Capturing the Materiality of the Prize Papers: a set of 19th-century textile samples from Canton and Batavia as a case study

获奖论文是由国家档案馆（TNA）收藏的一个巨大的，独特的和偶然的收藏：现代早期日常生活的时间胶囊，涉及来自地球仪不同社会和文化背景的人。这些收藏品是1652年至1815年欧洲战争期间英国私掠船和军舰的战利品（或法律的捕获敌舰）。为了获得法律的捕获，并将自己与海盗区分开来，海员们不得不没收船上的每一张废纸，并将其带到伦敦的高等海事法院。几个世纪以来，该法院积累了大量未投递信件、贸易和海事文件、殖民地行政文件、笔记本和旅行杂志的档案。此外，该收藏品还收藏了一系列文物，包括用字母封装的小物件（珠宝、纽扣、丝带、刺绣面料），为物质性研究和公众参与提供了一个独特的机会。我们提出了一个项目，使用TNA的CapCo资助的设备，开发创新的方法来分析获奖论文收藏中物体的物质构成，更好地了解其生产和使用，并支持其保护和保存。关键的是，我们建议通过与被调查对象的文化起源相关的社区接触来完成这项任务。该项目将重点关注一个迷人的对象作为案例研究：Jan Bekker Teerlink的钱包，他是普鲁士船只Henriette从中国返回欧洲的货物茶叶，于1803年5月31日在荷兰海岸被抓获。他钱包里的东西包括荷兰语和汉语的钞票、一绺黑发、南非的种子和一套染得很鲜艳的中国丝绸和印度印花棉布样品。遗产科学和保护的研究人员将开发、测试和应用非/微创方法，使用分析和成像套件分析纺织品样本，其中包括CapCo资助的仪器（TNA的多光谱成像系统和拉曼显微镜，维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆（VAM）的Hirox 3D数字显微镜）。借助我们合作伙伴网络的支持和专业知识，我们希望深入了解纺织品的生产背景、基质和染料的状况，以及它们对光和其他环境因素的脆弱性。随后将对其他收藏品（如VAM）中同一时期的中国和印度服装的图案和材料进行比较研究，试图将获奖论文中发现的面料样品置于背景中。该项目还将巩固TNA与诺丁汉特伦特大学（Trent University）和米兰大学（University of Milan）的研究人员之间的有益合作，这些研究人员正在开发纺织染料的微或非侵入性分析新方法，他们热衷于在实验室条件下应用他们的发展成果，而不仅仅是模拟样品，而是针对历史样品进行优化。从为钱包中的文件提供社区翻译，到向英国的中国和印度社区学习他们对自己历史的理解，包括他们对亚洲纺织品制造传统的了解，再到为这些社区的家庭提供纺织品染色和印刷工作坊，以及“居住者”计划。

The Prize Papers are a vast, unique and serendipitous collection held by The National Archives (TNA): time-capsules of daily life in the Early Modern period referencing people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds across the globe. The collection is the result of prize-taking (or the legal capturing of enemy ships) by English privateers and warships during the various European wars between 1652 and 1815. To claim a legal capture and distinguish themselves from mere pirates, seafarers had to confiscate every scrap of paper aboard and take it to the High Court of Admiralty in London, which over the centuries accumulated a huge archive of undelivered letters, trade and maritime documents, colonial administration papers, notebooks and travel journals. Furthermore, the collection holds a range of artefacts, including small objects enclosed in letters (jewellery, buttons, ribbons, embroidered fabrics) which offer a unique opportunity for materiality research and public engagement.We propose a project that uses TNA's CapCo-funded equipment to develop innovative ways of analysing the material make-up of objects in the Prize Papers collection, to better understand their production and use and to support their conservation and preservation. Critically, we propose approaching this task through engagement with communities with a connection to the cultural origins of the objects under investigation.The project will focus on a captivating object as a case study: the wallet of Jan Bekker Teerlink, the supercargo on the Prussian ship Henriette returning from China to Europe with a cargo of tea, which was captured en route off the Dutch coast on 31 May 1803. The contents of his wallet include notes in Dutch and Chinese, a lock of dark hair, seeds from South Africa and a set of vividly dyed samples of Chinese silk and Indian chintz. Researchers in Heritage Science and Conservation will develop, test and apply non/micro-invasive methods to analyse the textile samples using the analytical and imaging suite that include CapCo-funded instruments (TNA's multispectral imaging system and Raman microscope, Victoria and Albert Museum's (VAM) Hirox 3D digital microscope). With the support and expertise of our partner network, we hope to gain insight into the production context of the textiles, the condition of the substrate and dyes, and their vulnerability to light and other environmental factors. Comparative studies of the patterns and materials of Chinese and Indian garments from the same period held in other collections (such as the VAM) will follow, in an attempt to contextualise the fabric samples found in the Prize Papers. The project will also consolidate beneficial collaborations between TNA and researchers developing new methods for the micro or non-invasive analysis of textile dyes at Nottingham Trent University and the University of Milan, who are keen to apply their developments beyond mock-up samples in laboratory conditions, optimising them for historic samples.An integral part of every stage of the research will be an ongoing comprehensive public engagement programme: from community-sourcing translators for the documents in the wallet, learning from Chinese and Indian communities in the UK about their understanding of their histories and including their knowledge of the tradition of textile making in Asia, to hands-on textile dyeing and printing workshops for families in those communities and a Maker in Residence programme.