“Brightness, lustre and shine: colour in the medieval household”.

Our knowledge and perception of colour is extremely different from that of the medieval mind and therefore to understand colour we must look at how everyday domestic features were decorated and used in the later medieval period. Lustre and shine were more important in the medieval world than the hue of colour, and within the domestic sphere the use of illumination from windows and fires would have been an important factor in the perception of colour. In households the colours of material culture, including furniture, paintings, decor, clothing, ceramics and other objects, were an essential component in how material was experienced in the everyday.

We are seeking papers from research students, early career entrants, established researchers and those working within the professional and public archaeology sectors, as well as the museum’s service, who are studying domestic material culture and using the aspects of colour and lustre within their research. Papers are invited on aspects of material culture studies dealing with these issues and papers on related topics such as light, vision and pattern are welcome too. The session hopes to encompass the whole of the medieval period, from post-Roman to the late medieval/ post-medieval transition with particular attention to the later medieval period, and papers are welcome on the archaeology of Britain, Europe or beyond. It is hoped that this session will be a platform for discussion on how we can approach the study of colour in the domestic household through artefacts, paintings, decor, clothing or the use of lighting. How can we make inferences about how colours were used, perceived, and the visual impact, symbolic connotations and meanings which they held in the medieval period?

See following link: TAG Conference 2008 sessions

Conference

Ceramica da farmacia tra Basso Medioevo ed Età Moderna

30 - 31 maggio 2008

Savona: Complesso Monumentale del Priamàr, Palazzo del Commissario


Albisola Superiore: Museo della Ceramica "M. Trucco"


Centro Ligure per la Storia della Ceramica's conference on Late Medieval and Early Modern Drug Jars, May 30-31, at Savona and Albisola in Italy.

www.museoarcheosavona.it/convegni.htm

Recent news

The latest information on our Siena conference is now available (click Conference in the main menu) and other news is now online in our Newsletter (click Current Newsletter in the main menu).

EMUNI poletna sola/Summer School

Dear colleagues

Within the Summer school EMUNI, taking place between the 15th and 30th June 2008, we will be carrying out a course in Medieval and Postmedieval Archaeology, with lectures from prof. Sauro Gelichi (Universita Ca’Foscari Venezia), doc. dr. Vesna Bikiæ (Archaeological Institute, Beograd) and prof. Mitja Gustin (Faculty of Humanities, University of Primorska, Koper). Apart from the lectures, a seminar will take place.

The Summer School is an opportunity for participants still studying to earn 6 credit points and apply for the grant.

The Summer School offers a unique oppportunity for a work and social gathering of those, interested in medieval and postmedieval archaeology of the Adriatic and its’ hinterland.

Beacuse of the prolonged programme of the Summer School and other work obligations of the participants, this interesting opportunity is being announced early on, as the official notice will not follow until end of March. Preliminary applications are expected, so as to provide a weblink to the site for official applications as soon as the notice is made public and carry out all the necessary organizational work.

Important dates:
31.03.2008 – preliminary registration
15.04.2008 – grant application deadline
30.04.2008 – Summer School registration deadline


S prijaznimi pozdravi
With kindest regards



Zrinka Mileusnic Prof. Mitja Gustin

New Year, New Look!

The website has been updated with the new newsletter today, and has also had a bit of a facelift with a new colour scheme. I hope it's given it a sharper look than the old pastel version but please feel free to comment.

AIECM2 Venice, November 2009

The call for papers for this international conference has now been extended to 29 February 2008. See the pdf here for details.

Ticknall Conference

The Medieval Pottery Research Group (East Midlands) and the Derbyshire Archaeological Society invite you to a meeting on

"THE VERY BEST SORT OF EARTHENWARE"
CISTERCIAN AND MIDLANDS PURPLE WARE FROM TICKNALL, SOUTH DERBYSHIRE

To be held at Sharpe's Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 9DG

27th October 2007

Tickets: £13.50, buffet lunch £6

This conference and study day aims to highlight the Cistercian and Midlands Purple wares manufactured at Ticknall as well as exploring our current state of knowledge of these wares. A display of Ticknall pottery will be available for viewing and attendees are invited to bring along examples of Cistercian and Midlands Purple ware for display and discussion.

10:00 Welcome
10:15 Janet Spavold and Sue Brown: The Historical Background to the Ticknall Potteries
10.50 Anne Boyle: Cistercian and Midlands Purple ware in Yorkshire and the Midlands
11.25 Julie Edwards: Cistercian and Midlands Purple ware in Chester and Merseyside
12:00 David Barker: Cistercian and Midlands Purple ware in Staffordshire
Lunch
13:45 Ian Rowlandson: Excavations at Church Lane, Ticknall
14.20 John Hudson: The Cistercian and Midlands Purple Ware Potters
14:55 Alan Vince: Chemical Analysis on Pottery from Ticknall
Tea/coffee and discussion and handling session
16:00 Finish

Click here for a booking form (word doc).