Gems, Science, and Empire 17th century traders who traveled the sea routes between India and Southeast Asia were interested in spices, but they were also interested in gemstones, objects of desire, commercial value, and inc…

Claire Sabel discusses the gem trade in SE Asia & the way it was impacted by European traders 17-18c @uchicagopress.bsky.social
@scarcerc.bsky.social
@harunkucuk.bsky.social
@univie.ac.at
@nhmwien.bsky.social
@sciencehistory.org
@historyscience.bsky.social timetoeatthedogs.com/2025/10/27/g...

27.10.2025 12:48 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 1

Trading Gems and Knowing the Earth in Early Modern Eurasia | IIAS

Did you know that, in early modern Asia, gems often travelled the same routes as spices? A new essay by @eclaaire.bsky.social explores how the gem trade shaped global power, science, and commerce. 💎✨
Go give it a read in the @iias.bsky.social periodical, "The Newsletter": bit.ly/GemsEssay
#Scarce

15.10.2025 12:19 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Belitung: The Afterlives of a Shipwreck In 1998, the Belitung, a ninth-century western Indian Ocean–style vessel, was discovered in Indonesian waters. Onboard was a full cargo load, likely intended for the Middle Eastern market, of over …

Finds include earliest intact ceramics w/ cobalt blue and Chinese silver for overseas trade. Central European mines later supplied both minerals to world trade in the EM period. For more on the controversial excavation and its afterlives see Melani Pearson's book: uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/belitu...

17.09.2025 07:06 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

A highlight from Singapore was seeing incredible objects from the 9th century Tang shipwreck, an Arabian ship that sank in the Java Sea en route from China, at the Asian Civilizations museum

17.09.2025 07:00 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Uppland Runic Stone

Uppsala’s Viking-era runestones were hard to miss - an unusual stone ordered by an 11th c woman commemorating the bridge she erected for her daughter caught @eclaaire.bsky.social‬'s eye 🌉 bit.ly/Uppland

26.08.2025 09:58 — 👍 0    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

Claire Sabel presenting her work in Florence.

@eclaaire.bsky.social had a wonderful time in Florence — the City of Stone. Grazie mille to @eui-eu.bsky.social and CNRS for bringing together such inspiring work on minerals as visual, economic, and intellectual resources.💎🪨

18.06.2025 09:45 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Claire Sabel presenting her lecture

It was fun to compare notes on gemology past and present with the faculty and students at the Institut für Mineralogie und Kristallographie @univie.ac.at! @eclaaire.bsky.social has been sitting in their "Gems as Geometrical" course — now they see why! 💎📐 #gems #histsci

16.05.2025 14:36 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

🎨🔍 Another rich session!
@eclaaire.bsky.social explores how color shaped the gem trade & mineral identity in early modern Europe, with a comment by Andrea Acevedo on 19th c. watercolors—cultural trade, pigment workshops & Pancho Fierro’s art vs. Cantonese copies! 🌍🖌️
#MiningHistory #Gems #ArtHistory

04.06.2025 12:51 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

EurAsian Materials in Central European Collections

Today @eclaaire.bsky.social is presenting “Transformations in the Eurasian gem trade during the long seventeenth century” at the workshop "EurAsian Materials in Central European Collections" @uniinnsbruck.bsky.social, organised by @robyndoraradway.bsky.social
Programm & info: bit.ly/44al4tZ

05.06.2025 08:55 — 👍 3    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Where the stones lie: between historical practices and spatialities This one-and-a-half-day workshop, organised by the Visual and Material History Working Group in collaboration with LARHRA-CNRS (Lyon, France), seeks to situate the understanding of lithic entities thr...

🪨💎 Today at 5 pm (CET) @eui-eu.bsky.social (Florence, IT) @eclaaire.bsky.social presents "Crafting the craft at different scales: manufacturing stones in colonial context" at the workshop “Where the stones lie: between historical practices and spatialities”. Program & Info: bit.ly/44qCUsP

16.06.2025 13:34 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

American Historical Association Condemns Israel’s Scholasticide in Gaza The American Historical Association, the oldest learned society in the United States, has adopted the “Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza,” condemning Israel’s “intentional effort to comprehen...

Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! on the annual meeting of the AHA and its vote against scholasticide in Gaza. @srseikaly.bsky.social, Barbara Weinstein, and @quinnslobodian.com showing how we amplify our voices as historians on the most urgent issues. @weinstein www.democracynow.org/2025/1/6/aha...

06.01.2025 15:07 — 👍 73    🔁 33    💬 5    📌 3

🌍✨ Tomorrow @eclaaire.bsky.social presents “Conducing to the knowledge of the universe and trade': the Role of Goldsmiths in Materializing the Early Modern Globe”. at the the AG Wissenschaftsgeschichte at 11:30am (CET) in Kolingasse 14–16, room 15. bit.ly/3ZJbop9
#GemTrade

16.12.2024 09:35 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

People washing tin

📅Third meeting of our hybrid seminar series! Join us on December 12th for a discussion with Oliver Tappe on “Tin Mining in Laos: Colonial Legacies Global Extractvism and Local Livelihoods” Please register: bit.ly/49j5XQW

05.12.2024 11:48 — 👍 1    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Claire Sabel presenting her work

🌟 Welcome Claire Sabel to our team! 🎉 As a historian of early modern science, she'll explore the links between knowledge, empire, and Central European mining in colonial settings, highlighting women's vital contributions. 🌍🔍

21.11.2024 11:49 — 👍 5    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0