Tales Things Tell : Material Histories of Early Globalisms

New perspectives on early globalisms from objects and images Tales Things Tell offers new perspectives on histories of connectivity between Africa, Asia, and Europe in the period before the Mongol conquests of the thirteenth century. Reflected in objects and materials whose circulation and reception defined aesthetic, economic, and technological networks that existed outside established political and sectarian boundaries, many of these histories are not documented in the written sources on which historians usually rely. Tales Things Tell charts bold new directions in art history, making a compelling case for the archival value of mobile artifacts and images in reconstructing the past. In this beautifully illustrated book, Finbarr Barry Flood and Beate Fricke present six illuminating case studies from the sixth to the thirteenth centuries to show how portable objects mediated the mobility of concepts, iconographies, and techniques. The case studies range from metalwork to stone reliefs, manuscript paintings, and objects using natural materials such as coconut and rock crystal. Whether as booty, commodities, gifts, or souvenirs, many of the objects discussed in Tales Things Tell functioned as sources of aesthetic, iconographic, or technical knowledge in the lands in which they came to rest. Remapping the histories of exchange between medieval Islam and Christendom, from Europe to the Indian Ocean, Tales Things Tell ventures beyond standard narratives drawn from written archival records to demonstrate the value of objects and images as documents of early globalisms. Cover Contents A Note on Transliteration A Note on Dating A Note on Geographic Terms Acknowledgments Introduction: Archives, Flotsam, and Tales of Globalism Part 1. From al-Andalus to Germany: Objects, Techniques, and Materials Chapter 1. Melting, Merchandise, and Medicine in the Eastern Mediterranean Censers on the Market Ore and Origins Changing Shapes Incense and Medicine Censers in Motion Temporalities Chapter 2. Knowledge and Craft in Medieval Spain and Germany Innovation in Making Niello The Nature of Niello Three Different Histories of Niello Inspiration and Imitation Spiral as Essential Structure Spiral as Sign Chapter 3. Coconuts and Cosmology in Medieval Germany A Composite Object Looking Beyond and Within Treasures and Trophies Changing Functions Fruits from Paradise Incarnated Knops Part 2. From Iraq to India and Africa: Technologies, Iconographies, and Marvels Chapter 4. Magic and Medicine in Medieval Mesopotamia Magic-Medicinal and Incantation Bowls Poison Bowls and Precedents Hydrophobia and Surrogacy Serpents, Scorpions, and Quadrupeds Similarity and Sympathy Constellation, Commodification, and the Portable Library Chapter 5. Distance Made Tangible in Medieval Ethiopia An Equestrian Relief Prophet, Saint, and King Princely Hunters Maritime Chimeras Indian Antecedents? Objects, Images, and Material Connections Chapter 6. Narrative and Wonder in the Indian Ocean An Iraqi Maqāmāt Sailors and Slaves in a Maritime Cosmopolis The Artist as Exegete A Wondrous Interlude A Magical Denouement Anachronisms, Survivals, and Revivals Conclusion: Global, Local, and Temporal Notes Bibliography Index Image Credits