Research Project Details
Title: History Making: Replicating Eighteenth-Century enamel craftsmanship
Researcher/Craftsmaker: John Grayson
Output Type: (1) Exhibition; (2) Journal Article
(1) Exhibition: Enamel | Substrate
· Client: Ruthin Crafts Centre.
· Exhibition Type: Solo touring.
· Venues and Dates: Vittoria Street Gallery, School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University, 26th November 2018 - 18th January 2019; Ruthin Craft Gallery, Ruthin, Wales, 2nd February -31st March 2019; Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 6th April – 30th June 2019.
· Funding: Principal funder, Ruthin Craft Centre.
· Exhibition Curation, Design and Construction: Curation and design - John Grayson; display construction - John Grayson in conjunction with Dual Works, Birmingham; interpretation panels content John Grayson, graphic design Lawn Creatives Limited, Liverpool.
· Exhibition Consultants: Gregory Parsons, Freelance curator working for Ruthin Crafts Centre; Sophie Heath, Collections Officer, Wolverhampton Arts and Culture; Carol Thompson, Cultural Exhibitions Officer Wolverhampton Arts and Culture.
(2) Journal Article: Imperfect printed enamel surfaces: interpreting marks of eighteenth-century Midland craftsmanship
· Publication and Publisher: Midland History, Taylor and Francis.
· Form: Edited volume. Editors Prof Caroline Archer-Parré and Dr John Hinks.
· Publication Date: June 2020.
Statement: description, research questions, methods and significance
Description
History Making: Replicating Eighteenth-Century enamel craftsmanship comprises two outputs that present research into lost eighteenth-century enamel craftsmanship: an exhibition, Enamel | Substrate; and, a journal article, Imperfect printed enamel surfaces: Interpreting marks of eighteenth-century Midland craftsmanship.
The eighteenth-century English enamel trade made personal and domestic objects such as snuff boxes and candlesticks from thin copper foil coated in decorative enamel. Chemistry and decorating techniques were similar, and to a certain extent common to those used in the ceramics trade; consequently, the objects are redolent of fashionable porcelain objects produced at the same time. Bilston and Wednesbury in South Staffordshire, and Birmingham were the enamel manufacturing centres: the trade catered for the tastes of the emerging middle class; and was a site of innovation—transfer printing widely associated with the ceramics trade. It typified the many different metal trades that started due to the regions emergent manufacturing ecology—a confluence of skills, material and innovations. This research focused on understanding craftsmanship in two areas (1) relating to copper substrate fabrication processes, the production aspect that created enamel form; (2) transfer printing specifically in the enamel trade, the innovation used to decorate the ware. Identifying and understanding craftsmanship revealed new light on the previously unknown processes used, the artisan's skill and ingenuity, and broader knowledge of trade interactions.
Practice framed the enquiry; it considered the value of (lost) making practices deployed by enamel craftsmakers working in a niche Midland metalworking trade, and the current value of this knowledge for Historians and Contemporary Crafts practitioners.
The exhibition disseminated new knowledge on form construction—copper substrate craftsmanship—and championed craft-making within a practice-based research methodology as a new way to research historical objects. It juxtaposed:
· Eighteenth-century enamel artefacts loaned from the Wolverhampton Arts and Culture;
· Research material derived from analysis of enamels in museums collection, including Wolverhampton Arts and Culture, and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A);
· Material experiments made in the craft workshop as a lab;
· Sketchbook, journals and video recording of methods;
· crafted objects—enamel replicas and new works.
The Journal Article disseminated new knowledge concerning the craftsmanship deployed within enamel transfer printing, the significant decorating innovation associated with the trade. It presented:
· Data generated through analysis of print irregularities on the surfaces of enamel objects in the collection of Wolverhampton Arts and Culture cross-referenced with eighteenth-century technical writing;
· Theories on modes of production generated through material experimentation;
· New craftsmanship knowledge on the undocumented materials and process deployed within the Midland trade.
1. Can contemporary craft practice provide a framework for analysing historical artefacts to understand unwritten historical enamel craftsmanship methods?
2. What is the value of lost past making practices associated with emergent industrialised manufacturing to contemporary crafts practitioners and historians?
3. What is the value of imperfect museum artefacts for the historical researcher? Can they provide valuable data sources leading to a more comprehensive understanding of lost technical and tacit knowledge?
The research combines practice-based and historical approaches. Surveys of primary literature identified technical writing relating to the trade. Theoretical technical and acquired tacit knowledge derived from the researcher's contemporary craft practice (both past and as part of the research) shaped the lens to analyse both museum objects and historical texts. Craft practice processed craftsmanship data, developed material understanding, generated and disseminated finding.
The exhibition, which had its origins in a doctoral study submitted in 2018, published methodology and findings to a broad audience of historians, museum and heritage professionals, contemporary crafts makers, and the interested public. It undertook a three venues seven-month tour; was visited by around 10,000 people; was the subject of two gallery talks during the tour; and, subsequently, two oral papers one to an international conference.
It disseminated, for the first time, research into copper substrate craftsmanship of the enamel trade. It addressed a critical knowledge gap concerning how these objects were made and the importance of methods originating from emergent industrial manufacturing to studio (enamel) craft. Wolverhampton Art Gallery considered its significance warranted support through object loans. Senior curators from the V&A and the Museum of London acknowledge the valuable knowledge contribution to the field.
The methodology was then applied to investigate transfer-printing within the same enamel trade. Findings were disseminated through an oral conference paper and a chapter for an edited volume of Midland History, published by the University of Birmingham/Taylor Francis (2020).
Imperfect printed enamel surfaces: Interpreting marks of eighteenth-century Midland craftsmanship provided a fresh perspective on emergent transfer printing workshop practices. This process transformed ceramic production and consequently is most strongly associated with that trade. The origin of the process connected to the Midland enamel trade is not widely known, and this work addressed that knowledge gap. The Centre for Printing History and Culture (CPHC) recognised this research's significance and supported the work through dissemination.
