Morton, Rachael (2017) The making and possessing of quality : the metalware trades in England, c. 1675-1785. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis considers the historical evolution of the concept of quality of manufacture by analysing a key sector and product in the British economy in the late-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: the production of metal goods (silver, copper and new alloys) for which towns such as Birmingham and Sheffield became well known nationally and internationally. It builds upon recent research that argues that quality was a convention, which was debated and deliberated at different points in time and in particular cultural contexts. By analysing a range of sources, from documentary evidence to popular literature, visual sources and artefacts, this thesis argues that the expansion of the trade led to changes in the regulation of the metalware trade, in which the guilds had to rely on consumers and the public to report substandard metalware. This change co-existed with the increasing consumer interest in novelty, innovation and production, and led to the circulation of knowledge about quality between regulator, producer and consumer. Therefore, regulators and producers remained influential in the deliberation of quality. Although there was the increasing importance of novelty and fashionability, the regulated intrinsic value of metalware remained central to the perception of quality.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Metal trade -- England -- History -- 17th century, Metal trade -- England -- History -- 18th century, Metalworking industries -- England -- History -- 17th century, Metalworking industries -- England -- History -- 18th century, Metal-work -- England -- History -- 17th century, Metal-work -- England -- History -- 18th century, Metal trade -- Quality control, Metalworking industries -- Quality control, Metal-work -- Quality control
Official Date:	February 2017
Dates:	Date Event February 2017 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Riello, Giorgio
Sponsors:	Arts & Humanities Research Council (Great Britain)
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	viii, 411 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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