As part of Hong Kong University's Interdisciplinary Lunchtime Seminar, Dr Anna Grasskamp will present research on "Chinese" shells which were exchanged across the world via maritime networks. Although lower in material hierarchy than pearls or corals in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the polished shells from Southeast Asia engraved with Chinese motifs were considered treasures in the sixteenth-century cabinets of curiosity in different parts of Europe. This talk traces the shel