Sarah Laursen

Sarah Laursen holds a BA in East Asian Studies and Art History from New York University and an MA and PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Pennsylvania.  Her research focuses primarily on gold personal adornments from Eastern Han to Sui dynasty (26 – 618 CE) tombs and explores how this facet of material culture reflects Chinese interactions with the nomadic populations of the northern steppe.

Her project at ISAW, “Unearthing the Ancient Craft: The Art of Goldsmithing in Early Medieval China,” will investigate gold objects excavated throughout China and their relationship to the metalworking traditions of Inner Asia, the Mediterranean, and Mesopotamia.  This research expands the scope of her doctoral dissertation on the third to fifth century CE Xianbei tombs of Northeast China, drawing upon the methodologies of art history, archaeology, and conservation science, as well as the hands-on study of metalworking, in an effort to identify the cultural and artistic heritage of the medieval Chinese goldsmith.