History Making: Replicating Eighteenth-Century enamel craftsmanship by John Grayson

During the eighteenth century there was an extensive and thriving trade in the manufacture of enamelled copper-ware, e.g. snuff boxes, candlesticks, etc. These were affordable versions of the expensive porcelain equivalents that they emulated. When the trade disappeared in the nineteenth century knowledge of the way these things were created was lost. Informed by the researcher’s craft practice expertise an extensive and detailed survey of original pieces has now cast light on the nature of the skills and techniques deployed in forming the often convoluted shapes of the copper substrates, as well as illuminating some of the particularities of the enamelling process and decoration by transfer printing. Also uncovered is a greater understanding of how the network of small independent workshops, responsible for each stage in the production chain, must have interacted in order to create these marvellous items now celebrated in museums. Visual and haptic encounters with enamels in museum stores, such as those of the V&A, revealed hidden, complex and inventive copper constructions. Comparative analysis of manufacturing irregularities on enamel surfaces, taken together with the study of contemporary technical writing, yielded significant insights as to the modes of fabrication. Craft workshop experiments replicating the processes, indicated by these inquiries, confirmed the approaches that were originally used. An exhibition displaying the research process and copper manufacturing findings opened at, and was funded by, Ruthin Crafts Gallery—Wales’s main craft venue. It toured to Vittoria Street Gallery, Birmingham, and Wolverhampton Art Gallery, having in excess of 10,000 visitors. Curators acknowledge that this work fills significant gaps in enamel history. Ruthin’s Director noted the exhibition illuminated the critical and previously disregarded relationship between studio enamel craft and now defunct industries. Transfer-print findings were presented at the Print Networks Conference (2018) and published in a special edited volume of Midland History (2020).

Dissemination

Enamel | Substrate

The exhibition presented a timeline of the research process, making explicit the methodology and disseminating the findings concerning historical craft practice used within the enamel trade and the value of these lost skills for innovating contemporary enamel practice.

The exhibition was presented on four trestle tables made from rough ply-wood to symbolise the workbench. This was divided into three zones to reflect the three-stage research process of analysis; investigating; and, theory testing. Displayed within these zones was a juxtaposition of:

· Eighteenth-century enamels;

· Data collection materials including examples of written notes, photographic records and drawings (including videos of museum analysis);

· Craft practice comprising material tests (including workshop videos), a contemporary craft object and replicated eighteenth-century enamelware;

· Sketch and lab books.

The exhibition was designed to create an immersive experience enabling the visitor to understand the research process directly. It utilised the products of the research process and displayed them to suggest the research domains to the viewer—the museum and craft workshop. Collated material experiments in brown boxes, a nod to the archival containers used for museum storage of the enamel artefacts, and lab books used to record processes and reverse engineer objects were held in place by Perspex screens tied down with bungees. These were interspersed by loaned enamels (courtesy of Wolverhampton Arts and Culture) in vitrines. Next to these, magnifying glasses were supplied for close-up audience inspection of eighteenth-century enamels and replicated artefacts. This enabled audiences to compare artefacts and research materials, thereby interrogating the rigour of the methodology and receiving new knowledge on enamel construction.

A modularised exhibition design facilitated the exhibition’s re-configuration to fit different gallery spaces. The overall display aesthetic—graphic design—made a subtle reference to the time and place where enamels were manufactured: a blue colour theme referenced a popular eighteenth-century enamel coloured ground and the text font—Baskerville—referred to the Midlands Enlightenment. The design format communicated knowledge creatively to a broad audience of academics, heritage and museum professional, craft makers and connoisseurs; and Welsh speakers through bilingual text panels at Ruthin Craft Gallery.

Exhibition Tour

Ruthin Craft Centre commissioned Enamel | Substrate as a mini touring exhibition reaching circa 10,000 visitors.

Venues:

· Vittoria Street Gallery, the exhibition space of the School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University, 26^th November 2018 to 18^th January 2019;

· Ruthin Craft Centre—Wales' principal Applied Arts venues, funded by Arts Council Wales, 2^nd January 2019 to 31^st March 2019;

· Wolverhampton Art Gallery— an important regional centre for the Arts, and custodians of the most significant Eighteenth-century English Enamel collection after the V&A, 6^th April 2019 to 30^th June 2019.

Exhibition Workshops

Practical craft workshops/masterclasses accompanied the exhibition to disseminate the eighteenth-century making methods and their value for making contemporary craft. Participants were engaged in using the processes to make enamel jewellery and boxes. These comprised:

· Enamel Taster Workshop, Ruthin Crafts Centre, 9^th March 2019;

· Enamel Masterclass, Ruthin Crafts Centre, 16^th March 2019.

Lectures, Seminars and Conferences

Talks and oral papers presented as part of the exhibition programme content, and after the exhibition tour at history seminars and conferences, created pathways to impact, comprising:

· Exhibition Talk – John Grayson: Talking Practice, Vittoria Street Gallery, School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University, 17^th January 2019;

· Exhibition Talk – Investigating the Crafts of the eighteenth-century enamel trade, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 29^th June 2019;

· Oral paper - Museum artefacts and contemporary objects: Investigating craft skills of the eighteenth-century enamel trade, Centre for West Midlands History seminar series, University of Birmingham, 16^th May 2019;

· Oral conference paper - Craftsmanship-framed inquiry: (Re)making eighteenth-century Midland enamels, Uncovering Material Knowledge conference, Queens University, Belfast, 30-31 August 2019;

· Oral paper - Eighteenth-Century Bilston Enamels: People, Places and Processes, Wolverhampton Local History Symposium convened by Wolverhampton City Archives, 15^th February 2020.

Imperfect Printed Enamel Surfaces

Dissemination of this research took the orthodox approach of publication through conference and journal article. Presenting high quality annotated images of craftsmanship imperfection on eighteenth-century objects, and workshop material experiments highlighted the innovative craftsmanship framed approach. The conference paper presented methodology and initial findings, the journal article findings and conclusion.

Publication:

· Oral conference paper - Imperfect printed enamel surface: Interpreting marks of eighteenth-century craftsmanship, Printing for the Workplace: industrial and business printing conference, Centre for Printing History and Culture at Gladstone's Library, Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales, 12^th July 2018;

· Journal Article - Grayson, J. (2020) 'Imperfect Printed Enamel Surfaces: Interpreting Marks of Eighteenth-Century Midland Craftsmanship', Midland History, 45(2), pp. 190-207;

· Webinar Book launch - Imperfect Printed Enamel Surfaces: Interpreting Marks Of Eighteenth-Century Midland Craftsmanship, Artsfest Online: Printing and Print Culture in the Midlands: a Webinar, University of Wolverhampton, Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Science, 17^th September 2020.

Imperfect Printed Enamel Surfaces: Interpreting Marks of Eighteenth-Century Craftsmanship starts at 52.36 minute point.

History Making: Replicating Eighteenth-Century Enamel Craftsmanship

This research exposition comprises four sections presenting a research summary (Home Page); research questions, aims and objectives; methods; and, dissemination. Each comprises a scrollable text box, photographs presented in slide-show format, video, and relevant external links.

Home Page

Research Questions
Methodology
Dissemination
Bibliography

TheTransferred Image: From Eighteenth-Century enamel to Contemporary Craft starts at 36.32 minute point.

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