Simplified Chinese lacquer techniques and Nanban style decoration on Luso-Asian objects from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries

The meeting of multiple cultures and their mutual influence during the Portuguese expansion in Asia led to the emergence of different types of fusion styles in objects commissioned by the settlers, merchants, and religious orders present in Portuguese India. The east-Asian lacquer coatings of modestly sized wooden objects of various types dating from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries have been analyzed as part of the research for a doctoral thesis that aims to establish their cultural and geographical attribution within the context of the Getty Conservation Institute’s lacquer research project. Among the objects were three seventeenthcentury lacquered trays from Portuguese museums and private collections that had previously been classified as Japanese Nanban, Chinese or Ryukyuan lacquers or even as Indo-Portuguese artifacts. The materials and techniques that were identified show close similarities with Chinese techniques mentioned in historic accounts — the only existing Ming Chinese Treatise on lacquering Xiushi lu and the eighteenth-century memoirs of the Jesuit priest d’Incarville. These nearly 400-year-old artifacts are among the first lacquered objects commissioned by Europeans and probably the first of Chinese origin. Their detailed technical study contributes to international lacquer research and complements existing knowledge and perceptions of the lacquering processes that were applied in response to an early European demand for exotic items.

SEAMS SCHOOL FINAL REPORT

In this school, we introduced the basis of the mathematical analysis to study differential equations (ordinary and partial). One aim to prepare students and staff members for more concrete problems arising in mathematical modeling in engineering and biological processes. Theoretical and numerical lectures were given, with a presentation of free scientific computing software using Python. A website and a drive were created to facilitate exchanges between students, lecturers and organizers: The school was sponsored by CIMPA (Centre International de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées) IMU (International Mathematical Union) ISP (International Science Programme) NUOL (National University of Laos) Erasmus Mundus ERDF – Picardie Region Beerlao ETL3G