New Publications
Gandharan Art and the Classical World
A Short Introduction
by Peter Stewart
Published December 2023
This book offers an introduction to Gandharan art and the mystery of its relationship with the Graeco-Roman world of the Mediterranean. It presents an accessible explanation of the ancient and modern contexts of Gandharan art, the state of scholarship on the subject, and guidance for further, in-depth study.
Gandharan Art in Its Buddhist Context
edited by Wannaporn Rienjang and Peter Stewart
DOI 10.32028/9781803274737
Published March 2023
This fifth and final collection of workshop papers from the Gandhara Connections project addresses one of the most fundamental topics in the field: the religious functions and meanings of Gandharan sculpture. Five papers from the workshop look at dedicatory practices in Buddhist monasteries, the interpretation of Buddha iconography, and insights from archaeological excavation and survey in Swat and Malakand.
The View from Malakand
Harold Deane’s ‘Note on Udyana and Gandhara’
by Llewelyn Morgan and Luca Maria Olivieri
ISBN 9781803274744 (e-version)
DOI 10.32028/9781803274737
Published May 2022
This volume presents, annotates and contextualizes the newly discovered manuscript of Harold Deane's seminal account of the Gandharan antiquities of Swat.
The Global Connections of Gandharan Art
Proceedings of the Third International Workshop of the Gandhāra Connections Project, University of Oxford, 18th-19th March, 2019
edited by Wannaporn Rienjang and Peter Stewart
ISBN 978-1-78969-695-0
ISBN 978-1-78969-696-7 (e-Pdf)
DOI: 10.32028/9781789696950
Published September 2020
The third volume of the Gandhara Connections project at Oxford University’s Classical Art Research Centre presents a range of studies on the relationship of Gandhara to other art traditions. It addresses the project's key theme – the relationship between Gandharan art and the cultures of the Roman Empire and Greece – as well as examining the influence of this region on imagery elsewhere in Central Asia, South Asia, and China.
Masterpieces in Miniature (The Philip Wilson Gems and Jewellery Series)
by Claudia Wagner and Sir John Boardman
Published January 2020
The creation of miniature intaglios - or incised carvings - which could be impressed on clay or wax was one of the earliest crafts of civilisation. To this the Greeks added relief cameos, while comparable skills were lavished on the decoration of metal finger rings. These artefacts record subjects of significance for their period and place but are also the direct expression of an artist's skills and imagination. Engraved gems were collected first by the ancient Romans and then throughout the Renaissance were a source for knowledge of `classical' subjects and styles, when they were copied - from Michelangelo to Rubens - by the foremost artists of the day. The gemstones explored here are from a distinguished collection made in the earlier twentieth century by a notable connoisseur of ancient art. Many originate from named older European collections and were previously unknown to scholars and collectors. The authors have sought to offer a balanced selection of earlier eastern and Greek stones, alongside others from the neo-classical era. The book offers a survey of the finest products of the gems craft over millennia.
The Geography of Gandharan Art
Proceedings of the Second International Workshop of the Gandhāra Connections Project, University of Oxford, 22nd-23rd March, 2018
edited by Wannaporn Rienjang and Peter Stewart
ISBN 978 1 78491 855 2
ISBN 978 1 78491 856 (e-Pdf)
DOI: 10.32028/9781789691863
Published March 2019
This second volume of the Gandhara Connections project at Oxford University’s Classical Art Research Centre presents the proceedings of a workshop held in March 2018. Its aim is to pick apart the regional geography of Gandhāran art, presenting new discoveries at particular sites, textual evidence, and the challenges and opportunities of exploring Gandhāra’s artistic geography.
Natter's Museum Britannicum
British Gem Collections and Collectors of the Mid-Eighteenth Century
by Sir John Boardman, Julia Kagen and Claudia Wagner with contributions by Catherine Phillips
Published January 2019
The German gem-engraver, medallist, and amateur scholar Lorenz Natter (1705- 1763), was so impressed by the size and quality of the collections of ancient and later engraved gems which he found in Britain that he proposed the publication of an extraordinarily ambitious catalogue – Museum Britannicum – which would present engravings and descriptions of the most important pieces. He made considerable progress to this end, producing several hundred drawings, but in time he decided to abandon the near completed project in the light of the apparent lack of interest shown in Britain. Only one of the intended plates in its final form ever appeared, in a catalogue which he published separately for Lord Bessborough’s collection. On Natter’s death the single copy of his magnum opus vanished mysteriously, presumed lost forever.
Problems of Chronology in Gandharan Art
Proceedings of the First International Workshop of the Gandhāra Connections Project, University of Oxford, 23rd-24th March, 2017
edited by Wannaporn Rienjang and Peter Stewart
ISBN 978 1 78491 855 2
ISBN 978 1 78491 856 (e-Pdf)
DOI: 10.32028/9781784918552
Published January 2018
This is the first publication of the Gandhāra Connections project at the University of Oxford’s Classical Art Research Centre, which has been supported by the Bagri Foundation and the Neil Kreitman Foundation. It presents the proceedings of the first of three international workshops on fundamental questions in the study of Gandhāran art, held at Oxford in March 2017.
The Beverley Collection of Gems at Alnwick Castle
by Diana Scarisbrick, Claudia Wagner, and Sir John Boardman
Published January 2018
Alnwick Castle, ancestral seat of the Earls of Northumberland – the House of Percy – was built as a border fortress against the Scots in the twelfth century, if not earlier. Substantially enlarged in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and remaining in Percy family hands to this day, it stands now as a prime example of robust stone defensive architecture. Much visited and admired for its impressive exterior and interior, this dramatic stronghold and stately home is the setting for one of the most distinguished assemblages of gems in Great Britain still in private hands.
The Ladrière Collection of Gems and Rings
by Diana Scarisbrick, Claudia Wagner, and Sir John Boardman
Published January 2017
One of the world's finest assemblages of rings and gemstones, the Guy Ladrière Collection in Paris is of major art-historical importance. This handsome volume, co-written and compiled by CARC's researchers, is the first to catalogue, illustrate and describe all the pieces in the collection. Comprising some three hundred items, and including a rich and varied mixture of cameos and intaglios, the collection ranges from ancient artefacts originating in the Minoan period to gemstones and rings of the nineteenth century. It also boasts many medieval pieces, Christian crystal plaques and Lombardic stones with inscriptions.
