Christmas leftovers, 17th-century edition. See this relatable Dutch still life on display in Gallery 48. 🍖🍺 Still Life with a Ham, 1642, by Pieter Claesz (c. 1597–1660). Oil on panel, 42 x 34 cm. WA1940.2.19

Looking for recommendations for a proofreader with experience in academic art history. Any leads much appreciated!

Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem, by camel because how not? From a Mir’at al-quds of Father Jerome Xavier, Uttar Pradesh, 1602.

#China #Beijing #Christmas Christmas 1982, derelict stupa Beijing, Haidian 海淀 ©📷 @gblee.bsky.social

Poststructuralist writing is often unfairly criticised for lacking clarity, but have these people even seen some of these perfume adverts?

'We need to nurture those subjects which enable us to build a resource - "human ingenuity" - to interact with the technologies, politics and institutions that will shape the future' Our President @sjs1869.bsky.social looks to the future for BBC R4 Today (from 45mins) https://bbc.in/49pus0h

If you are a Londoner or are interested in it this is a lovely updated @londonist.com map of Anglo Saxon London to browse londonist.substack.com/p/mapping-an...

Reminds me of Van Gogh's iconic shoes as in this painting, which could very well date to same time as those that recently washed ashore harvardartmuseums.org/collections/...

The Garden of Death http://kokoelmat.fng.fi/app?si=A+II+968%3A16

The first person recorded wishing someone "Merry Christmas" was Bishop John Fisher, in a letter to Thomas Cromwell #OnThisDay, 22nd December 1534. "And this our Lord God send you a mery Christmas, and a comfortable, to your heart’s desire." 🖼️ Wikimedia Commons

A hoard of 21 silver pennies, dating back to the mid-7th to 8th centuries, has been saved for Oxfordshire’s museums following a successful community fundraiser. Villagers from Stoke Row, together with local businesses, raised £1,300 to acquire the treasure. news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/stoke-row-co...

Nativity Scene, from Giulio Aleni, "Illustrated Life of the Lord of Heaven", 天主降生出像經解, Fuzhou, 1637

Artus Wolffort, Allegory of Winter, oil on panel, 25.3 in x 19.2 in (Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie Dessau) #earlymodern #17thc #solstice #winterfashion

In which the late-Ming literary failson Zhang Dai has his transcendent moment of snowy solitude spoiled by tourists:

“The last-minute christmas rush at the bookshop.” - my latest cartoon for @theguardian.com books

An 'extraordinary' wind at Tarbat, Easter Ross, broke an 'obelisk' #OTD in 1674, according to local Sir George MacKenzie. Research by Sally Foster suggests this was the Hilton of Cadboll Pictish cross-slab, whose break left its lower section buried. 📸National Museums Scotland #medievalsky

Researching on women & #Buddhism in #HongKong; history indeed looks entirely different if we centre women instead. The earliest Buddhist community, school, hospital, chaplaincy… were all founded by women, monastic or lay, during the war, the Cold War, social upheavals, famines, pandemics, and more.

China Books Review has issued its best of 2025 list across a bunch of categories (NB: my own pick is in the novels section if you’re into Shanghai- and Hong Kong-set historical fiction) ….. chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/18/b...

Léon Theremin and his ethereal invention, divinely played by Clara Rockwell, against the background of the Russian Revolution, America’s Great Depression and the celebrities of the day, Stalin’s gulag, two world wars, the cold war, and perestroika stephenjones.blog/2021/08/16/t...

The Harvard-Yenching Library is now accepting applications for 10 travel grants up to $2,000 each. Open to non-tenured faculty and Ph.D. candidates who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... #sinology

Useful explainer re: what CNRS positions are (basically, permanent research positions) and how to apply. There are two which are relevant to Asianists this year: * 1 premodern Asian history/archeology position * 1 modern 'non-European' economic history position

Giovanna Garzoni, Lapdog with a Biscuit and a Chinese Cup, c. 1648, miniature on parchment (Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence). The dog was likely one of many owned by Grand Duchess Vittoria della Rovere.

There are only three weeks left to apply for the Stein-Arnold Exploration Fund 2026. The scheme helps postdoctoral researchers to conduct exploratory work on the antiquities, historical geography, early history or arts of parts of Asia. Apply now: https://bit.ly/488Axh7

Advert for a Professor or Associate Professor in Contemporary Art History at the University of Oxford, closes 2 February my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Ming Studies scholars planning to attend #AAS2026 in Vancouver—you have until *tomorrow* (December 18) to apply for a Geiss-Hsu grant to support your travel! All materials must be submitted to AAS by 11:59pm Eastern Time. bit.ly/AAS2026Ming

#histbookchat #BookSky 📚💜 It's Jane Austen's 250th birthday and I am sure you are all wondering how and when she made it to #China !! There is a short paper by Helong Zhang from 2022 that addresses this issue 1/2 www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11...

The latest issue of JAOS has been published, #145.4 (2025). This will be the last one under the old name. Starting next year, the journal will appear under its new name, JASPA: Journal of the American Society for Premodern Asia. lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/ja... @aspa1842.bsky.social 1/

As part of a field where we still regularly work with scrolls, let me dispell your technological relativism and assure you: they are an utter pain in the ass. Text only scrolls such. Handscrolls with images are tons of fun, but still a pain in the ass.

Work emails I did not see coming: could the cover of my book on ancient Egyptian magic be featured in a low-budget thriller film? Have sent that one to the nice folks at Thames & Hudson to advise. 🪄🐍🦂🪔 Available at all good retailers, of course - for the aspiring magician in your life! 📚💙

The editors of Journal of the European Ass. for Chinese Studies invite submissions for a special issue on the state of Chinese Studies in Europe scheduled for publication in 2026, building on the anniversary symposium held in Paris in November 2025. (cf. detailed call below).

Religious studies/theology folks: Please share word of this 3-year postdoc (junior research fellowship) at Trinity College, Oxford. Application deadline January 21. Full details available here: www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/sites/defaul...

New in the Journal of the British Academy, Prof Liz James FBA explores why Giotto’s work in mosaic has been sidelined in art-historical literature, despite the significance of the much-celebrated 'Navicella'. Read more: https://bit.ly/44nIn4h

We are hiring! We have an exciting opportunity for someone to facilitate research and engagement work in relation to a major exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, around the theme of sensory experiences and exchanges across the early modern world. Apply now! www.history.ox.ac.uk/event/resear...

🎄What are the AAH team's favourite festive artworks? Samuel Bibby, Managing Editor of Art History Journal: "I love this wintertime wood engraving 'December Snow’, by Eric Ravilious, that appeared as an illustration in H. J. Massingham’s The Writings of Gilbert White of Selborne."

Let me warmly recommend the Emeritus Fellowships to any research-active retirees out there: experience totally positive with sensible application process and super-helpful administration of the grant

Sofonisba’s Impact Guest post by Howard Burton, @ideasroadshow.bsky.social artherstory.net/sofonisbas-i...

✨ SIGA celebrates our members' excellence! ✨ We are thrilled to share that Amanda Wunder's groundbreaking book, Spanish Fashion in the Age of Velázquez, has been honored with three major awards! (1/5)

Attention, colleagues: This year's list of job openings at CNRS is now out for permanent academic positions, and there's a premodern Asia job out there! ✨💫 (look for "section 34" on the job openings page if unfamiliar with CNRS - closes January 12)

We've just published the Biographical Memoir (a kind of extended obituary that we provide for all Fellows of the Academy) for Dame Rosalind Savill FBA who ran the Wallace Collection for two decades www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publishing/m...

Includes a fascinating piece of work on poetry written in Chinese, in Manila, in 1625, to commemorate the death of Philip III of spain. Who knew? www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

We’re doing a photography conference! Please circulate!

The Plant Humanities Initiative at Dumbarton Oaks invites applications for two-week virtual faculty residencies in June 2026, concentrating on topics at the intersection of East Asia Studies and Plant Humanities.

Some news: UCLA CMRS is taking over Manuscripta (www.brepols.net/series/mss), and I am going to be the general editor. The new blurb is below. To wit, the journal is going to now focus on GLOBAL premodern manuscripts. Still, I am going to keep the focus. This is your nerd shit: codicology, single ms

The Wen Zhengming album reproduced here remains “lost”; is it still out there somewhere?

#BOTD: Joseph Needham 李約瑟 (1900–1995), British biochemist and sinologist. Extensive travels in China during WWII stirred his lifelong passion for #ChineseScience. After returning to Cambridge, he launched the massive #ScienceandCivilisationinChina at #NeedhamResearchInstitute. #Sinology

The Library of Congress' Asian Division is now accepting applications for their 2026 Florence Tan Moeson Fellowship: up to $3,000 to support travel, lodging, and research expenses. Due January 11, 2026. #sinology #libraries blogs.loc.gov/internationa...

Crivens.

I'm dreaming of an unheimlich Christmas Just like the ones that seem vaguely familiar for some reason

Happy Bernini's birthday to all who celebrate! 🎂 #OTD 7 December 1598 #earlymodern #baroque #art #architecture