Early Textiles Study Group - 12^th biannual conference

London 5^th and 6^th December 2008

Textiles in Art: from the Bronze Age to the Renaissance

Seminar-style papers by specialist textile historians based on new research and focusing on the representation of textiles in works of art.

Papers to include:

Sophie Desrosiers  - "Textiles represented in the Dame à la Licorne  tapestries and some other late 15th century hangings in the Cluny Museum, Paris"
Zhao Feng - “The Two Systems of Textiles in the Mongol period and their reflection in the art of the time (13^th-14^th centuries CE)”
Paola Frattaroli -“I decori tessili di Giotto e della sua scuola, e di Simone Martini”
Jane Bridgeman - “Textiles, dress and the artist in Renaissance Italy”
Elena Phipps – “Aymara traditions: striped textiles, their origins and significance in the Southern Andes”
Stephanie Bunn - “Representations of nomadic felt in different media through history”
Jon Thompson - “Carpets and Felts in Persian Painting: Problems of interpretation”
Hero Granger-Taylor - “Textiles in early Mesopotamian art – finds from other areas (Egypt and the Levant) as a guide to their technique and original appearance”
Marie-Louise Nosch - “References to textiles in Mycenaean Linear B texts and the evidence of contemporary wall-paintings”
Lauren McGhee - "The representation of wool and linen textiles in Roman-period mummy portraits from Antinoopolis in Middle Egypt."
Rosemary Crill - “Textiles in the wall paintings at Ajanta, India, late 5^th century CE”
Ulla Mannering – “Gold Sheet Figures from Migration-period Scandinavia as a record of textiles used in clothing”
Lisa Monnas - “Problems in the chronology of 14^th century Italian textiles with reference to paintings”
Rembrandt Duits  - “The monetary value of textiles represented in Renaissance painting”
Maria Hayward – “Fact or fiction? An analysis of two portraits of Elizabeth I at Jesus College, Oxford”

For full programme and booking form please see home page   http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Textilesinart/
For other enquiries please e-mail:
textilesinart-owner@yahoogroups.co.uk  or write to
Textiles in Art, 22 Park Village East, London NW1 7PZ  UK

Please arrange for full payment to be received by us before 1^st October 2008.
Please write to textilesinart-owner@yahoogroups.co.uk with any enquiries.

Conference fee: £85 for two days (£50 for a single day)
We are hoping to be able to offer concessionary places to a number of students
Fee includes sandwich lunches and teas/coffees
Please note, accommodation will not be part of conference package
Venue 5^th December – British Academy, Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5AH
Venue 6^th December – Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, WC2 0RN

Organisers: Hero Granger-Taylor, Rosalind Janssen and Lisa Monnas
The conference is supported by the Pasold Research Fund

hgt 4/7/08

Early Textiles Study Group - 12^th biannual conference

Textiles in Art: from the Bronze Age to the Renaissance

Provisional Programme

5^th- 6^th December 2008

Please see below for related events on Thursday 4^th and Sunday 7^th December

Day 1, Friday 5^th December 2008
British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH

For map and venue details, see http://www.britac.ac.uk/contact/index.html

9.15   Registration
10.00 Welcome followed by Sophie Desrosiers – "Textiles represented in the Dame à la Licorne  tapestries and some other late 15th century hangings in the Cluny Museum, Paris"
Maitre de Conferences, Histoire des Techniques, École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Socials, Paris, author of  catalogue Soieries et autres Textiles de l’Antiquité au XVIe siecle, Musée de Cluny, Paris 2004

11.00 coffee

11.30 Zhao Feng – “The Two Systems of Textiles in the Mongol period and their reflection in the art of the time (13^th-14^th centuries CE)”. Professor, Deputy Director, China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou, author of Treasures in Silk, Hong Kong 1999 and of Dunhuang textiles in the UK, Shanghai 2007

Paola Frattaroli –“I decori tessili di Giotto e della sua scuola, e di Simone Martini”^. Independent scholar, Verona, Italy; editor, with Giuliana Ericani of  Tessuti nel Veneto, Verona 1993

1.00 lunch at British Academy, information on forthcoming publications, related organisations etc. 

2.00 Jane Bridgeman – “Textiles, dress and the artist in Renaissance Italy”. Associate Lecturer, Central St Martin's School of Art, University of the Arts, London, translator and editor of The Pesaro Wedding, 1475, forthcoming 2009.  

Elena Phipps – “Aymara traditions: striped textiles, their origins and significance in the Southern Andes”. Senior Museum Conservator, Textile Conservation Department, Metropolitan Museum of Art, organizer and author, with Johanna Hecht and Cristina Esteras Martin, of exhibition and catalogue, The Colonial Andes: Tapestries and Silverwork 1530-1830, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2004

3.30 tea

4.00 Stephanie Bunn – “Representations of nomadic felt in different media through history”. Teaching Fellow in Anthropology, St.Andrew’s University, author of Nomadic World Felt, British Museum Press, forthcoming 2008.

Jon Thompson – “Carpets and Felts in Persian Painting: Problems of interpretation”, previously May Beattie Fellow, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, author of Milestones in the History of Carpets, Milan 2006.

5.10 Discussion

Evening of Day 1, Friday 5^th December 2008

British Museum, Great Russell Street, LondonWC1B 3DG

For map etc. see http://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting.aspx

6.30 and again at 7 pm Rosalind Janssen will talk give an informal gallery talk on textiles represented in Ancient Egyptian art (Rosalind Janssen is a Lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London, and Honorary Senior Research Fellow, UCL collections)

At the same time it will be possible to purchase books (we are looking into the possibility of conference participants being given various discounts on books).

Tas Restaurant, 22 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QJ

for map see http://www.tasrestaurant.com/find_us.asp,

tel.020 7637 4555/1333, good accessibility (lift)

7.45 Conference dinner – see booking form, partners/friends welcome. The restaurant is very close to the British Museum. The food is traditional Turkish with a choice of dishes including two vegetarian main courses.

Day 2, Saturday 6^th December 2008

Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN

for map see http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/index.html, for detailed information on access please contact jackie.sullivan@courtauld.ac.uk, 0207 848 1449

9.00 – Registration for participants for this day only

9.30 – Proceedings, with breaks for coffee, lunch and tea

Papers to include (order provisional) 

Hero Granger-Taylor – “Textiles in early Mesopotamian art – finds from other areas (Egypt and the Levant) as a guide to their technique and original appearance”. Independent scholar, London, completing catalogue of textiles found at Masada for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,

Marie-Louise Nosch –– “References to textiles in Mycenaean Linear B texts and the evidence of contemporary wall-paintings”. Director, Centre for Textile Research, Universityof Copenhagen, author of The Knossos Od Series (published online 2007).  

Lauren McGhee - "The representation of wool and linen textiles in Roman-period mummy portraits from Antinoopolis in Middle Egypt." DPhil student, St. John's College, Oxford, topic “The development of the painted funerary portrait at Antinoopolis from the Roman foundation to the Arab conques”.

Rosemary Crill - “Textiles in the wall paintings at Ajanta, India, late 5^th century CE”. Senior Curator, South Asia, Victoria & Albert Museum, London.  author of Indian Ikat Textiles, London, 1998, Chintz: Indian textiles for the West, London, 2008.

Ulla Mannering – “Gold Sheet Figures from Migration-period Scandinavia as a record of textiles used in clothing”. Project Director, Centre for Textile Research, University of Copenhagen, editor and co-author of "Designed for Life and Death" (Oxbow), forthcoming 2009 

Lisa Monnas –“Problems in the chronology of 14^th century Italian textiles with reference to paintings”. Independent scholar, London, author of Merchants, princes and painters: silk fabrics in Italian and Northern Paintings, 1300-1550 (Yale University Press), forthcoming July 2008.

Rembrandt Duits  - “The monetary value of textiles represented in Renaissance painting”. Assistant Curator (Photographic Collection) Warburg Institute, University of London, author of “Figured Riches: The Value of Gold Brocades in Fifteenth-Century Florentine Painting”, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 1999.

Maria Hayward – “Fact or fiction? An analysis of two portraits of Elizabeth I at Jesus College, Oxford”. Reader, Textile Conservation Centre, University of Southampton, author of Dress at the Court of King Henry VII, Leeds 2007

5 pm finish

Related activities, 4^th-7^th December 2008

Thursday 4^th December

1 pm Lisa Monnas will be giving the Lunchtime Talk in the Lecture Theatre at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square “The texture of fabrics in National Gallery paintings: Duccio to Holbein”

She will be signing books after this. 

c.5 pm

We hope to arrange a lecture on a subject related to our conference theme, perhaps in conjunction with the University of London

Saturday 6^th December

After our conference finishes at 5 pm it should be possible to go ice skating in the courtyard of Somerset House. Booking advised: http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/ice_rink/default.asp

Sunday 7^th December

10.15 am Rembrandt Duits has very kindly agreed to give an informal gallery talk at the National Gallery, to include paintings discussed during the conference 

Business Meeting for Early Textiles Study Group members

hg-t 30/6/08