ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Minescapes 2: Mining for Blue

Session Submission Type: Organized Session

English Abstract

Color, produced through pigments and dyes, has long carried cultural, spiritual, and commercial significance. Because many blue colorants derive from rare minerals, mining and color-making are deeply intertwined. Yet historical evidence for the extraction, processing, and circulation of blue-producing ores is fragmentary, and broad generalizations have often obscured the complexity of technological transmission, artisanal practice, and geological sourcing.
This panel investigates the global history of mining, trade, and use of blue minerals by examining when and how geological resources enabled pigment and glaze production across Eurasia. Papers address the cobalt- and copper-based blues, lapis lazuli, and azurite, tracing their trajectories through textual, archaeological, and scientific evidence. Analytical methods—including XRF, Raman, and luminescence spectroscopy—provide new insight into the composition of colorants, distinguishing geological signatures from the effects of historical selection, purification, and working practices.
Case studies range from early cobalt traditions in Persia, Central Asia, Egypt, and the Levant to their transformation in fifteenth-century Venice; from overlooked Iberian azurite sources that challenge assumptions about medieval European painting to the medical, diplomatic, and artistic significance of azurite in Chosŏn Korea. Together, these papers reassess long-standing narratives of invention, reveal the role of mining discoveries in reshaping artistic palettes, and highlight the movement of minerals, artisans, and technologies across regions. By integrating scientific analysis with historical and material approaches, the panel advances a more precise, comparative understanding of how blue colorants were produced, traded, and valued over time.

Sub Unit

• Organized Session

Chair

• Pamela H. Smith, Columbia University

Individual Presentations

• Making Blue: Cobalt Technologies and Knowledge Transfer Across Eurasia - Anthony T Quickel, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

• Mining and Painting: Re-evaluating the Presence of Azurite in Early Painted Works - Barbara Hepburn Berrie, Emerita, Head of Scientific Research, Conservation Department, National Gallery of Art

• Azurite in East Asia: The Quest for a Chinese “Treasure” and Its Medical and Artistic Uses in Korea - Hyeok Hweon Kang, Washington University in St. Louis

• Non-invasive Research into the Origins of Ceramic Raw Materials: a Challenge - Philippe Colomban, Sorbonne Université

Session Organizer

• Anthony T Quickel, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science