Artisan Production

In this paper we examine the options open to organisational researchers who seek to apply social scientific methods to study the work practices of contemporary craft practitioners. We begin by considering two historical precursors to contemporary research on craft practice, whose work serves to illustrate the range of approaches available, and some of the practical challenges that arise when researchers seek to engage closely with craft practitioners. The core of the paper comprises a comparative review of four distinct research strategies, which we label: ‘uncovering and observing’, where researchers explore craft work through the use of archival, ethnographic and visual methods; ‘engaging and taking part’, where they participate directly in craft activities; ‘sharing the experience’, where the reseach is concucted by a reflective practitioner; and ‘interacting across the divide’, where practioners and academics work together to co-produce the research. We consider a variety of emp...

Na temelju analize objavljenih i neobjavljenih vrela, prije svega ugovora o naukovanju i komunalnih statuta, autor razmatra problematiku dobi dječaka koji su u kasnosrednjovjekovnom Dubrovniku, Šibeniku, Rabu i Poreču primani na šegrtovanje kod lokalnih majstora. Donosi i pregled promišljanja životnog ciklusa čovjeka od pojedinih antičkih i srednjovjekovnih mislioca.

Handmade and custom artisanal goods have seen a global resurgence across several niche market segments, especially over the last decade. However, the study of modern artisanal production and the economy around it has largely been ignored. Besides accounting for only a small scale of production and consumption, artisanal goods are perceived as not conforming to contemporary development and production processes. However, we argue that current artisanal production has moved away from purely traditional methods and has evolved to incorporate innovative practices. In fact, due to their willingness to experiment, they are quicker to integrate new solutions into their products and processes. Similar themes can also be seen in the practices and perception of their consumers. This provides a niche phenomenon that is ripe for analysis from a
technology and innovation perspective. In this paper, we will analyze artisanal value propositions and techniques for design, production, and the effect of branding on such niche products.

Through interviews with key decision makers, enablers, funders, and consumers of artisanal projects, we investigate their motivations, methods of design and production, and use of creative design, branding, and technological tools. We then describe implications for researchers and practitioners in the manufacturing industry, artisanal or otherwise.

Secular containers – caskets, boxes, etc. – dated to the late 12th to the mid-14 th century and of a northern alpine provenience, whose visual appearance is accentuated by carving techniques and workmanship, are constitutive for this projects' inquiries. Regarding most of these precious and/or skilfully worked objects, we still lack desirable parameters concerning place and time of origin, possible customers and donators, usage and function or their alterations over time, as well as essential information on the material composition and construction itself. The goal of my research is to (re-) introduce different groups of scarcely discussed containers and to furthermore conclude, from my analysis of these objects, conditions of production and material preferences or valuations in the middle ages.

Artisanal, a term used to describe production systems that are relatively small-scale and where hand-working and the skilled, intuitive judgment of the maker takes precedence over mechanized and automated methods. Common synonyms include: ‘craft’, ‘handmade’, and ‘traditional’. Artisanal cheese is often made on-farm with milk from the farmer’s own herd (in North America, these varieties are usually known as farmstead cheese).

Artículo de investigación publicado en las MEMORIAS DEL III SEMINARIO INTERNACIONAL: CERÁMICA EN LA EDUCACIÓN ARTÍSTICA, realizado en Bogotá, Colombia, durante los días 10, 11 y 12 de Septiembre de 2014.
El artículo presenta una breve descripción sobre mi trabajo como diseñador asesor de las comunidades indígenas Cubay y Puerto Golondrina, de la etnia Cubeo, ubicadas en el departamento del Vaupés. En él expongo como el proyecto ha trascendido las meras expectativas técnicas que le dieron origen, para convertirse en una tarea de búsqueda de la identidad del pueblo cubeo a través de la exploración de sus tradiciones olvidadas.

To what extent can we identify sites where metallurgy has been conducted by studying the ceramic residue found at the site? Ceramic tools used for metal casting, such as crucibles, clay moulds and tuyères—so called 'technical ceramics'—are often used as indicators of metalcrafts. Their often vitrifi ed and sintered appearance is, on many occasions, used as traits of identifi cation. This article discusses a crucible and a tuyère that show no clear traces of vitrifi cation, and whether or not the objects should be disregarded as technical ceramics. By building reconstructions of these two objects and testing them in an archaeological experiment, we have been able to study the traces of use on the reconstruction and compare them to the two artefacts. In this article we argue that signs of use, such as vitrifi cation and sintering, are not always present on used tuyères and crucibles and that we should also try to look for other signs of use when classifying archaeological materials as technical ceramics.

Preserving Cultural Heritage is an ongoing challenge in the rapidly changing technological world of today, but its preservation and sharing is greatly needed as a vehicle to build understanding and respect of the diversity among the different countries and cultures of the world community.  Participatory Research and Sustainable Livelihood Framework developed by Robert Chambers, UK can be modified into a Sustainable Cultural Heritage and Livelihood Framework for implementation by artisans and/or groups who desire to preserve their traditional arts and local wisdom, as well as create sustainable income from products developed from the practice of the art techniques and designs. Paper explores the structure of two different approaches to the framework design and the presenter’s work as an artist and art product designer with Asian art collectives in Nepal, India, and Thailand, as well as Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and Peru, where the framework has been employed.

This discussion will focus on the design of artisan-crafted luxury fashion products and the ends to which those products service Mexico's artisanal luxury market driven by the cultural creative 1 class of consumers. This investigation explores the positive and negative effects of designer intervention in craft-making communities, identifies problems, and proposes the creation of an equitable system of design/artisan partnership that would outline rules of engagement, interaction, communication and feedback between designer, artisan and consumer for development of luxury fashion products with cultural craft artisan/makers. This research will discuss the following points, drawing conclusions by examining case studies of luxury designer/artisan collaborations across various regions of Mexico 2. We ask: • How are current artisan/designer collaboration efforts helpful or disruptive? • What challenges do craft communities and luxury brands face in starting up new collaborations, and how are they sustained? • Where is the artisan/designer distinction made? What are development options for artisans? • How is intellectual property and design attribution being addressed in the process? • How would a standardized code of practice be useful across entities and participating groups? 1 Cultural Creatives are a subcultural group that are generally characterized by a love of nature, concern for the environment and global society, exhibit sympathy, altruism, spirituality, support education and sustainable community development, enjoy people places and things that are exotic, and are mindful not to over consume. They are seen as optimistic drivers of positive change towards better livelihoods for humanity. 2 To protect the identity of the artisan groups, designers, brands and organizations, specific names will be withheld.

This paper deals with the House of Leukaktios, which has been discovered during Polish excavations at Ptolemais, Libya, in 2001– 2007. The house has almost completely preserved mosaic pavements and the plan of Graeco-Roman type with an open central court (atrium), acting as the focal point around which the rooms were arranged. The name of one of the last owners, Leukaktios, is written twice on the mosaics in the atrium and in the triclinium. The author proposes the identification of several rooms. Room 1, a triclinium, has a mosaic with the characteristic U-shaped geometric frame around a central figural panel that depicts a personification of Victory or Nike. Room 14 is identified as an andron/triclinium with a similar U-shaped version lay out of the mosaic pavement. Room 9, which is situated in front of the andron/triclinium, could be interpreted as a gyneceum. The central panel which represents Dionysos and sleeping Ariadna has a parallel from the House of Dionysos in Cyrene, where the mosaic bears a rare Greek inscription dedicated to a woman.
Room 4 is identified as a reception hall. The mosaics are homogeneous in style and belong to the last phase of the building between AD 215 and 225.

El trabajo aquí presentado ha constituido una contribución al estudio realizado con el apoyo de la Beca Barandiarán de Antropología-Etnología 2003, titulado Estudio etnológico sobre la Artesanía y su significación cultural en Navarra. Con objeto de estudiar el trabajo de la madera en el sector artesanal navarro se ha trabajado con los datos de siete talleres, consultando bibliografía y documentación, apoyando la investigación en una serie de encuestas etnológicas. Este estudio analiza la elaboración de varios productos artesanales significativos en la cultura navarra. Como conclusión se aporta una valoración donde se evalúan los cambios producidos durante el último siglo, la situación actual del trabajo de la madera y su percepción por parte del público.

In today's fashion world, trends die almost as soon as they are born—creating a fast fashion system that equally requires both production and consumption to speed up.  The result is an unsustainable industry, in social, environmental, and economic terms, that thrives on the exploitation of people and places.  The work in this MFA thesis brings attention to contemporary fashion relations through a focus on garment consumption and production processes in the context of a globalized society.  At the same time, this thesis explores ways that North American fashion designers can cultivate ethical and reciprocal collaborations with artisans around the world.  Additionally, it questions our current fashion education system and calls for further implementation of critical pedagogies within fashion courses that will foster responsible, collaborative design.  Design, art, and anthropological methods are integral components to this socially sustainable approach to fashion. 

In response to this thesis, I curated my own solo exhibition in March of 2015 in order to visually articulate the critical fashion themes I concluded from the research.  As I did with this thesis, I began the exhibition by problematizing fast fashion and the current paradigm in terms of garment production, consumption, and disposal.  This led me to offer a contributing solution centered in implementing a slow fashion model that grants artisans partnership opportunities with American fashion designers and brands.  Due to the newness of the topic, I conducted exploratory research to analyze the contemporary artisan fashion movement within America.  This allowed me to identify how designer and artisan collaborations can successfully cultivate opportunities and gains for both parties when considering anthropological methodologies.

Open source 3d printing technology opens the door for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as freelancers to take on industry challenges so far reserved for large companies. Production on demand is economically viable thanks to this system, and in the furniture industry, it greatly reduces the environmental impact of production. The importance of adding personal value to production adds to the possibility of reusing plastics such as PET, causing a great global pollution, thus providing an update to a new responsible industry.

Las producciones artesanales integran el aprovechamiento de los recursos y la conservación de los mismos, los cuales son únicos por las condiciones en las que se realizan y a su vez lo son sus bienes. Los Agaves son especies de plantas que forman parte importante de la historia y cultura mexicana, dentro de sus productos están fibras duras, alimentos y la elaboración de bebidas alcohólicas fermentadas y destiladas, la caña de azúcar (Saccharum officinarum L.), es otra especie importante en México y en todo el mundo, que brinda muchos servicios como ser fuente de azúcar, aguardientes, forraje, etc. Entre éstos productos, las bebidas destiladas producidas artesanalmente en México a partir de éstas plantas, han alcanzado gran importancia internacional y cultural, entre estas bebidas, se encuentran el tequila, mezcal, bacanora, aguardiente de caña, comiteco, etc. El comiteco es una bebida fermentada y destilada que se elabora artesanalmente en la Meseta Comiteca Tojolabal de Chiapas, se obtiene de Agave americana L. Este trabajo aborda la importancia actual de la producción de la bebida, la descripción del proceso, la diversidad de levaduras que participan, la caracterización fisicoquímica del microambiente formado durante la etapa de fermentación y la relación que existe entre el proceso y la producción. Para esto se realizaron entrevistas a los productores y convivencias por dos años, ellos abrieron sus puertas y compartieron parte de su cultura pudiendo conocer y entender que el interés económico de esta bebida actualmente se ha sobrepuesto al cultural; se monitorearon cinco procesos artesanales desde la obtención de las materias primas, la fermentación y finalmente la destilación, los cinco procesos presentaron una receta general (aguamiel + panela + agua), teniendo años y productores diferentes, pudiendo observar que los resultados de las puestas del 2017 (Muestreo 1: puesta 1 a 3) presentaron características diferentes, menor crecimiento de UFC/mL y mayor diversidad que las del 2018 (Muestreo 2: puestas 4 y 5), de manera general se logró identificar por Maldi-Tof/Ms el 75.55% de las cepas aisladas, se encontraron K. marxianus, H. uvarum, C. pararugosa, G. silvícola, W. anomalus, S.
cerevisiae, T. Asahii y Z. bailii, en cuanto a la caracterización del microambiente de fermentación se presentaron diferencias significativas entre las puestas en pH, etanol, metanol, ésteres, aldehídos, ácidos orgánicos, alcoholes superiores, azúcares reductores y UFC/mL, de manera general se encontraron bajos niveles de metanol, ácidos orgánicos, alcoholes superiores y altos niveles de aldehídos y ésteres, se encontró abundantes concentraciones de fructosa y bajas de sacarosa, los valores más altos de azúcares se presentaron a la mitad de las fermentaciones. Los análisis de componentes principales exponen de manera general que temperatura, pH y UFC/mL están asociados a los intervalos 1 y 2, los ART, metanol, alcoholes superiores, etanol, aldehídos y ácidos orgánicos se asocian a los intervalos 3 al 6. Se concluye que la bebida artesanal Comiteco, tiene diversas implicaciones sociales y económicas que han modificado la importancia de la producción y a su vez cada productor ha ido transformando sus técnicas con la práctica y posibilidades, se probó que esto tiene sus implicaciones microbiológicas y microambientales, cada puesta presentó características diferentes, además se probó que con los años también cambiaron los resultados y aunque las variaciones de temperatura no fueron significativas en la producción, los procesos y la materia prima son determinantes.

At the surrounding structures of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan, near a thousand lapidary objects were recovered. They were made of various raw materials foreign to the Basin of Mexico. These objects came from 12 offerings in six buildings, whose temporalities comprehend four constructive stages (IVb-VII) that go from 1469 to 1520 AD, during the reign of four tlaloque. The material was analyzed from a morpho-functional perspective, to determine the type of objects, forms, functions and frequencies, through their temporality and context. In the same way, by employing different archaeometric techniques (UV Light, XRF and FTIR), it was possible to identify the raw materials used in their production, such as aluminosilicates, travertines, obsidians, marbles and jadeites. Based on these data, I propose the possible supply zones of these rocks, as well as the complex network that they may have followed through their shipment to Tenochtitlan. Also, through the use of experimental archaeology and microscopic analysis (SEM and OM), it was possible to identify the techniques and processes employed in the manufacture of the objects, as well as determine their chaîne opératoires. Finally, addressing the theoretical concepts of production organization, production spheres, tradition and style; I proposed three production spheres detected through the technological analysis of the pieces. One of them reflects a local production of the imperial style, controlled and sponsored by the power organ. Another one is considered as a tradition of Central Mexico that dates back to the Formative period and lasts until the Epiclassic. And finally, the last one corresponds to a Mayan tradition of the Classic Period. These results promote the discussion on the reach of the Tenochcan Empire in the acquisition and craft of precious goods and foreign raw materials.

A technology is a tool that helps you do things. This essay proposes the concept of a ‘technology of transformation’ to analyse the social and political tools with which people seek to effect change upon the world. Based on ethnographic field research conducted in Industrial Indian contexts, the essay considers how transformative efficacy is at the core of most major questions about labour: from value and work satisfaction, to engagements with political struggle and collective action. By reconceptualising labour in terms of struggles over transformation, the essay provides a discrete analytic model with which to reconcile debates about value, agency, and political subjectivity.

Glassware and Glassworking in Thessaloniki: 1st Century BC – 6th Century AD is a detailed examination of the production of glass and glass vessels in the eastern Mediterranean from the Hellenistic Age to the Early Christian period, analysing production techniques and decoration. The volume establishes the socio-economic framework of glassmaking and glassmakers’ social status in the Roman world generally and in Thessaloniki specifically, while identifying probable local products. Presented are all the excavation glass finds from Thessaloniki and its environs found between 1912 and 2002. A typological classification was created for almost 800 objects – which encompass the overwhelming majority of common excavation finds in the Balkans – as well as for the decorative themes that appear on the more valuable pieces. Comparative material from the entire Mediterranean was studied, verified in its entirety through primary publications. A summary of the excavation history of these vessels’ find-spots is provided, with details for each excavation, in many cases unpublished and identified through research in the archives of the relevant museums and Ephorates of Antiquities. The uses of glass vessels are presented, and there is discussion and interpretation of the reasons that permitted, or imposed, the choice of glass for their production. The finds are statistically analysed, and a chronological overview examining them century by century on the basis of use and place of production is given. Finally, there is an effort to interpret the data from the study in historical terms, and to incorporate the results into the political-economic evolution of the region’s political history. Relatively unfamiliar glassmaking terms are explained in a glossary of glassworking technology and typology terms. The material is fully documented in drawings and photographs, and every object in the catalogue is illustrated. A detailed index of the 602 geographical terms in the work, many unknown, concludes the book.

Pre-proof version of:
Smith Maguire, J. 2018. Wine, the authenticity taste regime and rendering craft. In E. Bell, G. Mangia, S. Taylor & M.L. Toraldo (Eds). The Organization of Craft Work: Identities, Meanings and Materialities, 60-78. London: Routledge. [ISBN: 978-1-138-63666-8]

The process of understanding and handling the architectural heritage in order to carefully deliver it to
future generations is preservation. Pakistan has prodigious historical significance with various historical sites. The
greatest way to honor the history is to preserve and maintain the historical buildings and the archeological sites.
The locale of the study was Choa Saidan Shah, Chakwal. The nature of the study was qualitative. A sample size of
19 was selected, while the data was collected through key informants and in-depth interviews from the selected
sampling units. The study shows that even though Pakistan has a great cultural heritage yet the shortcomings
related to preservation hinder the tourism economy greatly.

Les planches d'ornements, souvent regroupées en recueils, soulèvent de nombreuses questions sur leurs destinations. « Modèles » pour les artistes et les artisans, leur polyvalence, elles jouèrent un rôle important dans la propagation des inventions, véritable fer de lance de l'évolution du goût. Loin de s'adresser uniquement aux hommes de l’art, artistes et artisans, les estampes d’ornement, par leur qualité formelle, sont d'ailleurs, à partir du début du XVIIIe siècle, aussi destinées aux amateurs et aux collectionneurs.

This chapter examines one of the more prominent features of the complex and often highly contested relationship between contemporary forms of craft and their earlier incarnations. It responds to a persistent conceptual challenge that also has significant practical implications:

‘This false choice of modern craft, between present and past, complicity and detachment, is a discursive trap. Only by traversing that dialectic can craft be a powerful agent of change, both morally and economically.’ (Adamson, 2013: 210)

The chapter considers how craft researchers might draw fresh insights from historical studies in order to bridge this temporal divide. I hope that the examples might also prove helpful to practitioners as they seek to incorporate and transcend the legacies of previous generations.

The chapter is divided into three sections. First, I summarise the main themes identified in the existing body of research and illustrate how historically-informed studies have shed new light on craft practice and modes of organisation in the modern era. The second section is concerned with the different ways in which craftsmen and others, such as market intermediaries and connoisseurs, have enrolled historical narratives and associations as a resource, typically with the aim of either promoting or defending particular craft products, practices or values. The third section offers some concluding remarks on the scope and limitations of historical research methods, and how they might contribute to future work in this area.

Matteo di Biliotto was one of the most important notaries of Dante’s Florence, a city in strong economic and demographic growth. The records he left, all recently available in a printed edition, are significant for several reasons: their number (almost 1500), the continuity over time (1294-1314), the variety of transactions registered, but above all for the capacity to transmit the vitality of commercial, entrepreneurial and artisan milieu whose center was in the area of the ‘Old Market’.
On the basis of this documentation the essay mainly deals with two topics: the physiognomy of the artisan’s and retailer’s activities and the training of the new craftsmen. As for the first theme, the analysis shows the wide range of crafts carried out in the city, the high degree of specialization and division of labour, the great diffusion of partnerships (compagnie). As for the second aspect, the substantial number of surviving contracts not only allows to focus on the main typological features of the apprenticeship, but also to address issues such as the geographical origin of the discipuli, the existence of an apprentice’s pay and the relation between apprenticeship and salaried work.

The annual Graduate Archaeology at Oxford (GAO) Conference invites the international community of graduate archaeologists working at any level to submit their abstracts for this conference. The conference will be held from 11th-13th March 2022 in Oxford. Although the conference will be hybrid, speakers will need to be physically present in Oxford. This year's conference has the broad theme of art in archaeology, with each day focusing on a different sub-topic: production, transmission and reception.

This article looks at a major section of Mongol artistic heritage--the arts produced for over two thousand Buddhist monasteries--and asks what is Mongol-designed and Mongol-made about them, and what were the respective roles and specialities of Mongol and foreign artists and artisans. It addresses the issues of the ethnicity and ethnic style of carpenters, painters, sculptors and other artisans in pre-1911 Mongol society through an examination of the development of an original Mongol style.

The use of fashionable dress played an important part in early modern dynastic politics. In this paper, the diplomatic efforts to engineer a marriage between Erik XIV of Sweden and Elizabeth I of England are used as an example of the interrelations of textiles and diplomacy. Parallel to their negotiations in London, the Swedes organised the production of luxury goods and set up temporary workshops on the spot. The study looks at the Swedish embroidery workshop in London, using written records to investigate its organisation and production, and to discuss artisanal skills and the transnational element in employment in a royal workshop. It is suggested that the entire enterprise was a diplomatic practice, designed to enable the Swedes to draw attention to their presence in London and make their consumption visible on all possible levels.