Old Pots on New Plates: Understanding Ancient Vases on 19th Century Transfer-Printed Ceramics

Summary

The discovery of sites like Pompeii and Herculaneum in the early 18th century fueled an international mania for classical antiquities, especially ancient vases.  Through a process of translation in multiple media, these ancient pots soon became featured on transfer-printed ceramics mass-produced at the Staffordshire potteries.  These ceramics were then exported globally, transporting classical visions to consumers of multiple socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.  Using an assemblage of transfer-printed ceramics from urban contexts in Detroit, Michigan, this paper examines the continuity of ceramic traditions and traces perceptions of classical heritage across time and space. The combination of documentary, literary, and artefactual sources provides a window into how people engaged with and transformed the classical past in the 19th century. By taking an ‘integrated temporal approach’, this topic bridges classical and historical archaeologies, and illustrates the benefits of combining multiple archaeological specializations in the analysis of modern material culture.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Outside the Wall: Studies in Urban Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 201