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Craft and the Kingly Ideal : Art, Trade, and Power / Mary W. Helms.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Austin : University of Texas Press, [2021]Copyright date: ©1993Description: 1 online resource (303 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780292758223
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 306.3
LOC classification:
  • GN492.2.H46 1993
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 Introduction to the Problem -- PART I SKILLED CRAFTING -- 2 What Skilled Crafting Means -- 3 Skilled Artisans in Time and Space -- 4 Qualities of Skilled Artisans -- 5 Skilled Crafting and Political Authority -- PART II ACQUISITION -- 6 Exchange, Trade, and Acquisition -- 7 Acquisition in Time and Space -- 8 Qualities of Acquisition -- 9 Naturally Endowed Goods and Skillfully Crafted Goods -- 10 Acquisition and Political Authority -- PART III CENTERS AND ORIGINS -- 11 Superordinate Centers -- 12 Acquisitional Polities -- 13 Conclusions -- Notes -- References -- Index
Summary: In ancient Mediterranean cultures, diamonds were thought to endow their owners with invincibility. In contemporary United States culture, a foreign-made luxury car is believed to give its owner status and prestige. Where do these beliefs come from? In this study of craft production and long-distance trade in traditional, nonindustrial societies, Mary W. Helms explores the power attributed to objects that either are produced by skilled artisans and/or come from "afar." She argues that fine artisanship and long-distance trade, both of which are more available to powerful elites than to ordinary people, are means of creating or acquiring tangible objects that embody intangible powers and energies from the cosmological realms of gods, ancestors, or heroes. Through the objects, these qualities become available to human society and confer honor and power on their possessors. Helms’ novel approach equates trade with artistry and emphasizes acquisition rather than distribution. She rejects the classic Western separation between economics and aesthetics and offers a new paradigm for understanding traditional societies that will be of interest to all anthropologists and archaeologists.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780292758223

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 Introduction to the Problem -- PART I SKILLED CRAFTING -- 2 What Skilled Crafting Means -- 3 Skilled Artisans in Time and Space -- 4 Qualities of Skilled Artisans -- 5 Skilled Crafting and Political Authority -- PART II ACQUISITION -- 6 Exchange, Trade, and Acquisition -- 7 Acquisition in Time and Space -- 8 Qualities of Acquisition -- 9 Naturally Endowed Goods and Skillfully Crafted Goods -- 10 Acquisition and Political Authority -- PART III CENTERS AND ORIGINS -- 11 Superordinate Centers -- 12 Acquisitional Polities -- 13 Conclusions -- Notes -- References -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

In ancient Mediterranean cultures, diamonds were thought to endow their owners with invincibility. In contemporary United States culture, a foreign-made luxury car is believed to give its owner status and prestige. Where do these beliefs come from? In this study of craft production and long-distance trade in traditional, nonindustrial societies, Mary W. Helms explores the power attributed to objects that either are produced by skilled artisans and/or come from "afar." She argues that fine artisanship and long-distance trade, both of which are more available to powerful elites than to ordinary people, are means of creating or acquiring tangible objects that embody intangible powers and energies from the cosmological realms of gods, ancestors, or heroes. Through the objects, these qualities become available to human society and confer honor and power on their possessors. Helms’ novel approach equates trade with artistry and emphasizes acquisition rather than distribution. She rejects the classic Western separation between economics and aesthetics and offers a new paradigm for understanding traditional societies that will be of interest to all anthropologists and archaeologists.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Apr 2022)