Thesis--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references [p.101-103).

This thesis investigates the history of golf ceramics from their origins in the mid-18th century until ca. 1930. During this period the game of golf experienced enormous popularity, developing into a globally successful sport. In the modern period golf has also fostered a thriving trade for the collecting of golf memorabilia, surpassing that of any other comparable sport. The thesis traces the development and spread of one form of golf collectibles – golf ceramics – and considers both the relationship of the pottery industry to the sport and the reasons behind the achievement of the genre. The modern form of golf likely began in the 13th and 14th centuries as a short game played within town walls. Under pressure from Burgh officials and Kirk ordinances, golfers eventually moved to the linksland and developed the now characteristic long game. In 18th- century Britain, elite golf clubs for gentlemen and noblemen sprang from existing sporting societies such as the Royal Company of Archers. The first examples of golf pottery, a series of 18th - and early 19th - century convivial and commemorative punch bowls, were commissioned as a direct result of the growing competitive and social traditions of the early golfing societies. During the prosperous Victorian era, golf experienced a period of immense growth and geographic expansion, particularly during the "boom" of 1890 to 1905. As golf spread internationally, it became a game primarily for the leisure class, inspiring holiday and resort destinations for the wealthy. Exclusive clubs grew at a rate that far surpassed the availability of public golf, thereby changing the character of the game to one predominantly practised by the rich. The game's growth inspired enterprising pottery manufacturers to produce new and imaginative golf-themed pottery lines, pre-1930. Golf's burgeoning popularity, combined with the affluence of its practitioners, created the ideal consumer audience for decorative and non-utilitarian wares. Between 1895 and 1930, eighty-five or more manufacturers were actively developing golf wares. As the pottery industry recognized the potential of the golf market, inventive new lines were developed that utilized original artwork from renowned illustrators of the era, such as Charles Dana Gibson, Howard Chandler Christy, Palmer Cox, Mabel Lucie Attwell, and Harrison Fisher. This commitment to quality golf imagery indicated that potteries placed the game in a higher institutional priority than other traditional sporting themes, such as cricket, tennis, rugby, or football. Royal Doulton, for example, generated no fewer than twenty ranges specifically for the golf market or adapted to meet the demands of its expanding following. Doulton wares featured illustrative images produced by Gibson, Charles Crombie, Henry Mayo Bateman, Will H. Bradley, and Barbara Vernon (Bailey). Doulton’s commitment to prominent illustration reflected golf’s importance to the financial good footing of the firm. The substantial catalogue of historical golfing wares produced during the period of examination experienced unparalleled success in secondary markets throughout the 20th century. Prominent institutional and individual golf collections emerged, leading to the formation of international golf collecting societies, and golf-specific museums and archives. Interest in golf collectibles advanced to the level where golf became a stand-alone auction speciality. In 2000 and 2001 alone, twenty-three major international golf sales were held. Golf pottery values escalated commensurate with the increased notoriety, availability, and competition. Certainly, no other traditional sport can claim such an extensive collection of wares, or a more enduring legacy in the worldwide ceramics and fine art pottery industry.

Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2007. / "Master of Arts in arbitration and dispute resolution, LW6409 dissertation." Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Apr. 1, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.

La collection demeure un puissant moteur de curiosité en perpétuelle effervescence. Elle relève de la sphère artistique et participe de l’indicible. Elle échappe à la logique et à la rationalité. Elle nous dépasse et ne relève que de l’ordre du sensible. C’est pourquoi en parlant des relations entre l’art et la société, la collection occupe une place singulière. Pourtant, si les études juridiques consacrées aux œuvres d’art sont nombreuses, il en irait autrement pour les collections, alors même qu'elles sont heurtées depuis plusieurs décennies par de nombreux bouleversements économiques et artistiques peu étudiés par le droit. Un tel constat conduit à ramener les collections dans le champ d’une analyse juridique. Celui-ci n’est pas seulement académique et il implique de réelles conséquences pratiques. Comment la collection est-elle appréhendée par le droit ? Quel est son avenir juridique ? Telles sont les interrogations qui vont permettre de remonter aux sources de ce corpus pour mieux envisager son devenir. Pour ce faire, il convient d’appréhender la consistance même de la collection par le prisme de la propriété et ses régimes de protection. Puis, il sera permis d'envisager la gestion et la transmission juridique de ces patrimoines artistiques qui s’enracinent dans le cadre d’une activité culturelle des collectionneurs publics et privés. Dans une approche pluridisciplinaire, l’étude présente de façon à la fois globale et cohérente l’appréhension de la collection par le droit. Il s’agit de contribuer à une compréhension accrue des instruments permettant le fonctionnement de cet ensemble dans la relation qu’il entretient avec le droit, son marché et ses divers protagonistes. En mettant en évidence la contradiction entre la volonté du législateur d’encourager le développement des collections et les restrictions qu’il impose, l’étude participe, à sa mesure, à la connaissance juridique de cet objet, à sa valorisation et à sa conservation sur le territoire afin de déployer une nouvelle « culture de la collection ». C’est ainsi que l’on peut vérifier une nouvelle fois que le droit est un outil d’intelligence de réalité sociale pour la collection et un matériau directement expérimentable par le collectionneur pour aller au-delà du droit. / The collection remains a powerful engine of curiosity in perpetual effervescence. It concerns the artistic sphere and takes part of the inexpressible one. She escapes from logic and rationality. She’s beyond us and raises only about the sensitive one. Therefore, speaking of the relationship between art and society, the collection occupies a singular place. However, if the legal studies devoted to artworks are numerous, it would be different for collections, while at the same time they have been run up against for several decades by many economic and artistic upheavals, little studied by the law. Such a report led to bring back the collections in the field of a legal analysis. It’s not only academic and involves real practical consequences. How is the collection apprehended by the law? Which is its legal future? These are the questions that will help to go back to the sources of these corpus to better consider their destiny. With this intention, it’s advisable to appreciate the consistency of the through the prism of the property and its protection schemes. Then it’ll be possible to consider the management and the legal transmission of such artistic heritage which roots in the context of a cultural activity of public and private art collectors. In a multidisciplinary approach, the study presents so both comprehensive and coherent apprehension of the collection by the law. This is to contribute to an increased understanding of the instruments allowing the operation of this set in its relationship with law, its market and its various protagonists. By highlighting the contradiction between legislator’s desire to encourage the development of collections and the restrictions it imposes, the study involved in its extent, the legal knowledge of this subject, its valorization, and its conservation on the territory in order to deploy a new "collection’s culture". Thus one can verify once again that the law is a tool of intelligence of social reality for the collection and a material directly usable by the art collector to go beyond the law.

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are unique virtual tokens which are stored on a blockchain and can be linked to a wide range of digital and physical assets. In the online art world, NFTs are meant to function as digital certificates of authenticity and ownership, facilitating provenance research and introducing the notion of scarcity to the digital realm. However, the long-term sustainability of NFTs is threatened by their association to art theft, scams, and negative environmental impact. This qualitative study investigates the effects that non-fungible tokens have had on the work of online visual artists. With the goal of presenting multiple perspectives on a complex phenomenon, semi-structured interviews were conducted both with artists who personally create NFTs of their artwork and with artists whose art was tokenized by others without their permission. The results of the study reveal that NFTs appear as a possible path towards financial freedom for artists and a democratization of the arts. At the same time, a reoccurring point of concern is that online social media platforms and NFT marketplaces largely fail to protect artists against NFT-related art theft. Based on the answers collected from the interviews, this study presents several potential measures that could help combat plagiarism and scamming. Finally, the issue of widespread ignorance and misinformation is discussed, highlighting the need for more reliable, unbiased resources on the topic of NFTs.

It is a truism that the legal system lags behind societal and technological developments. The common system of VAT is no exception. The objective of this thesis is to examine how the existing VAT rules applies to virtual assets, in particular NFTs and purchasable collectibles in computer games. The aim is to study how transactions with these assets are classified from a VAT perspective and to evaluate whether this classification is compatible with the VAT neutrality principle and the function of VAT as a general tax on final consumption.  One finding related to the classification part of this thesis is that these transactions, which often involve a token and an underlying asset, are treated as a composite supply of services and not a supply of goods for VAT purposes. This implies that the special scheme for second-hand goods cannot be applied. Other classification aspects to assess whether the supply falls within the scope of VAT and whether the supply is taxed or exempt, are also analyzed. There is no ground for NFTs or other virtual assets to be exempt generally. Though, certain types or functions for NFTs may be exempt as financial transactions. The evaluation concludes that the existing rules are partly adapted to handle transactions with these types of virtual assets conducted in a virtual environment. However, the existing rules could lead to an unmotivated double taxation, which may preclude the pursuit of economic activities.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished