Revelation of Craftsmanship
- Submitting institution
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Birmingham City University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 32Z_OP_T1001
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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10.1080/0047729X.2020.1767973
- Location
- -
- Brief description of type
- The researcher’s contribution is reported in the peer-reviewed journal article ‘The Baskerville Punches: Revelations of Craftsmanship’ and in a short film ‘The lasting legacy of Birmingham’s Famous Printer’.
- Open access status
- -
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2020
- URL
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https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1155967/1166711
- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
-
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This research advances the application of craft-practice philosophy and material intelligence, providing new perspectives within the heritage field. The work reveals previously hidden or lost information about the construction of heritage objects. First developed to reconstruct the ‘Pearl Dropper’, part of the Cheapside Hoard, the methodology has been further advanced through a rigorous, multi-disciplinary research programme investigating the material and making knowledge used by the printer John Baskerville (1707–75) to produce his typographic punches—the only extant evidence of his skills. The researcher’s contribution to the programme is reported in the peer-reviewed journal article ‘The Baskerville Punches: Revelations of Craftsmanship’, <Midlands History>, (Taylor & Francis, 2020) and in a short film ‘The lasting legacy of Birmingham’s Famous Printer’.
The researcher’s innovative use of craft knowledge and making skills underpinned the investigation of the punches. The work reveals previously indiscernible marks of manufacture and subtle changes in material behaviour of the punches which has enabled the hidden craftsmanship of the objects to be revealed and made available for future analysis. The methodology calls upon both traditional and digital forms of craftsmanship to reverse engineer the punches thereby providing a step-by-step understanding of the decision making and sequencing of fabrication stages.
A major part of the process involves digitally reconstructing an object from the condition in which it is found and, if damaged, augmenting and presenting it in its original form, as when first leaving the workshop. The application of craft research methodology developed through this work is influencing other research into how heritage objects were made, and it is impacting how the heritage sector interprets, displays and engages the public with objects in collections. As well as casting light on the original manufacturing processes the reconstruction method allows replicas of precious objects to be handled by the public in museums.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -