A new examination of the history of ceramic art, spanning ancient to modern times, emphasizing its traditions, materials, and methods of making Concise but comprehensive, Ceramic Art brings together the voices of art historians, conservators, and artists to tell the history of making art from fired clay. The story spans history and continents, examining the global traditions of ceramists that range from pre-Columbian Peruvian artisans to contemporary African studio potters. The volume shows how human need gave rise to multiple traditions in earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, glaze, and surface decoration from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Essays describe the core materials and practice of ceramics, followed by consideration of its production, consumption, and use. Throughout, the focus is on the power of materials and the role conservation plays in the afterlife of a ceramic object. An accessible introduction to an ancient practice, Ceramic Art offers new ways of thinking about the broader forces that have shaped the traditions of the medium.

Considers the future of conservation and its connection to the human sciences. This volume brings together the findings from a five-year research project that seeks to reimagine the relationship between conservation knowledge and the humanistic study of the material world. The project, "Cultures of Conservation," was supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and included events, seminars, and an artist-in-residence. The effort to conserve things amid change is part of the human struggle with the nature of matter. For as long as people have made things and kept things, they have also cared for and repaired them. Today, conservators use a variety of tools and categories developed over the last one hundred and fifty years to do this work, but in the coming decades, new kinds of materials and a new scale of change will pose unprecedented challenges. Looking ahead to this moment from the perspectives of history, philosophy, materials science, and anthropology, this volume explores new possibilities for both conservation and the humanities in the rethinking of active matter.