The conference: Gothic Ivories – Content and Context aims to showcase and celebrate new research.
The Courtauld Institute of Art, London
05.07.2014 – 06.07.2014
Launched on the web in December 2010, the Gothic Ivories Project has played an important part in putting Gothic ivory carving in the limelight and over 3,800 objects are now available online, from hundreds of museums around the world. Following the landmark conference ‘Gothic Ivories: Old Questions, New Directions’ organised by the Victoria & Albert Museum and The Courtauld in 2012, this second conference aims to showcase and celebrate new research in this field.
Proposals are invited for papers to be presented at this two-day conference in July 2014, jointly organised by the British Museum and the Courtauld Gothic Ivories Project. Deadline for submissions: Monday 18 March 2014. The papers will be presented in themed sessions, with contributions lasting 20 minutes.
Papers are invited on a wide range of topics arising from the study of Gothic ivory carving and related to the themes of content and context. If the former is inextricably linked to the latter, especially at the time of creation, their relationship evolves, as the meaning and uses of the objects change over time. Content can be understood as the iconography chosen for a particular sculpture or group of sculptures, and its meaning, and this will apply to medieval as well as later Neo-Gothic pieces. Context can refer to the original context, i.e. makers and commissioners, questions of origin and style, relationships with artworks in other media, but also to the later context and history of these objects to the present day (history of collecting, casts and reproductions, museology, for instance), questions of use and reuse over time.
The conference also welcomes papers on artworks carved out of related materials, such as horn, walrus ivory, or bone (for instance, horn saddles, chess pieces or Embriachi work).
Proposals should take the form of a short text (max. 200 words), outlining the paper’s title, the main themes, and the object(s) on which the study will concentrate. Some indication of where the research sits within the historiography would also be of use.
Please submit proposals to: Naomi Speakman at nspeakman@britishmuseum.org and Catherine Yvard at catherine.yvard@courtauld.ac.uk
Gothic Ivories – Content and Context
The Courtauld Institute of Art, London
05.07.2014 – 06.07.2014
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