On The Fascination Of Objects

The Shefton Collection in Newcastle upon Tyne contains a fine array of Greek and Etruscan objects and takes its name from its founder Professor Brian Shefton (1919 – 2012). In spite of the importance of this collection it has not been widely published and remains something of a hidden gem. Brian Shefton was an insightful collector, as well as a distinguished scholar of Greek and Etruscan archaeology, and the 14 papers presented here reflect the broad scope of the collection; ranging across pottery, jewelery, terracottas and metalwork. The contributions, written by leading experts in the field, focus on specific objects or groups of objects in the Collection, providing new interpretations and bringing previously unpublished items to light. The history of the Shefton Collection is explored. Together these contributions provide a tribute to a remarkable individual who made a substantial and notable contribution to his discipline.

The Shefton Collection in Newcastle upon Tyne contains a fine array of Greek and Etruscan objects and takes its name from its founder Professor Brian Shefton (1919 – 2012). In spite of the importance of this collection it has not been widely published and remains something of a hidden gem. Brian Shefton was an insightful collector, as well as a distinguished scholar of Greek and Etruscan archaeology, and the 14 papers presented here reflect the broad scope of the collection; ranging across pottery, jewelery, terracottas and metalwork. The contributions, written by leading experts in the field, focus on specific objects or groups of objects in the Collection, providing new interpretations and bringing previously unpublished items to light. The history of the Shefton Collection is explored. Together these contributions provide a tribute to a remarkable individual who made a substantial and notable contribution to his discipline.

The Nobel Prize winner’s catalog of his Istanbul museum is like “wandering past the illuminated windows of an arcade. . . . This book spills over with pleasure”(The New York Times). The culmination of decades of omnivorous collecting, Orhan Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence in Istanbul uses his novel of lost love, The Museum of Innocence, as a departure point to explore the city of his youth. In The Innocence of Objects, Pamuk’s catalog of this remarkable museum, he writes about things that matter deeply to him: the psychology of the collector, the proper role of the museum, the photography of old Istanbul (illustrated with Pamuk’s superb collection of haunting photographs and movie stills), and of course the customs and traditions of his beloved city. The book’s imagery is equally evocative, ranging from the ephemera of everyday life to the superb photographs of Turkish photographer Ara Güler. Combining compelling visual images and writing, The Innocence of Objects is an original work of art and literature.

In the space between archaeology and history stand men like Scott Jordan, a New Yorker who has been digging around in the city's soil for the better part of four decades. What began as a childhood hobby searching for treasure evolved into a lifestyle that has resulted in Jordan haunting building sites throughout the five boroughs, attempting to recover history before it is paved over forever. Using shovels, mesh sieves, canvas rucksacks, ingenuity and an incredible amount of determination, Jordan has amassed a staggering collection of antique bottles, china, toys, shoes and other items, which together create a patchwork historical narrative of New York City and its earliest settlers. As a self-trained historian and restorer of damaged objects, Jordan is not only privy to a unique take on early American history, but his adventures weave together into a tremendous factual and speculative examination of the past, by returning it to the present for all to enjoy.Past Objectsfeatures some of Jordan's favorite objects and stories, sure to appeal to anyone intrigued by history, antiques and popular culture.

Exploring literary fascination as a key concept of aesthetic attraction, this book illuminates the ways in which literary texts are designed, presented, and received. Detailed case studies include texts by William Shakespeare, S.T. Coleridge, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, Joseph Conrad, Don DeLillo, and Ian McEwan.

A haunting and moving collection of original narratives that reveals an expatriate's coming-of-age in Paris and the magic she finds in ordinary objects An awkward, curious girl growing up in a foreign country, Stephanie LaCava finds solace and security in strange yet beautiful objects. When her father's mysterious job transports her and her family to the quaint Parisian suburb of Le Vésinet, everything changes for the young American. Stephanie sets out to explore her new surroundings and to make friends at her unconventional international school, but her curiosity soon gives way to feelings of anxiety and a deep depression. In her darkest moments, Stephanie learns to filter the world through her peculiar lens, discovering the uncommon, uncelebrated beauty in what she finds. Encouraged by her father through trips to museums and scavenger hunts at antique shows, she traces an interconnected web of narratives of long-ago outsiders, and of objects historical and natural, that ultimately help her survive. A series of illustrated essays that unfolds in cinematic fashion, An Extraordinary Theory of Objects offers a universal lesson—to harness the power of creativity to cope with loneliness, sadness, and disappointment to find wonder in the uncertainty of the future.

The collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman of New York is one of the most important private collections of ancient Greek and Roman art in the United States and among the most important in the world. Composed of approximately three hundred objects from the Bronze Age to the Late Antique, it includes bronze statuettes, marble sculpture, vases, jewelry, lamps and candelabra, keys, weights, and silver bowls and utensils. The Fleischmans have a particular fascination with pieces associated with everyday life in antiquity, since these objects evoke a human connection to the past. They are also drawn to pieces that exemplify the human propensity to transform a functional object into a thing of beauty. Not only has their emotional response to an object’s aesthetic appeal or its historical significance guided them in their forty years of collecting, personal interests have been at work as well. The large number of pieces related to the theater or representing theatrical subjects reflects Barbara Fleischman’s lifelong love of that art. A Passion for Antiquities contains photographs and extensive catalogue entries on the objects included in the exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Eighteen contributors provide art historical and descriptive information about each piece. The objects not selected for the exhibition are detailed in a checklist that specifies their origins, dates, media, and sizes. This book is the first major reference on the entire collection, since most of the objects have never before been publicly shown. To facilitate finding specific objects or groups of objects, the book is organized first chronologically and then by medium. Bibliographic sources for each entry cite both publications where the specific work is discussed as well as references to related scholarship. Karol Wight provides a chronological overview of the collection, and Oliver Taplin relates selected pieces to the development of Greek theater. The exhibition of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman’s collection and this catalogue allow us to enter into their minds and emotions so that, for a time, we can share their passion for antiquities.

Weaving together literary and scholarly insights, History and Its Objects will prove indispensable reading for historians and cultural historians, as well as anthropologists and archeologists worldwide. — Nathan Schlanger, École nationale des chartes, Paris Cultural history is increasingly informed by the history of material culture—the ways in which individuals or entire societies create and relate to objects both mundane and extraordinary—rather than on textual evidence alone. Books such as The Hare with Amber Eyes and A History of the World in 100 Objects indicate the growing popularity of this way of understanding the past. In History and Its Objects, Peter N. Miller uncovers the forgotten origins of our fascination with exploring the past through its artifacts by highlighting the role of antiquarianism—a pursuit ignored and derided by modem academic history—in grasping the significance of material culture. From the efforts of Renaissance antiquarians, who reconstructed life in the ancient world from coins, inscriptions, seals, and other detritus, to amateur historians in the nineteenth century working within burgeoning national traditions, Miller connects collecting—whether by individuals or institutions—to the professionalization of the historical profession, one which came to regard its progenitors with skepticism and disdain. The struggle to articulate the value of objects as historical evidence, then, lies at the heart both of academic history-writing and of the popular engagement with things. Ultimately, this book demonstrates that our current preoccupation with objects is far from novel and reflects a human need to reexperience the past as a physical presence.

Essays examine nine intriguing objects made eloquent when matter and meaning converge. Imagine a world without things. There would be nothing to describe, nothing to explain, remark, interpret, or complain about. Without things, we would stop speaking; we would become as mute as things are alleged to be. In nine original essays, internationally renowned historians of art and of science seek to understand how objects become charged with significance without losing their gritty materiality. True to the particularity of things, each of the essays singles out one object for close attention: a Bosch drawing, the freestanding column, a Prussian island, soap bubbles, early photographs, glass flowers, Rorschach blots, newspaper clippings, paintings by Jackson Pollock. Each is revealed to be a node around which meanings accrete thickly. But not just any meanings: what these things are made of and how they are made shape what they can mean. Neither the pure texts of semiotics nor the brute objects of positivism, these things are saturated with cultural significance. Things become talkative when they fuse matter and meaning; they lapse into speechlessness when their matter and meanings no longer mesh. Each of the nine objects examined in this book had its historical moment, when the match of this thing to that thought seemed irresistible. At these junctures, certain things become objects of fascination, association, and endless consideration; they begin to talk. Things that talk fleetingly realize the dream of a perfect language, in which words and world merge. Essays Lorraine Daston, Peter Galison, Anke te Heesen, Caroline A. Jones, Joseph Leo Koerner, Antoine Picon, Simon Schaffer, Joel Snyder, and M. Norton and Elaine M. Wise. Lorraine Daston is Director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, Germany. She is the coauthor of Wonders and the Order of Nature, 1150-1750 (Zone Books).