia Ellen. "British collecting, 1656-1800 : scientific enquiry and social practice." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.670252.
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Wear, Eric Otto, and 華立強. "Patterns in the collecting and connoisseurship of Chinese art in Hong Kong and Taiwan." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2000. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B43894392.
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Li, Peiwen, Jeong-Pill Ki, and Hong Liu. "Analysis and optimization of current collecting systems in PEM fuel cells." SpringerOpen, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/610164.
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This paper presents analytical and experimental studies on optimization of the gas delivery and current collection system in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell for the objective of reducing ohmic loss, thereby achieving higher power density. Specifically, the dimensions of current collection ribs as well as the rib distribution were optimized to get a maximized power density in a fuel cell. In the modeling process, the power output from a fixed area of membrane is calculated through analysis of an electrical circuit simulating the current from electrochemical reaction flowing to the current collectors. Current collectors of two-dimensional ribs and three-dimensional pillars were considered. Analyses found that three-dimensional pillars allow higher power density in a PEM fuel cell. Considering the mass transfer enhancement effect, three-dimensional pillars as current collectors in gas flow field may be a good choice if the fuel cell operates at low current density and there is no liquid water blocking the flow channels. The analyses did not consider the existence of liquid water, meaning the current density is not very high. The study concluded that decreasing the size of both the current collector and its control area yields a significant benefit to a higher power density. A preliminary experimental test in a PEM fuel cell has verified the conclusion of the analytical work.
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Summerfield, Angela. "Interventions : twentieth-century art collection schemes and their impact on local authority art gallery and museum collections of twentieth-century British art in Britain." Thesis, City, University of London, 2007. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/17420/.
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In the twentieth century, collecting became a core activity of local authority art galleries and museums in Britain. A key feature of these art collections was the representation of Twentieth Century British Art. The aim of this study is to examine, for the first time, this development as abroad cultural phenomenon, through the distinctive roles played by central government-funded, and independent national and provincial art collection schemes. The central government-funded art collection schemes are the V. & A Purchase Grant Fund, War Artists' Advisory Committee and the National Heritage Memorial Fund; and the national loan and exhibition schemes offered by the Tate Gallery and the Arts Council. Independent schemes are more numerous and varied. These were administered by the National Art Collections Fund (now the Art Fund), Contemporary Art Society, Scottish Modem Arts Association, Contemporary Art Society for Wales, Henry Moore Foundation and Gulbenkian Foundation. In addition, there were the independent national loan and exhibition schemes offered by the Museums Association, Peter Stuyvesant Foundation and Alistair McAlpine and provincial schemes based in Manchester (Charles Rutherston Loan Scheme), Cardiff (National Museum of Wales Loan Scheme), Liverpool ('John Moores' competition-exhibitions) and Bradford ('International Print Biennale' competition-exhibitions). Given the geographical coverage, historical scope and focus of this study, a substantial body of published and unpublished literature was consulted. The wide-range of sources examined included institutional histories, biographies and studies of Twentieth-Century British Art; permanent collection and exhibition catalogues; newspaper, journal and magazine articles, curatorial records and correspondence; institutional records and correspondence; archival material and reports; and . correspondence and interviews. This entailed the discovery of much new material and the collation of substantial random data held by the Contemporary Art Society and the Gulbenkian Foundation This research seeks to show that local authority collecting of Twentieth-Century British Art was part of a nation-wide cultural pattern determined by certain ideas, theories and policies. Within this context, Section 1 identifies and discusses the nature and purpose of public art galleries, muscums and their art collections from 1845-1945. This momentous period in the museum movement in Britain, it is argued, sustained and generated ideas, theories and policies which encompassed national institutional hierarchies and their models of collecting, high art aesthetic standards and scholarship linked connoisseurship; the organic structure of museums; and multifaceted education. It concludes that during this formative period, an enduring cultural framework was established, from which emerged key collecting impetuses which are art history, patronage and heritage. Sections 2 and 3 examine the roles played by central government-funded and independent schemes, as a response to these issues, which also engendered and reinforced the collecting of specific types of Twentieth Century British Art. Section'4 surveys the local authority collections, which participated in the schemes, and concludes that 1957-79 was a crucial period in post-war collecting, which was both facilitated by the emergence of a considerable and dynamic network of commercial art galleries, and enhanced by national and provincial measures to decentralize the arts. A principal conclusion is that the future of modem (twentieth-century) and contemporary (twenty-first- century) British art collecting, by local authority art galleries and museums, lies in its perception as part of a collective cultural enterprise, in which the intervention of collection schemes will, as in the past, play a fundamental role. Finally, there is also a strong argument for provincial institutions to feed into a national debate as to what is selected to represent both modem and contemporary British art practice in public collections in general.
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Boyd, Louise Anne. "Art, sex, and institutions : defining, collecting, and displaying shunga." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2016. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/7546/.
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In Edo-Japan (c.1603 – 1868) shunga, sexually explicit prints, paintings and illustrated books, were widely produced and disseminated. However, from the 1850s onwards, shunga was suppressed by the government and it has largely been omitted from art history, excluded from exhibitions and censored in publications. Although changes have taken place, cultural institutions continue to be cautious about what they collect and exhibit, with shunga largely remaining a prohibited subject in Japan. Since the 1970s there has been a gradual increase in the acceptance of shunga outside Japan, as evidenced in the growing number of exhibitions and publications. The initial impetus behind this thesis was: Why and how did shunga become increasingly acceptable in Europe and North America in the twentieth century, whilst conversely becoming unacceptable in post-Edo Japan? I discuss how and why attitudes to shunga in the UK and Japan have changed from the Edo period to the present day, and consider how definitions can affect this. My research examines how shunga has been dealt with in relation to private and institutional collecting and exhibitions. In order to gauge modern responses, the 2013 Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art exhibition at the British Museum is used as an in-depth study – utilising mixed methods and an interdisciplinary approach to analyse curatorial and legal decisions, as well as visitor feedback. To-date there are no official or standardised guidelines for the acquisition, cataloguing, or display of sexually explicit artefacts. It is intended that institutions will benefit from my analysis of the changing perceptions of shunga and of previous shunga collections and exhibitions when dealing with shunga or other sexually explicit items in the future.
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Maclennan, Heather Mary. "Antiquarianism, master prints and aesthetics in the new collecting culture of the early nineteenth century." Thesis, Birkbeck (University of London), 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.325552.
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Grey, Anne C. "The collector as arbiter of art a phenomenological investigation of collectors' critical judgment development and their understanding of art toward a theoretical model for appreciation and criticism in art education." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2011. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/4770.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate art collectors' specific method of developing and making critical judgments in the context of their understanding of art. Phenomenological research methods were employed to obtain data through interviews with collectors of Contemporary African American art, Latin American art, and Minimalist and Conceptual art. Based on the findings, collectors' approaches to critical judgment can be categorized into three areas. First, critical skills are both intuitive and developed over time, through a holistic and aesthetic process set in the art world. Collectors' edification requires commitment, and intense looking enabling them to see how works of art communicate. Second, key events that marked collectors' methodological approaches were connections with artists and art, notable purchases, and exhibitions of their collection. These events resulted from an integration of the collectors' identification with the art work, manifested over time in various forms. Finally, those objects that best reflected collectors' specific development of critical judgment and understanding of art were noted either by specific artists in their collection or the collection as a whole, functioning as vital aspects of the collectors' life and at the same time contributing to culture and society in its capacity to cause conversations. There is an opportunity to apply the information from collectors' processes as an educational model for teaching and learning about appreciation and criticism in art education by thinking about art collections more broadly, as another way to look at life and the art in life.<br>ID: 030646186; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. Additional requirements include Windows Media Player or QuickTime Player.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 256-268).; Text (PDF), images and video.<br>Ph.D.<br>Doctorate<br>Educational Research, Technology, and Leadership<br>Education<br>Education
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Herrick, Jason N. R. "Louis Robert de Saint Victor (1738-1822) : a case study on collecting paintings in France from the 1770s to the 1820s with particular reference to Dutch and Flemish art." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.365564.
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Baston, Karen Grudzien. "Library of Charles Areskine (1680-1763) : Scottish lawyers and book collecting, 1700-1760." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/6417.
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The thesis uses the study of an individual’s book collection to examine wider themes in eighteenth century Scottish legal, social, political, and intellectual history. Charles Areskine’s library was made up of the books he needed as an advocate and judge, the texts he wanted to use to better understand the law and its history, and the books he used to enhance his ability to participate in the intellectual milieu of early eighteenth century Britain. Charles Areskine of Alva, Lord Tinwald (1680-1763) was an important Scottish lawyer and judge. Following a legal education in the Netherlands, he became an advocate and was called to the Bar in 1711. Areskine’s legal career was very successful and he attained high positions in the Scottish legal establishment becoming Lord Advocate (1737-1742) and Lord Justice Clerk (1748-1763). He was appointed to the bench as Lord Tinwald in1744. He served in parliament and developed his country estates at Tinwald in Dumfriesshire and at Alva in Clackmannanshire. Areskine is an interesting figure in the early Scottish Enlightenment not least because he began his career not in legal but in academic circles. He was a regent at the University of Edinburgh when he was barely out of his teens and from 1707 to 1734 he was the first Professor of the Law of Nature and Nations at Edinburgh. Areskine was also a traveller, a client of the earl of Ilay, a friend to philosophers, a patron of the arts, and a book collector. A manuscript which lists of the contents of Areskine’s library survives in the National Library of Scotland as NLS MS 3283. ‘Catalogŭs Librorŭm D. Dni. Caroli Areskine de Barjarg, Regiarŭm Causarum Procŭratoris. 1731’ lists 1290 titles divided into books on legal topics, which are not given any specific headings, and ‘Libri Miscellanei’. Although it is clearly dated as 1731, the manuscript was continuously added to and acted as a library catalogue throughout Areskine’s life. The list provides important evidence about Areskine’s participation in the legal, intellectual, and cultural concerns of the early Scottish Enlightenment. Areskine’s law books provide evidence for his scholarly interest in the history of law while showing the types of books lawyers turned to in order to fashion their arguments in the courts. His ‘miscellaneous’ books demonstrate his engagement with the wider cultural concerns of the first half of the eighteenth century. The books that eighteenth century Scottish lawyers owned provide evidence for their interests and influence. Areskine was not unique: his book collecting was part of a wider tradition among Scottish lawyers. Areskine’s legally educated patron, Archibald Campbell, had one of the largest private libraries in Britain and his colleagues on the Bench, Lord Arniston and Lord Hailes, created collections which they stored in specially built rooms in their houses. Because so many of them survive in the Alva Collections of the Advocates Library and the National Library of Scotland, it has been possible to examine Areskine’s books for clues about who owned them before he did and what happened to them after his death. Several inscriptions and bookplates survive in the Alva books which give evidence for a lively book market which was centred on the Scottish legal community. Advocates bought and sold many of their books at auctions. This study shows that books on topics of interest to Scottish lawyers changed hands and stayed in use for decades.
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Walker, Alexandra. "Beyond the Looking Glass : object handling and access to museum collections." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2013. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/374734/.
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For many, a museum visit may consist of gazing at objects locked away in glass a cabinet accompanied by signs forbidding touch, and complex and often confusing text panels. But what message does this present to the visiting public? How can the public connect with museums and their collections if objects are beyond their reach? Why is handling reserved for the museum elite and not the general public? The value of touch and object handling in museums is a growing area of research, but also one that is not yet fully understood. Despite our range of senses with which we experience the world around us, museums traditionally rely on the visual as the principle means of communicating information about the past. However museums are increasingly required to prove their worth and value in society by becoming more accessible, not just in terms of audience but by opening up their stored collections, and government agenda is pushing for culture to feature in the everyday lives of the public. This research pulls apart the hierarchical nature of touch in the museum, demonstrating the benefits of a “hands-on” approach to engaging with the past, investigating the problems and limitations associated with tactile experiences, and puts forward a toolkit for tactile access to collections. It suggests that handling museum collections, not only enhances our understanding of the past, but provides memorable and valuable experiences that will remain with an individual for life.
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McLeod, Ann Elizabeth. "The Western ceramics in the collections of the Dukes of Hamilton, 1720-1920." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2014. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5801/.
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This inter-disciplinary examination assesses the European ceramics in the collections of the Dukes of Hamilton over a number of generations. The study is based principally on the evidence found in the Hamilton and other archives, comprising both textual and visual sources. The second element that forms the foundation for the research is the connoisseurship of ceramics, both extant and those known only through documents. Evidence has revealed that the Duchesses of Hamilton play a major role in this work. A significant number of Hamilton ceramics have been newly identified and located, while their attribution, acquisition and history within the collections have been assessed and clarified.
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de, la Rocha Mille Raymond. "Museums without walls : the museology of Georges Henri Riviere." Thesis, City University London, 2011. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/2154/.
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This thesis explores important aspects of the debates and practices that since the First World War have both extended the meaning of museums and museology, and renovated what was seen by many as a stagnated 19th century model of museum policy and communication. For the purpose of illustrating the manifold nature of these debates this thesis examines the life and work of French museologist and innovator of modern French ethnographical practice, Georges Henri Rivière (1897 – 1985). It draws on the conceptual distinction made in some international museum literature between museology and museums. This distinction stems from the different assumptions introduced by two long term projects of cultural development: the 18th century projects of enlightenment and the 20th century promotion of an anthropological conception of culture. The former is closely related to the European system of fine art understood as a system of promotion and popularization of the arts. The latter is part of the efforts of the human and social sciences to insert museums in the society they serve and/or to give a democratic representation to the variety of cultures existing in a society at large. The consequence was the development, in the course of the 20th Century, of two often opposing managerial policies and cultures, one inwards looking, aiming at modernization and professionalization of internal museum functions, the other focusing on closing the relationship of museology and its natural and social environment. The first was essentially administrative and scholar-based, and has thrived with the adoption of a culture of mass consumption and multiplied its functions according to an ever-dominant division of labour. The second is proactive and externally driven, a policy and managerial culture aiming at the management of processes and resources, and at the identifications and development of the living cultures existing in a society. In this line of thought this research explores the museology of Rivet-Rivière’s Musée-Laboratoire as part of a national project of cultural development aiming at changing the relationship of French citizens to their material culture and heritage. As the museological embodiment of the myth of primitivism, Rivet-Rivière’s ‘structural museology’ was shaped by the convergence of avant-garde movements in contemporary arts with the object-based ethnology of Marcel Mauss. It eventually led not only to Rivière’s most famous concept, the Ecomusée, but also to a ‘museology without walls’ and to the diversification and multiplication of local museological practices by which every activity existing in a territory could be given museographical expression. As cultural activist, Rivière was at the crossroads of major events and personalities of his time, and his museological talent was placed at the service of their concerns and expectations, particularly through his long involvement with the UNESCO-linked International Council of Museums (ICOM). Furthermore, his privileged positions in the culture of its time made him a significant witness, not just of the debate about museums, but of 20th century French cultural life.
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Hewitt, Peter. "The material culture of Shakespeare's England : a study of the early modern objects in the museum collection of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2015. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/5870/.
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This thesis investigates the material culture of early modern England as reflected in the object collections of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon. The collection consists of nearly 300 objects and six buildings dating from the period 1500-1650 representing 'the life, work and times of William Shakespeare', with a particular emphasis on domestic and community life in Shakespeare's Stratford. Using approaches from museum studies and material culture studies together with historical research, this thesis demonstrates how objects add depth and complexity to historical and museological narratives, and presents a range of unique and never before examined material sources for the study of the social and cultural history of the period. For different reasons, collectors, scholars and museum practitioners have all tended to place the Trust's objects within existing historical narratives whilst neglecting the physical evidence of the objects themselves. By closely examining the object as well as the cultural context of its manufacture and use, this study seeks to rejuvenate the way this and similar collections are seen and used in studies of the early modem period.
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Cole, Edward. "Handle with care : historical geographies and difficult cultural legacies of egg-collecting." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2016. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/7800/.
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This thesis offers an examination of egg-collecting, which was a very popular pastime in Britain from the Victorian era well into the twentieth century. Collectors, both young and old, would often spend whole days and sometimes longer trips in a wide variety of different habitats, from sea shores to moorlands, wetlands to craggy mountainsides, searching for birds’ nests and the bounty to be found within them. Once collectors had found and taken eggs, they emptied out the contents; hence, they were really eggshell collectors. Some egg collectors claimed that egg-collecting was not just a hobby but a science, going by the name of oology, and seeking to establish oology as a recognised sub-discipline of ornithology, these collectors or oologists established formal institutions such as associations and societies, attended meetings where they exhibited unusual finds, and also contributed to specialist publications dedicated to oology. Egg-collecting was therefore many things at once: a culture of the British countryside, from where many eggs were taken; a culture of natural history, taking on the trappings of a science; and a culture of enthusiasm, providing a consuming passion for many collectors. By the early twentieth century, however, opposing voices were increasingly being raised, by conservation groups and other observers, about the impact that egg-collecting was having on bird populations and on the welfare of individual birds. By mid-century the tide had turned against the collectors, and egg-collecting in Britain was largely outlawed in 1954, with further restrictions imposed in 1981. While many egg collections have been lost or destroyed, some have been donated to museums, including Glasgow Museums (GM), which holds in its collections over 30,000 eggs. As a Collaborative Doctoral Award involving the University of Glasgow and GM, the project outlined in this thesis aims to bring to light and to life these egg collections, the activities of the collectors who originally built them, and the wider world of British egg-collecting. By researching archival material held by Glasgow Museums, published specialist egg-collecting journals and other published sources, as well as the eggs as a material archive, this thesis seeks to recover some of the practices and preoccupations of egg collectors. It also recounts the practical activities carried out during the course of the project at GM, particularly those involving a collection of eggs newly donated to the museum during the course of this project, culminating in a new temporary display of birds’ eggs at Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.
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Knittler, Konstanze Amelie. "Motivations and patterns of collecting : George Salting, William G. Gulland and William Lever as collectors of Chinese porcelain." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2011. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2811/.
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The collecting of Chinese ceramics had become an increasingly popular activity in late 19th-century Britain. Whereas the 18th century was characterised by an interest in porcelain for the purpose of interior design, the political developments between China and Britain enabled a new approach to Chinese cultural identity; different Chinese material became available in the wake of the Second Opium War (1856-1860) and the subsequent sacking of the Imperial Summer Palace of Yuanmingyuan, and this material entered Britain for the first time. Due to the opening of China to foreign merchants, Britons now could move freely in the country and gain access to ‘luxury goods’ such as porcelain. As a result, a different taste for Chinese porcelain emerged and developed, which would reflect on the collecting scene in Britain. This thesis examines the motivations and collecting patterns of three British collectors (George Salting, William G. Gulland and William Lever) in the context of late 19th- and early 20th-century Chinese porcelain collecting. All three men built significant collections in the given period, which entered national institutions by gift and/or bequest, as well as a purpose built gallery in one case. Nonetheless the collectors’ achievements in the field of Chinese ceramics have not been analysed extensively and therefore the present thesis aims at complementing the existing research. The study makes predominant use of primary unpublished material on the three collections, which enables conclusions to be drawn on the incentive and approach of these collectors in accumulating Chinese artefacts during this period. In consideration of those findings, it will be argued whether their collecting encouraged an underlying common motif and how their tastes matched the general concept of collecting porcelain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first chapter provides an introduction to the subject, and will be followed by a historical abstract of 19th-century collecting in Britain and a review of the published literature in the second chapter. The third chapter examines the collecting activity of the oldest collector, George Salting, by analysis of his purchase activity and the bequest of his Chinese porcelain collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum. The fourth chapter considers the collecting of William G. Gulland, whose first-hand experience of East Asia prompted him to collect and publish books on Chinese porcelain. The fifth chapter will look into the collecting principles of William Lever, whose Chinese collection stands in contrast to his overall British taste. The conclusion in the sixth chapter will summarise the major points of the preceding chapters and it will put the achievements of the three collectors into perspective with the general idea of collecting Chinese porcelain in Britain in the period under discussion.
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Escutia, Sánchez Erika. "Poseer e inventar: los objetos y la interpretación de las prácticas estéticas americanas en las casas reales europeas (1493-1565)." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/673458.
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El presente estudio indaga en las interpretaciones y usos que las familias reinantes de Europa dieron a los artefactos americanos incorporados a sus posesiones entre 1493 y 1565. A través del análisis de documentos, imágenes y objetos, la tesis explora tres dinámicas: a) los procesos de descontextualización y recontextualización de los artefactos; b) las relaciones materiales, afectivas e intelectuales entre los objetos y sus poseedores; y c) las especulaciones europeas sobre los grupos humanos de América a partir de sus producciones estéticas. La tesis demuestra que los objetos americanos fungieron como dispositivos simbólico-epistémicos que monarcas y pontífices utilizaron a partir de sus propias peculiaridades geopolíticas, religiosas, culturales y de género. Asimismo, se presenta un rico y complejo panorama sobre las prácticas de intercambio, obsequio, atesoramiento, ostentación, exhibición y coleccionismo de americana en Europa antes de la proliferación de las cámaras de maravillas a finales del siglo XVI.<br>This study investigates the interpretations and uses that the ruling families of Europe gave to American artifacts incorporated into their possessions between 1493 and 1565. Through the analysis of documents, images, and objects, the thesis explores three dynamics: a) the processes of decontextualization and recontextualization of the artifacts, b) the material, affective, and intellectual relationships between objects and their owners; and c) the European speculations about human groups of America based on their aesthetic productions. The thesis shows that American objects acted as symbolic-epistemic devices that monarchs and popes used based on their own geopolitical, religious, cultural, and gender peculiarities. It also presents a rich and complex panorama of the practices of exchange, gift, treasuring, display, and collecting of Americana in Europe before the proliferation of the Cabinets of curiosities at the end of the 16th century.
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Silver, Sean R. "The curatorial imagination in England, 1660-1752." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1720866751&sid=20&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Gaughan, Evan M. "NATURALISTS, CONNOISSUERS AND CLASSICISTS: COLLECTING AND PATRONAGE AS FEMALE PRACTICE IN BRITAIN, 1715-1825." Thesis, Connect to resource online, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1805/2228.
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Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2010.<br>Title from screen (viewed on July 28, 2010). Department of History, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Jason M. Kelly, Melissa Bingmann, Eric L. Lindseth. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-91).
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Terjesen, Lori Ann Martin. "Collecting the Brücke: Their Prints in Three American Museums, A Case Study." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1291164225.
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Onol, Isil. "Haptic interaction with visual information : tactile exhibition as inclusive interface between museum visitors and the Bronze Bust of Sophocles." Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 2011. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/16817/.
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Through creative practice research this thesis investigates the concept of touch and its application to museums with the process defined as ‘practice of touch’. The main practical outcome of this thesis is an interface between the museum visitor and an untouchable museum object as part of the object interpretation. The implementation of this idea is realised with the ‘Tactual Explorations’ project. The format of this project is a tactile exhibition consisting of virtual and conventional artworks combined. The subject of the study focuses on interaction between museum visitors and exhibits in order to create an accessible and tactile solution around museums’ ‘do not touch’ policy; without being limited to but being especially for blind and partially sighted visitors. The reason behind paying special attention to these members of the audience is the significance of the sense ‘touch’ in communicating with the world around them. While the main objective of this research is to gain more understanding of the concept of ‘touch’, on a deeper level it investigates whether or not a haptic interaction with untouchable visual information can be achieved with the aid of a creative interface between the museum visitor and an untouchable museum exhibit. By using this creative interface, the aim of the research extends to gaining a better understanding of touch through curating with information design and artistic methods. The purpose behind the idea is to form an inclusive museum experience free from assumptions of just one interpreter without rejecting the traditional methods of object interpretation. The practical outcome enhances dialogue with the existing information by paying special attention to tactile properties of a museum object through a set of artworks. The project is supported by other practical experiments in order to understand the value of visual/photographic information attached to an untouchable object and involve other scholars and artists in interpreting this information tactually. While accepting museums’ policy of ‘do not touch’, the praxis of this thesis is proposed as a method of interpretation that aims to bring in the ‘missing interactivity of touch’ through an engaging tactile exhibition of physical and virtual artworks made by various artists. In contrary to more common approaches of involving artists in interpreting museum objects, in this model created works are not inspired by the original, but directly based on its texture information in order to create haptic interaction, without using a direct replica or embossed copies. In other words, this interface is presented as an addition to the object’s formal interpretation, not to replace it. The research adopts creative practice research methodology in general; and realises it with a reflective and participatory approach borrowed from action research within interpretive research paradigm. The main research strategy deployed is practice-led. Rather than staying in the boundaries of qualitative research, the study takes guidance from the manifesto of performative research which is declared as an alternative to the qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, by offering creative approaches to conducting a research project.
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Perez-Alvaro, Elena. "Challenging the taken-for-granted in the management of underwater cultural heritage : ethical and legal perspectives." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2015. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/6178/.
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Management of cultural heritage depends on ethical decisions. These ethical decisions will bestow the heritage with a value and will protect it by establishing legal frameworks. However, sometimes, these legal frameworks can have the opposite effect and damage the heritage if they are not continuously revised and updated according to the new ethical challenges of the development in the field of cultural heritage. Although underwater cultural heritage has a legislative element that protects it from the relatively minor threat of treasure hunters, it pays little attention to ethical concerns that expose the heritage to more serious menaces. This study proposes (contrary to the traditional view of land heritage management as an example to underwater heritage management) a new vision where underwater cultural heritage challenges principles that in land heritage management have been taken for granted: valuation, use, management and preservation. The work presents four case studies as models both for illustrating the key ethical issues and for offering solutions: the violin of the Titanic, ancient lead for particle physics experiments, watery graves and the effects of climate change on underwater cultural heritage. Finally this work explores themes of value, ethics and the process in which a common object becomes heritage.
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Sogbesan, Oluwatoyin Zainab. "The potential of digital representation : the changing meaning of the Ife 'bronzes' from pre-colonial Ife to the post-colonial digital British Museum." Thesis, City, University of London, 2015. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/17212/.
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For many years, meanings and interpretations of artefacts that are taken to represent African culture including the Ife bronzes have been predominantly produced and fixed by a team of western curatorial experts (Ciolfi, 2012). Such museum practices have prevented visitors and the people being represented by the artefact from participating in the process of interpretation and meaning-making. In the particular case of the ‘Ife bronzes’, the previous meaning and implications of the Ife ‘bronzes’ as part of ‘the cradle of the world’, according to Yoruba oral traditions, are yet to be given the amount of attention they deserve. For a long time the interpretations and meanings produced by curators were drawn from the writings and accounts of earlier western travellers, explorers and colonial officials whose culture affected how the Ife bronzes have been perceived and interpreted (Coombes, 1997: Vogel, 1999). Today despite the impact of ‘the new museology’, strong traces of such biased interpretations and meanings are still evident in the framing of the Ife bronze head, exhibited at the British Museum Sainsbury African gallery as a ‘funerary object’ in postcolonial times. Such narratives highlight ‘relations of power and not relations of meanings’ (Foucault, 1980:114). These contemporary exhibitionary frames highlight the need for interpretations and meanings that will consider how changing roles, ownership, usage, political situations and geographical location have affected and will affect the Ife bronzes. In this thesis I carry out this work, documenting the social life of the Ife bronzes from pre-colonial Ife to postcolonial digital British Museum. I argue that there is a need for a new space that will encourage rewriting, revising and representing the Ife bronzes in a more capacious way to depict their changing meaning as they journeyed through time. This theory is in line with Hall (1997) and Foucault’s (1980) theories that meanings and interpretations are not static but are affected by time and changing context. The thesis therefore explores the multifaceted political, economical and sociocultural implications of the Ife bronzes. Despite these wider implications of Ife bronzes, they are still only too often shrouded in narratives that tend to validate the supremacy, civilisation and intellectual ‘supremacy’ of the West instead of substantiating the ingenuity, civilisation and intellectual capabilities of Africa. Digitisation is critically considered as offering a potential new space for representing Ife bronzes in a new light that might allow meanings with postcolonial ideology to emerge. Focusing on different periods involving the Ife bronzes (the pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial) the thesis explores the potentials of digital representation. The thesis concludes that digital representation but only combined with a critical contextual approach, have the potentials of initiating a more thorough decolonisation of the Ife bronzes through an inclusive participatory culture.
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Luxford, Naomi. "Reducing the risk of open display : optimising the preventive conservation of historic silks." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2009. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/162153/.
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English Heritage properties contain a wealth of textiles on open display, however these are ephemeral objects. Amongst the natural fibres found in historic houses, silk is reported to be the most vulnerable to damage, especially from light. The critical deterioration factors for silk deterioration have been reassessed highlighting the important role of humidity, which has previously been overlooked. Monitoring behind a number of tapestries has recorded the formation of high humidity microclimates. This is a possible reason for the similar condition of brightly coloured samples taken from the reverse of a tapestry and the same thread which had faded on the displayed side. Kinetics experiments studied the rate of silk deterioration and suggest the activation energy is approximately 50 kJ mol-1, although this may vary for other types of silk, such as weighted materials. However as elemental analysis demonstrated around 10% of the 100 samples, taken from over 1000 objects containing silk in the English Heritage collection, were from tin-weighted silks, plain silks were the study’s focus. Year long accelerated ageing experiments have demonstrated that although the inclusion of UV radiation during light ageing increased the rate of deterioration, light ageing caused small changes to silk. Thermal ageing with different humidity levels demonstrated increasing the relative humidity (RH), increased the rate of silk deterioration significantly. Further degradation of silk was observed when samples had been contaminated by the saturated salt solution used to create the RH environment during ageing. During ageing increased RH and increased temperatures led to greater yellowing of silk samples. Experimental results have been used to make preventive conservation recommendations including lowering the RH below 50%, reducing the temperature and the continued exclusion of UV radiation. A theoretical silk deterioration curve for unweighted silk has been drawn, from which initial isoperms have been plotted. The analytical results have been compared with near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy using multivariate analysis (MVA). This developed a predictive model for the tensile strength of silk using the NIR spectra. The potential of this non-invasive, non-destructive technique to monitor silk condition in situ has been tested at Brodsworth Hall and shown to rank the condition of samples successfully.
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Rutland, Francoise. "The lost gallery : John Garstang and Turkey : a postcolonial reading." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2014. http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/18859/.
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This research aims to evaluate the construction of Turkey and the “Oriental other” in Colonial Britain at the turn of the 20th century through a post-colonial theoretical perspective presented through the analysis of various data regarding the 'Aegean & Hittite Collections' gallery at the Public Museum Liverpool (now World Museum) from 1931 till the Blitz of June 1941. The sources include undocumented archives such as field notes, postcards and correspondence and what remains of the 'Garstang Hittite Collection' held at National Museums Liverpool (NML). A full investigation into how the collection was put together through curatorial and archaeological methods, what it consisted of, why these specific objects were chosen and what value were attributed by the collector and curators of the time along with gallery pals and visitors’’ guide book will allow for valid reconstruction and re-interpretation of the “Aegean & Hittite Gallery”. Furthermore I shall also explore the value of displaying a substantial collection of Hittite casts at a time when such objects were tools for Classical and Neo-Classical artistic education, understood by contemporary British society to be the pinnacle of artistic achievement. This Neo-Hittite imagery had no artistic value attributed to it and was displayed in a context of educational value for the lower social classes who could not perceive the ‘high’ arts involved in Classical Greek culture that had been adopted by aristocratic Britain as the paradigm for its own colonial identity; popularly reinforced nationally through various media, including exhibitions such as this, and also internationally through neo-Classical architectural design e.g. The Liverpool Acropolis. My thesis also relates the above premises with the life and work of Prof. John Garstang, his role within the Institute of Archaeology in Liverpool, his contribution to the “Aegean & Hittite Collections' gallery, his role as archaeological agent for private collectors, his work ethics and methodologies and his later role as establisher of British archaeological institutes in Jerusalem, Amman and Ankara. Academic reception of Hittite archaeology in Britain and the newly-formed nation-state of Turkey following the abolition of Ottoman rule in 1923 will also be considered especially regarding Garstang’s standing as a British archaeologist contributing to the Kemâlist Turkish capital city of Ankara in 1947. This research will place the Hittite Gallery’s contents and displays within their archaeological, cultural and intellectual contexts but also aims to explore the political use of contemporaneous Hittite archaeological negotiation both in Britain and Turkey at such a tumultuous time bound together through the work of Prof. John Garstang.
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Barnett, Teresa. "The nineteenth-century relic a pre-history of the historical artifact /." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1562129951&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Harvie, Ron. "The spectre of Buckingham : art patronage and collecting in early Stuart England." Thesis, McGill University, 1998. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=35895.
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This thesis examines the relationship of George Villiers, First Duke of Buckingham (1592--1628) to the art and aesthetic ideas of his era. As the intimate and all-powerful favourite of two successive kings, James I and Charles 1, Buckingham profoundly influenced the course of English politics, both at home and abroad, and it is as a political force that he is generally viewed. But, as a major patron of many artists and the builder of one of the largest art collections of the time, his influence in the cultural sphere must have been equally significant. Yet no modern study of this aspect of Buckingham's persona exists.<br>After a review of the general historiographical material on Buckingham as well as his evaluation by art historians over the years, Chapter I presents an analysis of the concept and role of Favourite in social and cultural terms. It goes on to detail Buckingham's personal position within early Stuart court culture, and argues that while this culture formed and defined him, he simultaneously re-formed and redefined it through his choices and actions.<br>Chapter II examines the dynamics of art patronage and Buckingham's activity as a patron, beginning with his early dealings with the native English painter, William Larkin. The relationship of Buckingham and the young Anthony Van Dyck is discussed, with parlicular attention to the artist's brief visit to England in 1620--21, and it is suggested that Buckingham was instrumental in bringing about this event. The Duke's dealings with the controversial polymath, Balthazar Gerbier, are explored, as are his many-layered connections with the premier painter of the day, Peter Paul Rubens.<br>In Chapter III the traditions of art collecting, especially in England are discussed, as is Buckingham's reputation as a collector compared to some of his rivals in the field. The extant documentation of his collection is examined, along with the chronology and methodology of its formation. Particular attention is given to gifts of art to Buckingham by King Charles, the Earl of Arundel and others; the art-buying by Buckingham's agents like Balthazar Gerbier; and the incorporation by the Duke into his own inventory of parts of other collections such as that of the Duke of Hamilton and, more importantly, that of Rubens.<br>Both in the realm of court culture and in the world of art patronage and art collecting, it was Buckingham more than anyone else who supplied the energy and set the fashion. And he continued to do so even after his premature death: the Duke's image remained bright in the memory of King Charles, whose subsequent expanded relationships with Rubens and Van Dyck owe much of their intensity to both artists' previous connections with Buckingham.
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Marquez, Jessica. "A natural history /." Online version of thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/6249.
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Hammond, Georgina. "Using supercritical carbon dioxide as a tool for preserving culturally significant items." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2017. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/7464/.
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Conservators treat and repair a huge array of damaged and degrading materials on a regular basis. As such, there are many techniques and protocols in place to deal with these problems successfully, be that via preventative or interventive methods. However, there is need for new and innovative techniques that offer long term stabilisation to materials and objects that are prevalent within museum collections. As an alternative to some of these conservation techniques, hydration with supercritical carbon dioxide was investigated here. Both modern and historic, hardwood and softwood samples were successfully hydrated using this technique. The addition of a co-solvent (methanol) to the supercritical fluid solvent stream was used as a method to increase the solubility of water in carbon dioxide, and therefore improve levels of hydration. To evaluate the extent of any damage being caused during the supercritical fluid treatment, microstructural and macrostructural analytical techniques were carried out. The supercritical hydration technique allowed historic wood to be hydrated and stabilised. Strength properties were seen to be maintained or improved after the supercritical treatment, providing conservators with a viable method of hydration. A feasibility study looking at the cleaning and characterisation of historic leather samples was investigated using spectroscopic methods. The sensitivity of Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform spectroscopy on historic leather was explored. Additionally, changes in elemental composition on the surface of the leather were monitored using Scanning Electron Microscopy Energy Dispersive spectroscopy. Cleaning historic leather via a supercritical carbon dioxide solvent stream showed the greatest potential for future work. However, the characterisation of unattributed historic leather is a vast and complex task that would require the expertise of a leather conservator, if the investigation were to be continued.
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Santos, Admeire da Silva [UNESP]. "A influência do colecionismo na representação da memória social: análise da coleção Amidicis Tocantins." Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11449/128131.
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000850547.pdf: 607121 bytes, checksum: 6b494bb9c8c80b2d72174816eb12fedc (MD5)<br>Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)<br>A Biblioteca Central da universidade federal de Mato Grosso conta com um acervo de coleção de obras raras e especiais que recebe o nome do colecionador: Coleção Amidicis Tocantins - CAT. O colecionador, um homem comum, mas que gostava de colecionar livros de relevância social, faleceu e deixou a coleção aos cuidados da família, que decidiu doar a coleção. O processo de doação foi intermediado pelos membros da família e a reitoria da Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso, que no período demonstrou interesse em receber a coleção. A Biblioteca Central, como muitas outras bibliotecas públicas brasileiras, passa por problemas financeiros para o tratamento adequado da coleção, seja estrutural ou de capacitação pessoal. Dessa forma, as obras pertencentes à coleção não possuem tratamento algum, o que vem gerando muitos questionamentos. E a questão aqui trabalhada é: pode uma coleção anteriormente particular representar a memória coletiva? Na busca para a resolução dessa questão, elencou-se como objetivo principal identificar e discutir a relevância de uma coleção institucionalizada na configuração da memória social, no âmbito da Ciência da Informação, por meio do estudo do caso da Coleção Amidicis Tocantins. Nesse seguimento, busca-se analisar, no âmbito da Ciência da Informação, os termos coleção, objeto, memória e lugar de memória, estabelecendo assim um diálogo entre esses conceitos; analisar in loco a Coleção Amidicis Tocantins a fim de coletar informações e interpretar por meio da literatura as questões pertinentes ao significado e finalidade da coleção; apresentar de que forma a Coleções Amidicis Tocantins pode representar a memória social e refletir nos motivos pelo qual foi escolhida pela instituição. A metodologia do trabalho é o estudo de caso, na qual se utilizou da proposição teórica para se analisar os dados, dispostos em forma analítica e texto. A Coleção Amidicis...<br>The Mato Grosso Federal University Central Library counts with a collection of rare and special works that receives the collector's name: Coleção Amidicis Tocantins - CAT. The collector, a common man, who liked to collect social relevant books, died and left the collection under the care of his family which decided to donate the collection. The donation process was intermediated by the family members and the Mato Grosso Federal University rector who in the period showed interest in receiving the collection. The Central Library, as many others Brazilian public universities, struggles with financial problems to give proper treatment to the collection, be it structural or of personal capacitation.This way the works that belong to the collection don't have any treatment, which has been causing many questioning s. And the question here worked is: Can a previously particular collection represent a collective memory? In the search for the resolution of this question it was ranked as the main objective to identify and discuss the relevance of an institutionalized collection in the configuration of social memory, in the Information Science scope, through the studying of the Amidicis Tocantins Collection case. In this sequence it is aimed to analyze, in the Information Science scope, the terms collection, object, memory and place of memory, establishing, there for, a dialogue between these concepts; to analyze in loco the Amidicis Tocantins Collection in order to collect information and to interpret, through the literature, the questions pertinent to the collection's meaning and finality; to present how the Amidicis Tocantins Collection can represent a social memory and reflect the motives for which it was chosen by the institution. The works methodology is a case study in which has been utilized the theoretical proposition to analyze the data displaced in an analytical form and text.The Amidicis Tocantins Collection was analyzed in the ...
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Santos, Admeire da Silva. "A influência do colecionismo na representação da memória social : análise da coleção Amidicis Tocantins /." Marília, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11449/128131.
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Orientadora: Maria Leandra Bizello<br>Banca: Ana Cristina Albuquerque<br>Banca: João Batista Ernesto de Moraes<br>Resumo: A Biblioteca Central da universidade federal de Mato Grosso conta com um acervo de coleção de obras raras e especiais que recebe o nome do colecionador: Coleção Amidicis Tocantins - CAT. O colecionador, um homem comum, mas que gostava de colecionar livros de relevância social, faleceu e deixou a coleção aos cuidados da família, que decidiu doar a coleção. O processo de doação foi intermediado pelos membros da família e a reitoria da Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso, que no período demonstrou interesse em receber a coleção. A Biblioteca Central, como muitas outras bibliotecas públicas brasileiras, passa por problemas financeiros para o tratamento adequado da coleção, seja estrutural ou de capacitação pessoal. Dessa forma, as obras pertencentes à coleção não possuem tratamento algum, o que vem gerando muitos questionamentos. E a questão aqui trabalhada é: pode uma coleção anteriormente particular representar a memória coletiva? Na busca para a resolução dessa questão, elencou-se como objetivo principal identificar e discutir a relevância de uma coleção institucionalizada na configuração da memória social, no âmbito da Ciência da Informação, por meio do estudo do caso da Coleção Amidicis Tocantins. Nesse seguimento, busca-se analisar, no âmbito da Ciência da Informação, os termos coleção, objeto, memória e lugar de memória, estabelecendo assim um diálogo entre esses conceitos; analisar in loco a Coleção Amidicis Tocantins a fim de coletar informações e interpretar por meio da literatura as questões pertinentes ao significado e finalidade da coleção; apresentar de que forma a Coleções Amidicis Tocantins pode representar a memória social e refletir nos motivos pelo qual foi escolhida pela instituição. A metodologia do trabalho é o estudo de caso, na qual se utilizou da ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo)<br>Abstract: The Mato Grosso Federal University Central Library counts with a collection of rare and special works that receives the collector's name: Coleção Amidicis Tocantins - CAT. The collector, a common man, who liked to collect social relevant books, died and left the collection under the care of his family which decided to donate the collection. The donation process was intermediated by the family members and the Mato Grosso Federal University rector who in the period showed interest in receiving the collection. The Central Library, as many others Brazilian public universities, struggles with financial problems to give proper treatment to the collection, be it structural or of personal capacitation.This way the works that belong to the collection don't have any treatment, which has been causing many questioning s. And the question here worked is: Can a previously particular collection represent a collective memory? In the search for the resolution of this question it was ranked as the main objective to identify and discuss the relevance of an institutionalized collection in the configuration of social memory, in the Information Science scope, through the studying of the Amidicis Tocantins Collection case. In this sequence it is aimed to analyze, in the Information Science scope, the terms collection, object, memory and place of memory, establishing, there for, a dialogue between these concepts; to analyze in loco the Amidicis Tocantins Collection in order to collect information and to interpret, through the literature, the questions pertinent to the collection's meaning and finality; to present how the Amidicis Tocantins Collection can represent a social memory and reflect the motives for which it was chosen by the institution. The works methodology is a case study in which has been utilized the theoretical proposition to analyze the data ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)<br>Mestre
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Bueno, Delgado Patricia. "Towards a professional learning dialogue in Mexican contemporary art museums." Thesis, City, University of London, 2014. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/17618/.
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Dialogue is a tool that can be used to promote learning experiences amongst audiences in contemporary art museums, in particular due to the potential difficulty of interpreting this type of art. This study argues that when dialogue between the museum and audience promotes balanced opportunities to express ideas and information, the museum can also learn. The museum can share the learning findings about audiences with the rest of the staff members through a professional dialogue, which may impact, creating positive change on future museum practice, in order to facilitate exhibitions, programmes and activities better targeted to audiences. The research explores the concept of learning dialogue using interviews, content analysis, and a theoretical framework related to learning and dialogue in museums. The study also analyses the role of learning and education, and their context in contemporary art museum practice in Mexico, using critical texts and practical evidence from interviews with educators, curators and directors. The thesis investigates, in particular, the case study of the Enlaces programme at the University Museum of Contemporary Art (MuAC). This is a learning activity where the Enlaces participants, who are university students, receive training about the specialist knowledge required to understand contemporary art. The participants aim to create further dialogue with audiences with the purpose of provoking questions, reflection and understanding of MuAC’s contemporary artworks and exhibitions. Findings from the Enlaces participants’ interviews reveal a learning dialogue with audiences, resulting in a model that considers the interaction of three categories of dialogue: visual internal, content and participatory dialogues. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that the interactions between the Enlaces participants and MuAC staff stimulate peer dialogue, professional dialogue and limited dialogue. The analysis of findings results in a model for professional learning dialogue based on the interaction between three key areas: communication, recognition and teamwork. The research proposes an optimal scenario where there is professional and audience learning dialogue taking place, these then feedback to the museum cyclically, allowing audiences to contribute and influence the organisation.
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Mikasa, Princess Akiko of. "Collecting and displaying 'Japan' in Victorian Britain : the case of the British Museum." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.669978.
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Aydin, Mahmut No. "Animals At Burgaz In The Classical Period From The Evidence Of Faunal Remains." Master's thesis, METU, 2004. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12605502/index.pdf.
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For this thesis the animal bones collected from the archaeological excavations at the ancient site of Burgaz have been analyzed for the study of animal exploitation, human diet, social differentiation and the environment of Burgaz and Datç<br>a during the Classical Period. Comparison of the results with evidence from other sites to determine the extent to which there might have been local trends in animal husbandry.
Because this kind of a research is not common among archaeologists specialising in the classical period the methodology and each process of the laboratory work has been set out.
Burgaz/Datç<br>a is a coastal settlement but sea products do not have an important place in the human diet of the Datç<br>a Burgaz inhabitants. After analysis of the Burgaz bones it was determined that domestic cattle, sheep/goat, pig, horse, donkey and dog were present alongside wild goat, wild pig, fallow deer, red deer, roe deer, badger and birds as well as fish and shellfish from the sea.
More than half of the bones that were identified, 220 of 430, come from floor filling levels beneath floors. It was understood that these bones were in filling materials that were brought from dump site(s). Among these bones were some worked cattle bones which have close parallels with Roman period finds at Sagalassos.
Because of most of identified bones come from filling levels beneath floors it was not possible to reach definite conclusions about social hierarchy at ancient Burgaz.
Sheep/goat and cattle were kept for their secondary products, such as milk, wool and power. They were slaughtered in their old age by experienced people and played an important place in diet of the Burgaz inhabitants. Pigs, on the other hand, were slaughtered when young.
From the wild species found in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods it can be said that the Datç<br>a environment was diverse enough to accommodate a range of wild animals whose habitat indicates the existence of forested areas (with large leafed and coniferous trees) as well as of meadows and grasslands.
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Galani, Areti. "Far away is close at hand : an ethnographic investigation of social conduct in mixed reality museum visits." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2005. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3918/.
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This thesis investigates how museum companions organise their conduct regarding their engagement with the exhibition and their social interaction with each other in the course of a visit. The main objectives of the thesis are the empirical investigation of social conduct in casual group museum visits and the exploration and understanding of social conduct in real-time distributed museum visits through mobile mixed reality technology. A third area of interest is the application of qualitative methodology, based on ethnomethodology and ethnographic methods, for the fulfilment of the above objectives. In particular this thesis presents and discusses fieldwork of collocated casual group visits alongside video recording and interviews collected in distributed museum visits during trial sessions in the Mack Room mixed reality museum environment. Drawing on vignettes of activity among collocated and distributed participants, the thesis develops discussion around three themes: the collaborative exploration of museum artefacts, aspects of the collaborative management of shared museum visits and the constitution of the visiting ‘order’ in and through social conduct. Among others, issues of collaborative alignment, awareness, indication of engagement and disengagement and conflicting accountabilities are discussed. The contribution of this thesis in current research in museum studies, CSCW and social science is explored. Findings reported in this thesis extend current visitor studies research to include the study of social conduct in the management of collocated visits and the constitution of visiting order. They also suggest that studies of sociality among distributed visitors may open opportunities for museums to support mutually complementing local and distributed experiences. With regard to understanding asymmetries in mobile mixed reality environments, the thesis points out that asymmetries could be better understood with reference to the activity in context rather than the technological features themselves. This thesis also makes a contribution to social studies research with regard to exploring the changing character of talk in distributed collaborative settings. Future research with respect to mixed reality applications for museum visits is also outlined.
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Hall, Alison. "The Shelter photographs 1968-1972 : Nick Hedges, the representation of the homeless child and a photographic archive." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2016. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/6534/.
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The thesis examines the work of photographer Nick Hedges (b. 1953) who made photographs for the housing charity Shelter between 1968 and 1972. It concentrates on Hedges’ methodology, his representation of the homeless child, and how this was deployed in Shelter’s campaign strategy. Moreover, it examines the wider political, sociological and cultural debates surrounding the conception, production, dissemination and reception of the Shelter photographs. The thesis argues that Hedges’ photographs, although contextualised by an ostensibly radical charity agenda, were shaped by an established photographic and art historical tradition reaching back to the nineteenth century. This is examined in the light of a shifting conception of what constituted an ethically sound representation of homelessness amongst leftist critics in Britain from the 1970s onwards. The thesis equally discusses the archive as a site of photographic accession, interpretation and display, and outlines the issues that face archive professionals charged with the presentation of the Shelter photographs to a contemporary audience. By combining art historical analysis of Hedges’ photographs with research into their current framing in the archive, the thesis offers a distinctive contribution to scholarship, exploring how photographic meaning is shaped, subverted and disseminated by individuals, organisations and institutions alike.
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Mitchell, Sarah. "The Kunstkammer object in seventeenth-century Salzburg : a case study, early modern collections, transformation and materiality." Thesis, McGill University, 2005. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=83130.
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The phenomenon of princely and scientific collections that proliferated in Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries has become an important focus for modern historical analysis. These collections provide a microcosm of contemporary political, economic and philosophical ideas, often characterized by geographical and cultural differences. The mid-seventeenth century Kunst- and Wunderkammer studied here, instituted by the archbishops of Salzburg, brings forward themes sometimes neglected in the literature. The archbishops' collection was part of broader efforts to reinvent the city of Salzburg as a representation of both sacred and secular authority. Strategies for significant display were derived from religious and imperial ritual, drawing on the potential of objects as signifiers. In this context, I also examine some of the debates within the literature on princely and scientific collections, where the study of wonder and science begins to merge in cross-disciplinary scholarship. Finally, I highlight the role of transformation and materiality in these collections to argue that the act of collecting objects and the act of making were imbricated in the process of self-definition. Within themes of technology and process, I investigate the pursuit of creating Kunstkammer objects, as well as the business of their display and use in diplomacy.
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Tan, Ceyda Basak. "Educational Function Of Art Museums: Two Case Studies From Turkey." Master's thesis, METU, 2007. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12608742/index.pdf.
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This thesis analyzes the educational function of art museums, how education in art museums evolved and how an art museum can conduct an educational mission. The concept of the material collections as the educative origin of art museums will be discussed alongside the history of collections in Europe. In addition to the concept of collection, the importance of educational programmes of art museums will be highlighted. Having derived a general notion of the educational function of art museums, the thesis will seek to answer questions such as how museology evolved in Turkey and whether the turkish museology has an educational concern. In accordance with these questions two turkish contemporary art museums will be investigated as case studies.
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Watson, Carly Emma. "The legacy of an eighteenth-century gentleman : Alexander Thistlethwayte's books in Winchester College Fellows' Library." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2014. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/4954/.
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This thesis investigates the donation of books made by Alexander Thistlethwayte (?1718–1771), a Hampshire grandee and bibliophile, to the Fellows’ Library of Winchester College, the oldest of the English public schools. The first two chapters demonstrate the largely untapped potential of two unique books in the Thistlethwayte benefaction to advance scholarly understanding of topics relating to the copying and transmission of early modern literary texts. The second part of the thesis examines the collecting habits which shaped the physical configuration of Thistlethwayte’s books and the contents of his library. Chapter Three rediscovers the role of the anthology in late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century cultures of compilation, through a comparison of Sammelbände assembled by Thistlethwayte with those that he acquired from an Oxford graduate of the 1690s. Chapter Four traces the growth of Thistlethwayte’s library in the context of his life as a gentleman, taking in evidence from Thistlethwayte’s later donation of books to his alma mater, Wadham College, Oxford. The thesis concludes by reflecting on the conditions of access to the Fellows’ Library from which this doctoral project has benefited, and considers ways of extending the benefits of access and community engagement to scholars and the wider public.
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Beel, David E. "Reinterpreting the museum : social inclusion, citizenship and the urban regeneration of Glasgow." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2011. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2668/.
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This thesis considers the contemporary work of the museum in the post-industrial setting of Glasgow. It interprets and understands how the museum as a space gives voice to New Labour’s concepts of social inclusion and citizenship whilst being embroiled in the wider process of urban regeneration and city enhancement. This research has been conducted using a mixed methodology incorporating policy analysis, participant observation and interviews, engaging with policy documentation, museum professionals and museum users in its goal to understand how the museum has been and is positioned within society. In exploring how museums have sought to become more socially inclusive, the research examined four different programmes in detail. These included two outreach projects; one working with adult learners and the other with different religious groups in the city. The research has also followed the contribution of a group of volunteers and finally it has engaged with the on-going processes surrounding the building of the city’s latest museum. The research findings have highlighted a complex and entangled set of power relations in the attempts to articulate social inclusion policy through the museum. This suggests, building upon the work of Foucault, that the museum embraces a soft-disciplinary power in relation to citizens. Specific programmes of the museum service targeting social inclusion reveal the benefits the individual may enjoy through participating in cultural events from which they might otherwise feel excluded. Yet, the reach of such programmes question the extent to which they are able to address social inclusion in the city. Recent developments – the production of the city’s newest museum as part of the riverside regeneration in particular – reveal how the installation of the iconic museum is closely allied to the wider project of urban economic regeneration. The planning of the Riverside Museum, however, has been attentive to the social inclusion agenda, particularly through the questions of access. Finally, the research shows how the city’s dominant growth agenda has resulted in a changing role for curators, shifting their agency away from a more traditional practice in which they were key gatekeepers, coordinating what museums displayed and how they did so, and towards a role that reflects a more scrutinised form of managerial control.
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Wingfield, Chris. "The moving objects of the London Missionary Society : an experiment in symmetrical anthropology." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2012. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3437/.
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An experimental attempt to consider the history of the London Missionary Society (LMS) from the lens of the artefacts that accumulated at its London headquarters, which included a museum from 1814 until 1910. The movement of these things through space and over time offers a rich perspective for considering the impacts on Britain of its history of overseas missionary activity. Building on anthropological debates about exchange, material culture, and the agency of things, the biographies of particular objects are explored in relation to the processes involved in the assemblage, circulation and dispersal of the LMS collection. Methodologically, the research is an attempt to develop what Latour has called a symmetrical anthropology, with archaeological approaches to the material products of historical processes as an important dimension of this. Drawing on attempts to study ‘along the grain’ in historical anthropology, and to move beyond iconoclasm as a critical stance, it is argued that museums should be understood as ‘other places’ in which objects are made by techniques of inscription and confinement which have a significant ceremonial dimension. At the same time, certain charismatic objects are shown to have transcended these contexts of confinement, affecting those they encounter, and shaping history around themselves.
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Minkley, Hannah Smith. "Photographing other selves: collecting, collections and collaborative visual identity." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12669.
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This study is situated in a social documentary photography context, and is concerned to explore whether the collaborative interaction between photographer, subject (as collector) and material object (as collection) might enable a practice that presents a more mutual and subject-centred visual identity emerge. In particular, photographers Jim Goldberg and Gideon Mendel have focused more on the subject themselves, using collaborative processes such as photo-voice and photo elicitation, as well as the use of peoples’ handwritten captions on photographic prints themselves. Claudia Mitchell’s overview of visual methodologies is drawn on, together with Ken Plummer’s Documents of Life 2 (2001) and Gillian Rose’s Visual Methodologies (2001) to extend on these possibilities of conducting collaborative visual research.The practical component of this study focuses on personal collections and follows a number of theorists, including Susan Pearce, and John Elsner and Roger Cardinal. It follows Pearce’s identification of three major modes of collecting, and suggests that collections are essentially narratives of the self, and reveal experiences and expressions of personal desire. By drawing on these approaches and the various ways the twelve collectors were photographed, as well as implementing collaborative research processes (handwritten text, archival photographs and the re-staging of the collections), the study confirms Pearce’s three primary modes of collecting, and acknowledges that they are often interlinked or overlap one another. The study further found that a more subject voiced visual identity did indeed become apparent through the collaborative methods applied and discussed. The collaborative research equally demonstrated that these narratives of identity are not singular, but rather narratives of multiple, personal identities of the self.
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Dickenson, Rachelle. "The stories told : indigenous art collections, museums, and national identities." Thesis, McGill University, 2005. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=98919.
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The history of collection at the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, illustrates concepts of race in the development of museums in Canada from before Confederation to today. Located at intersections of Art History, Museology, Postcolonial Studies and Native Studies, this thesis uses discourse theory to trouble definitions of nation and problematize them as inherently racial constructs wherein 'Canadianness' is institutionalized as a dominant white, Euro-Canadian discourse that mediates belonging. The recent reinstallations of the permanent Canadian historical art galleries at the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts are significant in their illustration of contemporary colonial collection practices. The effectiveness of each installation is discussed in relation to the demands and resistances raised by Indigenous and non-Native artists and cultural professionals over the last 40 years, against racist treatment of Indigenous arts.