Glass Exchange Between Europe and China, 1550-1800: Diplomatic, Mercantile and Technological Interactions

ISBN-13: 9781138254084 / Angielski / Miękka / 2017 / 174 str.

Emily Byrne Curtis

Opis

In this study, Emily Byrne Curtis explores lenses, spectacles, and windows found in China from the sixteenth century. Tracing their technological development back to the glassworks in Murano, Venice, she also explores their significance in terms of Venice's commerce with China. Through analysis of gifts and documents from archives in Rome and the Vatican, this study touches to an extent on the history of the Catholic Church in China.

Spis treści

Contents: Introduction; Wonder and desire: the glass was most beautiful; New notions of seeing: mirrors and lenses; Panes of glass: windows and paintings; Diplomatic overtures: The daren (great personage) from the Vatican; Glass: 'pieces as beautiful as our aventurine'; Cristalli: 4 cases of precious glass; 'White gold': a magical substance; Enamel materials: a technological transfer; Carrying treasure to China: the Albion; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

O autorze

Emily Byrne Curtis is an independent scholar and author, whose essays on Chinese glass have appeared in the Palace Museum Journal, Beijing; Arts Asiatiques, Paris; Journal of Glass Studies, Corning, NY; and Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, London. She is the author of Pure Brightness Shines Everywhere: The Glass of China (Ashgate, 2004).