Bringing the Past to a Living Room Near You

Abstract

Museum shops everywhere sell merchandise inspired by artifacts in museum collections. But to access this merchandise one must visit the museum itself or its website. What if people encountered elegant objects exquisitely decorated with imagery from world-renowned artifacts and archaeological sites from their own lands when they went shopping for teacups or salad bowls? Would it enhance their understanding, change their perception, or increase their interest in their country’s past? This chapter explores the use of archaeological heritage in Turkey in the creation of the “Anatolian Civilizations” and “World Heritage” collections by Paşabahçe, Turkey’s first and the world’s third largest producer of glassware. Embodying the company’s mission to “preserve Anatolia’s cultural heritage for future generations,” these collections of decorative objects representing canonical artifacts and ancient sites from Anatolia aim to introduce the region’s archaeological heritage to a wider audience. However, produced in limited editions with price tags between $75 and $350, they are within the reach of only a small, educated, urban group.