Focusing on the anthropology of art, this book re-articulates its relationships to key methodological and theoretical approaches in art history, sociology, and linguistics. It showcases nine case studies by an internationally renowned group of art historians and art theorists.

"Art and Agency and Art History" throws the subject of the anthropology of art into brilliant and much-needed relief, by re-articulating its relationships to key methodological and theoretical approaches in art history, sociology, and linguistics. Using Alfred Gell's influential work as a touchstone, the book showcases nine groundbreaking case studies by an internationally renowned group of art historians and art theorists. Following an accessible introductory overview, the collection explores concepts and perspectives in a wide range of contexts, ranging from such cultures as Bronze Age China and Mesopotamia to those of Classical Greece, Imperial Rome, the Classic Maya and finally of the modern western world.

Series Editor's Preface
Preface
List of Illustrations
Notes on Contributors
1. Introduction: Art and Agency and Art History: Jeremy Tanner (University College London ) and Robin Osborne (University of Cambridge)
2. Enchantment and Sacrifice in Early Egypt: David Wengrow (University College London)
3. Agency Marked, Agency Ascribed: The Affective Object in Ancient Mesopotamia: Irene J. Winter (Harvard University)
4. Portraits and Agency: A Comparative View: Jeremy Tanner (University College London)
5. The Agency of, and the Agency for, the Wanli Emperor: Jessica Rawson (University of Oxford)
6. The Material Efficacy of the Elizabethan Jeweled Miniature: a Gellian Experiment: Jessen Kelly (University of California at Berkeley)
7. Representational Art in Ancient Peru and the Work of Alfred Gell: Jeffrey Quilter (Peabody Museum, Harvard)
8. Gell's Idols and Roman Cult: Peter Stewart (Courtauld Institute of Art in London)
9. Sex, Agency, and History: the Case of Athenian Painted Pottery: Robin Osborne (University of Cambridge)
10. Abducting the Agency of Art: Whitney Davis (University of California at Berkeley)
Index