Scottish Vernacular Furniture

"Part of the appeal of vernacular furniture - a relatively recent field of serious study - is that to understand it we must look closely at social history, and engage with lifestyles that range from self-sufficient to sophisticated." "Bernard Cotton investigated museums and libraries; but whenever possible he and his wife Gerry made it a priority to discover pieces in their contexts, to meet the people who used them, and to understand how they were made. The story of their quest is itself an adventure. Some of the objects they photographed - on, for instance, the deserted northern island of Stroma - represent the life and death of a community, the vital evidence of a vanished culture."--BOOK JACKET.

Historians have suggested that Scottish influences are more pervasive in New Zealand than in any other country outside Scotland, yet curiously New Zealand's Scots migrants have previously attracted only limited attention. A thorough and interdisciplinary work, Unpacking the Kists is the first in-depth study of New Zealand's Scots migrants and their impact on an evolving settler society. The authors establish the dimensions of Scottish migration to New Zealand, the principal source areas, the migrants' demographic characteristics, and where they settled in the new land. Drawing from extended case-studies, they examine how migrants adapted to their new environment and the extent of longevity in diverse areas including the economy, religion, politics, education, and folkways. They also look at the private worlds of family, neighbourhood, community, customs of everyday life and leisure pursuits, and expressions of both high and low forms of transplanted culture. Adding to international scholarship on migrations and cultural adaptations, Unpacking the Kists demonstrates the historic contributions Scots made to New Zealand culture by retaining their ethnic connections and at the same time interacting with other ethnic groups.

From William Morris and the roots of the Arts & Crafts movement, through Gustav Stickley, the Prairie School, and including contemporary pieces, this book celebrates the classic furniture--and the master craftsmen who made it. 500 photos.

Taking a multidisciplinary approach to the complex cultural exchanges that took place between Britain and America from 1750 to 1900, The Materials of Exchange examines material, visual, and print culture alongside literature within a transatlantic context. The contributors trace the evolution of Anglo-American culture from its origins as a product of the British North Atlantic Empire through to its persistence in the post-Independence world of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While transatlanticism is a well-established field in history and literary studies, this volume recognizes the wider diversity and interactions of transatlantic cultural production across material and visual cultures as well as literature. As such, while encompassing a range of fields and approaches within the humanities, the ten chapters are all concerned with understanding and interpreting the same Anglo-American culture within the same social contexts. The chapters integrate the literary with the material, offering alternative and provocative perspectives on topics ranging from the child-made book to representations of domestic slaves in literature, by way of history painting, travel writing, architecture and political plays. By focusing on cultural exchanges between Britain and the north-eastern maritime United States over nearly two centuries, the collection offers an in-depth study of Britain’s relationship with a single region of North America over an extended historic period. Contributors have resisted the temptation to prioritize the relationship between New England and England in particular by placing this association within the contexts of Atlantic exchanges with other northeastern states as well as with the South, the Caribbean and Scotland. Intended for researchers in literature, visual and material culture, this collection challenges single-subject boundaries by redefining transatlantic studies as the collective examination of the complex and interrelated cultural t

This richly illustrated study profiles one of the most colourful and distinctive forms of regional furniture in North America and demonstrates the skills of Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans as natural innovators, clever designers, practiced recyclers, and masters of adaptation.

This book is for art market researchers at all levels. A brief overview of the global art market and its major stakeholders precedes an analysis of the various sales venues (auction, commercial gallery, etc.). Library research skills are reviewed, and advanced methods are explored in a chapter devoted to basic market research. Because the monetary value of artwork cannot be established without reference to the aesthetic qualities and art historical significance of our subject works, two substantial chapters detail the processes involved in researching and documenting the fine and decorative arts, respectively, and provide annotated bibliographies. Methods for assigning values for art objects are explored, and sources of price data, both in print and online, are identified and described in detail. In recent years, art historical scholarship increasingly has addressed issues related to the history of art and its markets: a chapter on resources for the historian of the art market offers a wide range of sources. Finally, provenance and art law are discussed, with particular reference to their relevance to dealers, collectors, artists and other art market stakeholders.

This major project comprises fourteen thematically arranged volumes. The aim of the Compendium is to examine the interlocking strands of history and traditional culture that go into the making of a national identity, in an up-to-date synthesis of the current state of knowledge. By bringing together information from a variety of sources, the Compendium not only provides a digest of topics, but also points towards areas for new investigation. The Compendium concentrates upon the present and the historical period and does not generally deal with prehistory, although for certain themes, such as the development of agriculture and buildings, early evidence is taken into account. Where appropriate, reference is made to foreign parallels and to the influence on Scotland of the cultures of neighbouring peoples. Scottish influence on the world at large is also taken into account, whether in relation to urban or rural, maritime or land-based topics. Material and non-material aspects of history and tradition are considered equally, at all levels of society, indeed oftentimes focusing on the interaction between people of differing social strata